The Holbrook Family

Thursday, July 10, 2008

4th of July

We went to the Centerville parade on the 4th, what a great parade! I can't believe how much candy they threw, Charlie got more here than he does at Halloween. Kenya was so excited when the horses walked by, she was very entertained sitting in her stroller and watching. After the parade we packed up and went to Park City for the weekend, it's a great way to spend the 4th since it's about 10 degrees cooler up there. We had a great time.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Washington

This last weekend I decided to take a road trip with some of my family up to Washington to visit my Oma and Opa. Mark was going to be gone at a church camp so I was brave and took my two kids by myself. Cami took her 6 year old daughter Kaia and we squished into our maxima and headed north. My brother Colby his wife Erianne and their boy Knox drove up with us. The car ride actually wasn't too bad! Thank goodness for dvd players! Kaia and Charlie were pretty content the whole time taking turns watching movies and Kenya loved watching her own baby einsteins. We left Thursday and on Friday decided to find a beach to go to. The weather was gorgeous and actually got hotter each day. We went to scenic beach and once again Charlie braved the cold water and got in. Kenya loved the rocks and playing with Knox. It was such a pretty view.

I Love that you can see Charlie in the background playing in the water.

On Saturday we took the ferry boat into Seattle. We had to stop at Ivars and eat some fish 'n chips and feed the seagulls of course! This is a must when you visit Seattle. The birds will come snatch them right out of your hands. We went to the aquarium too, Charlie and Kaia got their faces painted, Kenya slept the day away in her stroller, it was great!

We always stop at the German meat market and buy their German weiners. My kids loved them!

After Seattle I took the kids to stay at my good friend Lynette's house. We were exhausted from the day in Seattle and it was so nice to relax at her house, Charlie played with Gavin and Kenya played with Carston, and Abby and Josh played with both of them! They had a blast. It was so good to see her and her family, Charlie and her son Gavin love playing together. The next morning we were going to head back to Bremerton and Lynette offered to take Charlie for another night and he wanted to stay and play of course so I couldn't pass up her offer. It was a nice little break, so thank you so much Lynette! It was so great to see you guys, we still miss having you here!

Since Lynette was so generous in taking Charlie and my mom watched Kenya and Knox we got to go sailing! My aunt Marialynn and her husband Larry have a boat and they are nice enough to take us all out into the Puget Sound and sail. It's so gorgeous and we always really enjoy it. Below is a picture of my aunt and my opa.

The drive home! What a long drive, we had a few missed exits (one that added an extra 70 miles onto our trip!) And it ended up taking us 16 hours to get home, but once again the kids were good and managed to all take a nap for a couple hours at the same time. Charlie and Kenya have both taken 4 hour naps since we got home, catching up on some must needed rest!

Here is my Oma and Kenya. She loved doing "Bacha Bacha Kuchen" (no idea how to spell that) which is a german patty cake. Kenya loved it. We love visiting Oma and Opa and seeing how there house hasn't changed one bit since we were kids. Although it's a little disturbing, and you find yourself thinking why won't they just get new carpet or finish the deck? It brings back so many memories of our childhood it's kind of comforting.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary! Where does the time go! I can't believe I've been with Mark for 8 wonderful years. Mark is such a great husband, I don't tell him enough about all the things he is great at doing, so I think it's time to write some down...

He's loved me through thick and thin (literally!)
When he plays with Charlie he becomes a little boy again, it's so fun to watch and I can tell how much it means to him to have a son to do "boy things" with.
I love the sweet voice he talks to Kenya in and love when he calls her "princess"
He totally surprised me yesterday and sent me some beautiful roses at work.
He accomplishes anything he puts his mind to.
He's never putting himself first, he's always last on his list and most of the time not even on his list!
He loves his family dearly and is always there for them.
He is good at just about everything he does.
He can dance! :)
He puts up with me and my want for things even though he would be happy living without.
He makes me happy everyday and I'm so glad he's mine!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back

Well it's come and gone and I think my body is still recovering! I had a fun weekend running in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back. For those of you who haven't heard about this it's a relay race from Logan to Park City and you have 12 people on your team, you all run 3 different legs. We started at 8:40 Friday morning and finished at about 2:00 Saturday afternoon. It was such a fun experience and I'm so glad Paige asked me to do it and that I did it! I really lucked out on my legs because I never had to run in the super hot heat of the day. My first leg was about 11:00 am but it was right before Avon Pass and although it was my hottest run it was nothing compared to what others had to do. My second leg was through Morgan County and the sun had just gone down behind the mountain, about 9:00 pm. My third leg was the one I was most worried about because it had a couple good hills in it and it was on the last day when we had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep. But I took an energy drink and I was good to go! I started at about 6:45 am so the sun was just coming out but the air was nice and crisp. I ran up past Jordanelle and it was beautiful. Like I said, I really lucked out on my running times. Others had to run in the middle of the freezing cold dark night (It got down to 45 degrees!) We had a great time with everyone in our van and I think I'll be signing up for next year!

