Summer Vacay

As mentioned in the last post, Jocelyn and I got to visit my family for two weeks this summer.  We had a blast.  Here's what we did (with picture overload included).  We went to a Naegle Family Reunion, hung out with my friends and their kids, went shopping, played with cousins who joined us a week into our vacation, swam at the Aquatic Center, went to Lagoon and Temple Square, visited BYU briefly, and just enjoyed being with family.  Now here comes the picture overload. Enjoy!

 

Cousins at the family reunion.

My friends, Chamrie and Holly, and their boys.

 

Playing with the water ball.

 

This is how we spend quality family time.

 

Safety first.

 

Girls night.  Grandpa and Max got to eat the popcorn with us.

 

These sweeties got their nails painted by Aunt Melanie.

 

Fun at the Aquatic Center.

 

Lagoon's Stroller Brigade!

 

Driving with cousin Jack.

 

All aboard!

 

I was so impressed with Jocelyn.  She was so brave on all the rides.

 

I can't believe how much Jocey loved this ride.  She went over and over again.  It's the kind that goes up and drops you.

 

Salt Lake Temple.

 

So precious.

 

My first encounter with a tarantula.  So sick!

 

As you can tell, we had lots of fun on our trip.  It's always so hard to leave but we know we'll be back and we'll have LOTS more fun again!

Home Improvements

Jocelyn and I went to Utah for two weeks to hang with my family (post coming later). Poor Dave had to stay and work but work he did. He put tile in our dining room. Seriously, why do people build houses with carpet in dining rooms? Our house was built in 2008 so it's not old. Anyway, Dave enlisted the help of his dad and some friends and their tools and the tile went in. They did a great job. See, take a look.

 

 

After we got back from Utah, all that was left was to put the baseboards back on and do some touch ups. It looks professional. Seriously who needs to hire help when you have such handy family and friends. Thanks everyone, we really appreciate it!

The Adventures of Jocelyn

Jocelyn's life is way more entertaining than mine and so here is a post all about Jocelyn and her most recent adventures.

 

Train Museum

We went to the Sacramento Train Museum last week with our friends. Jocey enjoyed parts of it but just wanted to play. Luckily, they have a children's play area upstairs that satisfied her desire.

 

 

 

Hide N Seek
Every day when daddy gets home Jocey does one of two things. She either runs and opens the door to the garage or she hides. Usually her idea of hiding is her putting her hands over her face. Clearly, daddy won't see her. Here is a new hiding spot she recently discovered.

 

Swimming
Jocelyn loves the water and the last couple of times we have gone to the pool, we have gone to the big pool. Now that she has floaties, she has become way more courageous in the water. She loves swimming by herself. I love it too.

 

First Haircut
Jocelyn got her first haircut this week. Our friend Miss Jen did it for us. Jocelyn sat on my lap while Jen cut it and she did a fabulous job (both of them). After the cut was finished, Jocey looked in the mirror and cried and cried some more. She didn't like it. Actually, I think it was just the shock of it because a few minutes later she was fine and now she loves it. The rest of us all loved it especially with her curls.  So cute.  But it was sad to see Jocey upset and it's hard to make a 2 year old understand that it will grow back. Here's the before and after shots.

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

Computer Discovery
Jocey recently discovered our games on the computer but most are too difficult for her. Enter Disney internet games. Jocey loves Disney Junior and they have lots of free games to play.

 

Bounce U
Today we went to Bounce U. It's a place filled with bounce castles. I thought Jocey would love it. We have been to a trampoline place and she had a blast. So why wouldn't she love this? Well we got there and she instantly covered her ears and cried. It was too loud. The attendant turned down the music multiple times but it turned out it was all the air pumps blowing air into the bounce places. We only had an hour and a half to play so I was frustrated. She pretty much clung to me the whole time. We moved to a second room full of toys and she calmed down a little more and then when her friend's daddy got there, Jocelyn finally left my side. That was with only 20 minutes left. I guess she needed the strong daddy figure to help. Oh well at least she played and next time hopefully she'll play right away.

 

R.I.P. Dave's Youth

Yes, sadly Dave's youth has died. He turned 30 last week. So long, farewell...

Ok enough sulking, let's get to the parties. His birthday was last Monday. We gave Dave a new expansion to the game, Dominion, called Seaside. I actually gave it to him early so he could play it while all his family was here. He also got a new shirt and I put a book together full of memories that family and friends sent to me. Lots of good reads.  He also got some cards and money from family.

After Dave got home from work, we headed to dinner at Red Robin with family. Then we had cake and ice-cream at his dad's and that was all we did on his actual birthday.

On Saturday, we had a party with friends. We played "Minute It to Win It" games. Can you tell we are fans?  We had a great night. Of course I decorated so here are a couple of shots.

 

 

 

I also hung balloons but who cares about those enough to take a picture?

