Fun Weekend in Rexburg

 This past weekend we drove up to Rexburg, ID to visit Ben's brother's family for the blessing of their little baby William. The girls were really good on the 4 and a half hour drive there. Of course right when we got there we had to get a picture of the two babies together! Alice is 4 months and William is 2 months. They are both small for their ages. You can definitely tell they are related!

Saturday evening, Adam and Kylie showed us the orchard on the campus of BYU-I, where we went apple picking! First of all, I think it is AWESOME that the BYU-I campus has a beautiful orchard/gardens right on campus and that students can pick their own produce and pay minimal $ for it! Second of all, it was a perfect Fall evening for such a fun Fall activity! Thanks Adam and Kylie! That was fun! 

Poor Alice is usually sleeping when we take these "Family Photo" ops.

There were over 100 different varieties of apples!

Apple Tasting

You could see the Rexburg Temple from the orchard!

Merrilee loved tasting the apples

Alice woke up! We forgot her hat in the car, so a burp cloth had to become a little bonnet for this chilly evening

Sunday morning before church, Adam showed us around campus.  We found a nice spot to eat lunch on campus and as we were getting set up, a squirrel kept on following me! It came right up to me and would have walked over my shoe if I wouldn't have moved it! It also walked right UNDER Adam's foot! It was a funny squirrel and made lunch exciting. After lunch, we went to Adam and Kylie's ward for William's blessing.  It was very lovely. Right after the blessing, I had to go walk the halls with Alice for the rest of the meeting because she just wasn't going to sit through church. Of course she had to fall asleep right before it was time for family photos! :)

After church, Adam and Kylie had everyone over to their place for a luncheon. Alice woke up for that and we were able to get a few pics of the girls together in their cute Sunday dresses!

Merrilee loves giving Alice loves! :)

After the luncheon, we headed back home.  The girls again, did great in the car! What a fun weekend! 

On another note, tomorrow is a big day...Ben starts his new job and Alice has another MRI! 

Good News updates!

Its been a while since we last updated this thing! Here are some updates...

ALICE
Alice is 4 and a half months old! She is still just a tiny little peanut! At her 4 month checkup she weighed in at 11.62lbs (9%), 23in long (9%), and her head circumference 15.5in (9%). She is nice and proportionate!  All 9%!!

Some updates about her health...(If you are not aware of what is going on with Alice, see the posts Here and Here)  We got her September urine tests back and the levels they look for were normal! YES! GOOD NEWS! Within the next couple of weeks, we will take her for another MRI and a visit with the oncologist at Primary Children's hospital.

I took Alice to the eye doctor for a checkup on her Horner's Syndrome. As far as the doctor can tell, it is not affecting her vision. YAY! More GOOD NEWS!  We will just keep an eye on it and get it checked up on every 3 months.

Alice has some torticollis (a condition in which the head is tilted to one side). I took her to physical therapy today for the first time and learned some stretches and positioning to help.  I will take her every week for the next 3-4 weeks and then less often after that. They say it will probably take about 4-5 months to totally correct it.  Hopefully the therapy helps! Because of the torticollis, she tends to lay on one side of her head, causing flattening. There is a possiblility of putting her in a helmet later on, but we will see where she is at in about 2 months. 

Alice is such a happy baby and smiley all the time! She is such a joy to have in our home! She has rolled over a few times from her tummy to her back. She still gets up 1-2 times a night (sometimes 3...Yawn). Merrilee started sleeping straight through the night at 2 months old, so this is new for me. I guess she will sleep through the night when she is ready? I'll give her until she is 6 months old, then I'll start trying "methods" to get her to sleep through the night. 


MERRILEE

Tomorrow, Merrilee will be 20 months old! People always tell you how fast your little ones grow up, so enjoy it while you can! I am beginning to understand that now! Merrilee is very much morphing into a very busy toddler. She is always busy, busy, busy and on the move, exploring everything she can get her hands on! She still LOVES books, and is getting more interested in toys. Lately, she really likes babies. She has recently started being more interactive with Alice and acknowledging her presence! She loves pointing out body parts on her baby sister..."Eyes, Noz, Nom (mouth), Does (Toes)" etc. When Alice wiggles during these anatomy lessons, Merrilee giggles in delight and Alice, in turn, gives huge grins. These are the moments we live for as mothers! So precious! Merrilee also loves to talk! She'll talk herself to sleep, keep a running commentary on whats going on throughout the day, and she still reads to herself. Of course only a quarter of what she is saying is understandable to us, but she knows exactly what she is saying! Merrilee also loves to eat! But she is starting to be a pretty picky eater.  The only green thing she will eat is peas and any other veggie is totally out of the picture for her. I am planning on learning some fun ways to prepare veggies that Merrilee would actually eat...I think carrot bread (NOT carrot cake) might be on the "To-Do" list this week!