The Dashing Divas!

Here's Cami again running down Trappers Canyon in the 85 degree weather.

This is after my second run, thinking "What am I doing!"

We actually got decent shirts for this race, ones that I'll probably find use for. Lot's of people ask us if we're twins, why would you think that?

My last run, the sun came out and the layers came off!

Here's the view at the top of my last run, it was so pretty!

My cute family came up to Park City to see us cross the finish line, Charlie ran up to me and said "Mommy, I'm so proud of you for winning!" It was cute.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Bear Lake 1/2 Marathon and Beach

Yeah, our computer is working in one room of the house! Here are some pictures from Bear Lake. Let me just say I have never been a runner, if I can do this, anybody can! After the race we got to relax at the beach, Charlie was brave enough to get in the 45 degree water, he must be my son. Kenya LOVED the sand until she discovered a chair she could climb in, she sat in that thing for like an hour I think! Thanks to Amy and Jared for letting us stay in their cabin, we had a great time!

Here we come! We are actually trying to run fast right here although it looks like we're walking. :)

Here's her chair that she loved

Kenya with cousin Greta

No More Internet!

Our internet has disappeared here at my dad's. We were just picking up somebody's signal and we can't get it anymore so I just have my dad's computer which doesn't have my pictures on it hopefully soon we will be able to figure something out. We went to Bear Lake last weekend and Cami and I ran our first Half Marathon! I was pretty excited that I was able to finish it. Pretty tired for the last 5 miles but didn't stop thanks to Cami who was a few steps in front of me for the last few miles. We averaged about a 10 minute mile and finished in 2 hours and 12 minutes I believe. Wasatch Back here we come!!! Wish me sleep!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Snowbird in June

We've been planning a trip up to Snowbird so we could hike to the peak in preparation for the Wasatch Back relay race that Cami, Erianne and I are running (along with 9 others on our team.) Anyway my mom got us rooms up at Snowbird so we could stay up there the night before and hike to the peak in the morning. As it got closer we realized we would definately be hiking through some snow, mostly as we got higher on the mountain but when we woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning it was full on snowing! I've never seen so much snow in June, it was crazy. After some discussion we decided we would do the loop which doesn't take you all the way up to the peak but would still be a good hike. So we put on our yak tracks and bundled up and set out in the June snow. It was still beautiful but I just couldn't get over the fact that it was June and we were hiking in snow. It was great to be out in the fresh air though and was still a lot of fun. Afterwards we got to eat a delicious breakfast at the Forklift. Thanks mom for the Snowbird hook-ups and for being our tour guide on the mountain!

Getting ready for our hike, it's snowing in this picture but stopped once we got started.

Still so pretty no matter what's on the ground.

Finishing up the loop and heading back down the mountain.

The kids are getting close to out numbering the adults. Scary!!

The World Through Kids Eyes

August 2013

Leila has officially stopped saying "I wanna hold you" :( She would always say that to us and I have never corrected her but I guess she figured it out for herself because tonight she said "hold me". She's growing up too fast!

November 2011
I told Kenya tonight that I was glad Heavenly Father sent her to me. She said "Why did Heavenly Father send me to you?" I said "well we were all a family before we came to earth, in heaven." She said "Mom, how did you get up in the sky?" "I don't know." I said. "Did Santa give you a ride?" Followed with giggles by both of us.

November 2010
Today I was telling Mark about how angry I got at Kenya for coloring on the table for like the millionth time. She heard me talking about it and said "You're not a nice mom, you're like the BEAST! I'm gonna put you in da gawbage and get a new mommy!" Then later Mark asked her when he was reading her a bedtime story "Kenya, am I the King?" She said "No, you're the debil (devil)." Charlie was drawing a picture of our family for school and drew me with my mouth open he said "Look mom, you're yelling." I don't think we're leaving the right kind of impression on our kids here.

July2010
Today Kenya came up to Mark and said "Daddy I have to tell you something." She then made him bend down so she could whisper in his ear "You're the best dad in the whole wide world." He thought maybe I told her to say that but she came up with it all on her own. She then did the same thing to me. I love hearing that little whisper in my ear.