 

And here are some shots of Dave in on the action. We played girls vs. guys and sadly the girls lost from the tie breaker. Oh well, it's only fair since it was Dave's birthday. For more pictures, check out the album on my Facebook.

 

 

 

Goodbye 20's.

 

(Quick story about the glaze on the Applesauce Cake.  I asked Dave to make it so I could take Jocey over to our friend's house for the night.  When I got back, I happily noticed that he did it.  Some how the process of making the glaze came up.  I said something about boiling it and Dave said he didn't do that.  I said that's what the recipe called for.  And then I realized, that part of the instructions were on the back.  Dave had not flipped the recipe card over.  This also means, two ingredients were missing from the glaze.  Luckily, it still tasted just fine but was a little grainy.  He made it with butter, baking soda, and sugar.  However, it also called for milk and vanilla and then to boil it.  We had a good laugh and luckily people were still willing to try it and liked it.)

 

Happy Birthday Dave! We hope you make it another 30 years!

We're Still Here!

I don't know what it is but I have not been as dedicated or as enthusiastic about the blogging world. Maybe you've noticed and maybe you haven't. But we are still here and this is what we have been up to the last couple of months.

Brough Parents Visit
My parents came to visit at the end of May/beginning of June. They brought all my "treasures" that have been stored in their basement. It has been a fun but long process going through the boxes. It's only taking long because I like to look through everything first to take a trip down memory lane. Lots of good finds. Anyway, while my parents were here, we went shopping at the Folsom Outlets, bought a new bed, tried out Dave's new Father's Day grill (I gave it to him early) with steak my parents brought and just relaxed. We had planned to go to the zoo but Jocey got her 12 hour bug. I think she is allergic to my parents. Every time we go to Utah, she gets this little bug for less than a day and then she is fine. And since she got it while my parents are here, it must be them, not necessarily Utah. Sorry Mom and Dad. :) Anyway, their visit was short but it was so fun to have them here and to show them our new house. Sadly the only picture I got was of our new bed. But thanks Mom and Dad, we sure do appreciate it!

Roommate Visit
The weekend after my parents were here, we were graced with the presence of Alicia and Stephanie, two of my past roommates at BYU. It was so fun to have them here and play. Their visit was also short but we crammed in lots of fun. Saturday morning, we headed to Vacaville to pick up another past roommate Katie, and then headed to the Jelly Belly Factory. We got lots of free samples. YUM! Then we had lunch and we headed back to our place, minus Katie. It was fun to catch up with Katie who I haven't seen in years though she only lives an hour away. We definitely need to get together more often. Anyway, when we got back home, we put on our swimsuits and headed to the American River. We went rafting for a couple hours in a two person raft. Needless to say, we were a little squished and got lots of comments but we still had tons of fun. That night we BBQ'd.

The rest of the weekend was relaxing. We went to church, took naps, played games, and ate too much food. Monday, the girls left and headed for more adventures along the West Coast. Feel free to come visit again anytime you want.

Father's Day
The next weekend was Father's Day. We had Stake Conference that morning so we had a little extra time. I made a special breakfast then we headed to church. After church I made a special lunch (Breakfast Burritos). As already mentioned, we got Dave a BBQ grill but gave it to him early so we could use it while family and friends were here. Jocey and I made Dave a "King Dad" crown and I made a special dessert (Cookie Oreo Brownies) for family dinner that we had at the McCaffree's.

Ricks' Family Visit
The next week all of Dave's siblings headed into town for his youngest brother's, Matt, Mission Farewell. They were here for a week and we had a ton of fun. We ate like crazy, played lots of games, celebrated the 4th of July, played Monster Mini Golf, went to the temple, and saw the movie, Monster's University. This was the first time we took Jocey to the movie theater and she did great. She didn't sit and watch the whole thing but she was quiet and happy.

Jocey loved her little cousin, Ben. 

 

4th of July

 

Jocey's first movie ticket.

 

A couple days after all the family left, Matt left for the MTC. When we went to say goodbye, Jocelyn wasn't having a good day and wouldn't smile or let Matt hold her. What a little turkey. Eventually, just as we were heading to the car, she decided she would say bye and give him a hug. Silly girl.

 

Random Fun with Friends

Last up is just some random fun we've had with friends the last couple of months. Since it's been so hot we have been hitting up the pool and going to parks/splash parks.
 

 

We went to the zoo with a couple of Jocey's girlfriends, Sienna and Mae.  

 

 

 

 

 

We said goodbye to our friends, the Hudsons, who are moving to Idaho. We ate some donuts, played at a park, and walked to the river to dip our toes in the cold water. We sure are going to miss them!

 

 

 

We've also just been hanging out at home trying to stay cool. We've had lots of dinner/game nights with friends, outings with the missionaries now that I (Kathryn) am a Ward Missionary, temple trips, library story times, and doctor visits (the baby and I are both healthy).

