June 2015

June, June. This post is exceedingly random. But here it goes, anyway. Lots of these pictures are from Troy's phone. It's always fun to see what gems he has on his phone once I finally get around to taking the picture off of it.

Clara "reading" the ward newsletter like a grown up. She was talking to herself all the while. She must have found some good stuff in there.

Jackson dressed up in his safety goggles, apron, and rifle? Ha. His wardrobe choices never disappoint. I like that you can see one of Troy's shoes in the picture, showing the angle he took the photo from his spot lying on the floor.

In June we got new living room furniture! Yay!! I saved up my work money to buy us a new couch and some chairs. Memorial Day Sales for the win! It was so fun to pick out new things that actually all match and go with my desired color scheme. Besides our mattress when we got married, this is the only time we have bought a new item of furniture. So, I guess I wanted to document that.

In June I kind of hand a freak out mom moment and went to the temple. It's amazing how going to the temple can adjust your perspective and help you feel peace. I'm grateful our temple is so close to us.

In June I got way into exercising. It actually started about a month before that when I bought a Garmin vivofit at the same time my Mom and sisters did. The competition to get the most steps has motivated me to get up early and run every morning. I'm exercising regularly for the first time in my life and it feels great. One week I had to take a screen shot of my steps because I hit a personal record.

Other June randomness. A funny picture of Jackson, Clara and Gray standing in front of the TV. A crafty project I made for Chelsey and James as a going away present. And lastly, Jackson being both funny and cute looking at his baseball cards in his bed while wearing his baseball cap. The T ball is having an affect on him. :)

Goodbye June.

Barneck-Martin-McMillan BBQ

In June we had a BBQ with the Martin and McMillan families to wish James and Chelsey Clegg off before they moved to Florida to start med school. It was so much fun! Our three families used to do so much together when we were younger. Now our families have all grown so much, we don't see each other very often, so this was great.

The kids had a blast running around. Jackson and Andrew Taylor hiked all through my mom's flowers. Ha. Good thing she doesn't mind. Our kids loved playing with Jeremy and his girlfriend Bailey. She is just darling and so cute with our kids. We played until it was dark and the kids were good and dirty (and in Clara's case soaking wet since she was loving playing in the drink ice bucket.) It was a great night!

Father's Day 2015

Father's Day Weekend. Troy had to work. My Dad wanted to get his boat up and running and was nice enough to do it at our house so Jackson could "help." Jackson loved it. Even though it was about 400 degrees outside that day. Ha. Such a nice Grandpa. I'm so grateful for the way my Dad finds ways to spend special time with our kids. It's so sweet.

Troy got home early on Sunday and we were able to give him his present. A BBQ! I saved up my work money and bought it without him knowing. It was so fun to surprise him with it. We were headed to a BBQ at my grandparents afterwards, and Jackson said, "We could have the BBQ here now!"

We got to have dinner with my family and the Mabeys. I love it when Troy gets off early enough to celebrate with us. I'm so grateful for Troy and all that he does for our family. He works so hard to take care of us. He always puts spending time with me and the kids at the top of his list. Whether it's constructing Lowe's Build and Grow kits or making sure the kids get in lots of wrestling time. There is no one I would rather be on this adventure of raising children with than Troy.

Happy Father's Day Babe!

Reading with Grandma

Jackson has had a bit of a hard time with reading. The main reason has been he has little interest in it. Another reason, the poor kid is a perfectionist like his parents. (Whoops. Sorry Jackson.) He gets frustrated if he can't do something well right away. We are working on reading and hoping it will click with him soon. One day he read with my mom and it was the cutest thing. He started to make a breakthrough that day. Hence all the cute smiles in his pictures. :)

Kallie Bahr

{06.13.15} We went to my friend Adam Bahr's wedding reception. While we were there I saw his sister, Kallie. Kallie and her triplet sisters were one year ahead of me in high school. The Bahr family is incredible. I've been able to talk to the mom CarolyAnn Bahr a few times since Clara was born. I always enjoy our visits. 

The Bahrs have 15 children. Twelve, 13, and 14 are the triplets. CarolAnn had a hard time after Kallie was born with Down syndrome. She felt strongly they should have another child not long after the triplets were born. She said her husband thought she was crazy. Ha. Their son Adam (my age) was born 15 months after the triplets. CarolAnn said having Adam helped her through the hard time she was having and made Kallie try harder in everything she did. 

Does this story sound a little familiar? It's so similar to our experience with Clara and Gray! CarolAnn told me she wen to some support groups after Kallie was born and all they talked about was what their children would never be able to do. (I think the resources were much more limited 30 years ago than they are now.) CarolAnn decided she wasn't going to let anyone tell her what Kallie could or couldn't do. She left that kind of thinking and never looked back. 

I can't help but think CarolAnn's way of thinking made a huge impact on Kallie. Kallie is amazing in so many ways. She is so independent. She has served a service mission for the church. She has spent time living with various siblings and I believe, on her own. She rides the train from Bountiful to UVU to take classes. She is incredible. When we saw her at the wedding, I hadn't seen her in years and wasn't sure if she'd remember me. When I saw her, before I'd even said anything, she said, "Oh, hi Brooke!" I just love her so much.

When we found out Clara had Down syndrome, some of my first thoughts were of Kallie. I thought if Clara can grow up to be like Kallie Bahr, what more can we ask for? Thinking of Kallie has been my inspiration to push Clara and has given me hope in hard times. There is such a wide range of function with Down syndrome, and we don't know what Clara will be able to do as she gets older. But knowing Kallie has accomplished so much gives me hope for the future. Do you want to know the best thing? Kallie and Clara share the same birthday. ❤️ It was such a fun night seeing old friends.(We attended the reception with our buddies the Dallings which made the night even more fun!) The Bahr family is an inspiration to me.

These Crazy Kiddos

These crazy kiddos of mine. They are very busy right now. But I sure love them. Motherhood is so hard sometimes, but so rewarding. One day I came home from the store and the kids were SO excited to see me. It's kind of fun when I know they missed me. I had to take these pictures of them being so cute hanging on the fence. I'm so glad I have this job of being their mom.

Swimming Lessons

In June, Jackson did two sessions of swimming lessons. The first session he did with his buddy James from Kindergarten. He loved that. It was fun for me to visit with his mom, Janna, while they swam. The only hard thing was that Gray and Clara REALLY wanted to go swimming too. That made for a long month of going to the rec center and making them sit in a stroller to watch. :/ I had to bring suckers to keep them occupied during the half hour lesson. By the end of the of the month every one was ready for swimming to be over except for Jackson. He loved every minute. I'm hoping next year we can have Clara and Gray take lessons too. Perhaps all at the same time. Wouldn't that be great?

T Ball

Jackson started T ball in June. He played with a couple boys from our ward (Seth Preston and Andrew Mikell) plus a friend from school (Braylie Toone) and he just loved it. He was quite the little player too. It was fun to see him progress so much during the 5 weeks he played. The season was a little crazy though. There were two games each week and practices on Saturday. Clara and Gray did not like to stay put during the games. Clara especially thought running onto the field would be the best thing to do. Ha. So the games were a tad bit crazy, but it was worth it to see Jackson have so much fun. We got some great videos of Jackson hitting. By the end of the season he was hitting virtually all the pitches he got. Such a cute little ball player.