June 2010
Kenya randomly makes comments on the baby in my belly, it usually goes something like this. "I like your big belly mom" then "I like your baby Leila." Then it's followed by "I have a big belly too." Tonight that was followed by "It's hooge."

March 2010
When Kenya is demanding something I will tell her she needs to ask nicely. She then yells at me "NICELY!" Not quite what I was meaning.
If you say something like "How are you doing?" She'll say "Kenya" instead of good, or bad, or sad, or happy. Kinda cute.
She's really starting to put her sentences together and express herself a lot better. It's fun to have conversations with her.

March 2010
At dinner we were discussing how babies just drink when they're newborns and don't eat food. We asked Charlie if he knew what they drank and he said "yes, milk from your..." he paused for a few seconds and we were anticipating what was going to come out, then he said "from your belly!" What innocence.
February 2010-
Kenya has been saying some cute things lately most mornings she comes into our bed and snuggles in right in the middle of us. This morning she snuggled up next to Mark, put her hand on his cheek and said "daddy you're my sweetie girl." We had to laugh. Last night we were in the car, Mark was on the phone and Charlie was being really loud so he turned around and grabbed his leg to get him to be quiet. Charlie started crying and Kenya got really mad "don't hurt my sista! You otay Charlay?" We explained it was her brother and she said it all over again, this time with brother. She's been calling a lot of people her sister lately, she's a bit confused.
I made chocolate football cake bites for the superbowl and whenever she finishes her food she says "I want a hapball!" The first couple times I didn't know what she was saying until she ran over to them and pointed, now we know that hapball is football.

July 2009-
Charlie was asking me if his dreams would come true (I thought he was referring to bad dreams because he's been so scared of having bad dreams lately thanks to watching "Thriller") I told him they wouldn't come true and he kept asking me about it. Finally he said "Well daddy's dream came true when you were his wife!" Awww, thanks bud!

June 2009-
Yesterday Charlie randomly said to me "You know mom Jesus is sad when you're mean to me." I guess what goes around comes around. He also told me as we were reading "Little Red Cap" (the real Little Red Riding Hood story) "She shouldn't have lied to her mom" he said. I said "No she should've minded her mom and not gone off the path." He said "well sometimes I lie to you." At least he's honest, well sometimes. :)
May 2009-
Kenya loves the park. Every time we drive by one she freaks out "side, side! Mama side mease, meeease!" (slide please) she says "mease" all the time, it kills me! So cute. She also loves to say "go way!" Every time she's mad at someone or we're trying to get her to do something she doesn't want to its "go way!"

February 2009-Charlie said a prayer the other day that went like this "Grateful we could go to Disneyland, grateful for Halloween, grateful for Christmas, in the name..." That was it! Kind of funny.

December 2008-Last night when Mark was putting Charlie to bed Charlie said "Dad, I think Jaxon isn't choosing the right." Mark said "Yeah, how come? " Charlie said "Because he likes BYU and that's not choosing the right." Mark was pretty proud.

December 2008-

Charlie had a Christmas pajama party at preschool. He got a gift from his teachers. He opened it up and it was a blanket they had made for him, "Wow, a blanket!" I said. Charlie said "It's beautiful!" Then a bit later he was doing a puzzle while I was on the computer and out of nowhere he just says "Merry Christmas mom." He can be so sweet.

November 2008- With Christmas right around the corner and his birthday a couple weeks ago Charlie wants everything he sees on TV. He'll be upstairs watching TV and you'll just hear him say "How 'bout that!" And if it's a girl toy it's "How 'bout that for Kenya!" I don't know why it's "how 'bout that" but it puts a smile on my face every time he says it. It's too cute.

I love how honest Charlie is. The other day he went to the bathroom and when he came out I said "wash your hands" as he came out he got distracted for a minute and then said "Oh yeah, I got poop on my finger." And went to the bathroom. The same day he told me that while he was playing outside with his friend Brady he peed in our dirt, just randomly told me later that afternoon with a guilty look on his face. I was surprised because he hates peeing outside!

I took Charlie to Target to pick out a Halloween costume. I thought he would pick one out immediately and probably choose spider man or batman, well he wasn't really jumping on anything he saw, until he saw a transformer costume he said "I want to be a transformer!" I said "Ok do you want to be Bumble Bee?" "No, I want to be Octopus Prime!" I think it's so cute to hear him say it I haven't told him it's Optimus Prime.

One morning while we were getting ready for church Charlie in his best little sick voice says to me "Mom, (cough cough) I can't go to church, I'm sick (cough cough) see I have a cough.! Isn't he a little young to be doing that?