 

We're having a great summer and are sure to have plenty more adventures before it ends. See you next time!

Some hard times and some good times.

So Jocelyn has been very mischievous the last couple of weeks.  Here's what she has done. 

First, she has this interest in gum.  I have tried a couple times to teach her how to chew gum and not swallow it but she hasn't caught on yet.  So I don't let her have gum.  Multiple times I have found her with a couple wrappers around her and she has told me that she ate some gum.  Not so bad.  But one day I came out of my room and found an entire package of gum opened and all the sticks tore into little pieces all over the carpet.  Luckily she hadn't chewed it up so it was pretty easy to clean up but still what a waste.  (Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal to you but gum has been a life saver with this pregnancy.  It keeps me from gagging so I love it and hate to see it wasted.  Especially the good kind.)

Next, one of the worse days of my life.  It was nap time.  Maybe 30 minutes after putting Jocelyn down I hear her calling my name so I go to check on her.  The first thing I notice is the white all over hands and then I slowly start looking around the room.  This is what I see.

And this:

(Please allow a nerd moment.  Does this remind anyone else of Lord of the Rings?  You know the white hand of Saruman?)

Yes, this is diaper rash cream.  Jocelyn was also poopy and I didn't know what to do because I couldn't change her on her table since it was covered with diaper rash cream. So I take her in the bathroom, making sure she doesn't touch anything, because remember that her hands are covered in the cream too, strip her down, wipe her bum and throw her in the tub. Then I head back into the bedroom to assess the damage more closely.

Not only was it all over her changing table but it was on her bed and a blanket on the wall from Thailand! AAAAAGGGGHHHH! I lost it. I had already yelled at Jocey and now I was in tears. I didn't know where to start or what to do. I called Dave and was able to gain some control. I cleaned her bed off and washed her sheets. Luckily most of the cream was on her bed frame and only a little on her sheets so it came off easily. I washed her shirt twice and ended up having to throw it away because it wouldn't come out. I left the rest of the mess for Dave to deal with (he said he would do it) and went and took care of Jocey.

For those of you well acquainted with diaper rash cream, you know that it is water resistant. That stuff does not come off. So I wiped and wiped Jocey until I was satisfied. Dave was able to clean the cream off the table and shoes easily but the canvas totes would not come clean so now they have been turned around. And as for the blanket, I wiped it off and still need to wash it but I'm so scared I'll ruin it.

I did some research and here is what I came up with. Dish soap will supposedly take out diaper rash cream. And if it ever gets in hair use peanut butter then dish soap. I haven't tried it myself but that seems to be the consensus online.

It's almost been two weeks since this unpleasant event.  I can now look at it with calmness and even a little bit of a sense of humor. Just a little bit. But needless to say, all cream, lotions, and powders have been removed from Jocelyn's room.

The last act of mischievousness has to do with crayons. Seriously, Jocelyn hit the terrible twos recently. But it appears only occassionally. Thankfully. Anyway, I was napping and when I come out I see Jocelyn with her coloring books and crayons. No problem. Then I come closer and notice red lines on the carpet. Jocelyn got time out while I tried to figure the best way to tackle the mess. Luckily Dave just bought some spot cleaner and I tried it out. It was amazing. It came right out. Jocey is one lucky girl. Her crayons have been put on probation though. And if you are wondering, the cleaner is Professional Resolve: Spot and Stain. I also just used it on pre-existing stains left by the former owner of the house and they came right out. And that is after I had cleaned the carpets with professional shampoo products before we moved in. I'm sold!

So now that you've heard all the hard times recently, let's talk about some good times. Jocelyn has her moments (see above examples) but for the most part she is still a very good and sweet girl. Since the weather has been amazing, we have been playing outside in the water alot. We started just with a bucket of water but then I decided to get Jocey a kiddy pool and she loves it. Daddy even joined her once.

We also spend a good amount indoors because of said heat. It's already killing me and it's only May. But I'm happy to announce that Jocey likes Harry Potter. She has requested it and I'm not one to turn down Harry. She does get scared sometimes but I just skip those parts. She really likes Dobby.

And in case you were wondering, Jocey has major swag.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Well I have finally come back to the blogging world.  If you have been wondering why I have been gone for the past several months here are a couple of reasons.  1) We just bought a house.  Home ownership is a little crazy.  And 2) I'm pregnant!  Yes, Baby #2 is on it's way.  I am almost 4 months along making my due date the middle of October.  I find out this month if it is another girl or the first boy.  I was feeling pretty crappy but now that I'm feeling so much better, I'm back and so is the blog.  So read the following 100 posts to catch up on our lives.  Okay not that many but there are a few.  So enjoy!

And for your viewing pleasure, here's Jocelyn.