Last night I was kneeling down by Charlie as he said his prayers. This is what he said- "...Grateful I could go to preschool, grateful for daddy and Kenya," then he reached out and stroked my hair, "and grateful for mommy's hair." He was so happy yesterday when I came home from work and my hair was done and not in a pony tail anymore.

Charlie's Aunt Kristen asked him one day "Charlie what did you do today?" He said " I played with Samara." She said "Oh, is that your friend?" "No!" He said, " she's my husband!"

Mark sold his car and Charlie was with us as we dropped it off to the new owner. Charlie said "Dad, where is your car going?" Mark said " I sold it, it's going bye bye." Charlie said "All our of our stuff going bye bye?" I hope we're not traumatizing him! :)

Charlie has been learning about the Holy Ghost and he seems a bit confused at the concept. Today out of the blue he asked me "Mom, where is the Holy Ghost?" I tried to explain to him that he's a spirit and he can bring good feelings to you etc.. Then he said "Oh, can I touch his blanket?" (This is what a ghost is to him, somebody with a blanket over them.) So then I explained that he's not a real ghost he's a spirit and he doesn't have a body etc. Then he said "Yeah, but he almost has a body, and when I pull off it's blanket is the Holy Ghost a girl or a boy?" Let's just say he's still confused. :)

We went to Discovery Gateway today and as we were walking in there was a little person standing by the entrance. Charlie looks at me and says "Mom, that was a wittle mom." I thought that was pretty politically correct. :)

Today at church Charlie was playing with some cards on the bench during sacrament when I looked over at him he seemed to be pondering something and said to me "mom, am I going to get baptized?" I said "Yes, when you're 8 you can get baptized." "But I want to get baptized now!" (The lady sitting in front of us turns around and whispers "precious." :)) I told him again he could when he's eight. Then he said "Can daddy help me get baptized?" I guess he is learning something in primary and FHE!

Almost every morning I have a battle with Charlie on what he's going to wear. At least the mornings when I care what he wears and want him to look decent. Last night he got to pick out a movie to rent, he chose a Buzz Lightyear one (this is his latest obsession.) This morning I brought out some clothes and he saw them and said "No, not that shirt! That shirt won't make me Buzz Lightyear!" I said "Oh, what shirt will?" "Come here, I'll show you." And he took me into his room and insisted that he wear a white baseball T with green sleeves. This is the closest shirt he has that resembles Buzz Lightyear's costume. Pretty creative kid.

Charlie is in sunbeams now but we've been watching Cami's kids this weekend at her house so he went to nursery today with his cousin Luke. When we got home I asked him what he learned in nursery. He said "nothing." I said "didn't you have a lesson, you must have learned something." Very adamantly he responded "No we don't learn anything in nursery, we just have snacks!" No wonder why he loves it! :)

Cami has a piano in her house and yesterday towards the end of Charlie's nap Luke started softly touching the keys. Charlie woke up and came out of the bedroom with his hands out to the side palms facing up and said in a sweet surprised voice "I wake up and heard the piano singing." Mark and I thought it was too funny.

Those of you who have been around us probably know that Charlie hates my hair in a pony tail. I have no idea where this came from but for about a year he has been like this. It's getting better but at first he would throw a huge fit and say "Don't cutta your hair!" Then I explained to him it was a pony tail so it became "Take out your ponytail!" And he would grab my hair and try and get the elastic out. He's made progress over the past year, it went from forbidding it to throwing a fit but on occasion after I explained to him I was going to the gym or didn't have time to do my hair a few times a day I could make it through the day. Now He doesn't immediately respond to it when he sees it but at some point through out the day he'll comment on it. The other day he was going down for his nap and he said "Mom when I wake up will you take your ponytail out?" I can't believe a three year old boy could care so much about a ponytail! So much for short hair, he probably wouldn't speak to me for weeks! :)

After we sold our house we moved into my dad's. Charlie loves being around his grandpa and the other day he was sitting on the potty and I said "Charlie, do you need help?" and he said "no, I want grandpa to wipe me!" I said "no, grandpa doesn't wipe you, just mommy." So a couple days later he says to grandpa "Grandpa, are you a boy or a girl?" Grandpa said "I'm a boy." Charlie said "if you're a boy then you can wipe me!" Don't know how he decided that one but I guess he's got it all figured out!

Kenya has been sick the past day and tonight at dinner Charlie said "why isn't Kenya eating?" I said "Because she's sick." He said "Oh, does she have a snotty nose?" I said "No, she has a tummy ache." "Oh, did she eat an egg?" "No, I said ache, not egg, it means her tummy hurts." In classic Charlie response to everything "Oh." :)