MAURA
These two little babies have been keeping me pretty busy! I love staying home with them everyday and enjoy being a "Stay-at-home mom."  I find satisfaction in raising these little ones and finding ways to make our little apartment more cozy for us. I like drawing on my education and teaching skills to do fun things with Merrilee. It will be fun when she is just a little bit older and more coordinated so I can start doing more "preschool" type activities with her. When she's ready, I'll definitely be ready for her! 


I got a new calling in church.  I am no longer the assistant choir director (*tear), I am now a Sunbeam teacher (3-4 year olds in our church's primary program)! I am sad to be leaving a music calling, but am absolutely thrilled to be in sunbeams! These little ones are so darling! Again, I am glad I have an education background for this class of 9-10 little 3 and 4 year olds! So fun!

Recently, I signed up to be a substitute teacher. I still keep in touch with most of the gals I went through the music program in college with and a few of them were teaching music the same year I taught (but they are mostly all still teaching!).  A couple of weeks ago, we had a little reunion with everyone in the UT area that went through the Music Elementary Specialist program together (We missed you Shaunel!). There were only about 9 of us in the class. Man I love these girls! You form a special bond with people you have to treat like children and practice teaching "Rig-a-jig-jig" to! A lot of us are married, some of us have children, but all of us are still involved with music in one way or another. We are all passionate about the power of music! This past week I got to sub for my friend Emily's music classroom while she was at a conference for a couple of days. It felt good to be back in a classroom and it felt so familiar and comfortable teaching those children music! 

The gang with Sis. Kenney (one of our beloved professors)

BEN
Since before graduation, Ben has been searching for jobs. He has had lots of 1st interviews with no offers. Luckily, his internship with Novell has allowed him to stay until he finds a job. Well...GOOD NEWS...he finally got a job offer last week! YAY! He is now the social media director for a company in Springville, UT. (Literally a golf course away from his Novell job!)  Its obviously not in the NW (Where we were hoping he'd get something) but it is a job! He got the offer last week on Wed or Thurs and they asked him if he would go to a convention they were holding in Vegas on Sat and Sun! Ben left Saturday morning, and came back Sun evening. It was good for him to get a feel for the company and start helping the company reach out through social media right away.  This week is his last week at Novell where he will find a replacement for his internship position. He "officially" starts his new job a week from today. HOORAY! We will most likely be looking to buy a house in the Springville/Spanish Fork area in the near future.

We are looking forward to a festive fall season and hopefully I can keep this thing updated more often so I don't have to do these LONG time-consuming posts all the time! ;)
 

Washington Trip

LOTS OF PICTURES AHEAD!

After graduation (See post about graduation Here) and the blessing and all that's been going on with Alice, we decided we wanted/needed a break! We could have gone anywhere, but we wanted to go home to our roots in Washington where we first fell in love and started this whole adventure together!

Ben's parents left Utah on Wednesday, Aug 17. My parents left Utah on Thursday, Aug 18. Our plan was to leave on Friday, Aug 19, but our plans were thwarted! When Friday rolled around, we felt like we weren't ready to leave yet and that we would use that day to get things ready a little better. So we decided to leave on Saturday, Aug 20 early in the morning. Well, that didn't happen. Ben woke up that morning with a bad case of food poisoning. Later that day I had to take him to the doctor to get some IV fluids because he was so sick! Poor guy. It took a few days for him to recover, so on Wednesday, August 24, we finally made it on the road! We made the 800 mile trip all in one day with both the girls! It was doable because we left early in the morning. The girls did great! We stopped about every 2 hours to stretch and feed Alice. It was only the last hour or so that the girls had had enough and both of them let us know!

The girls all loaded up and ready to go!

Merrilee kept busy and happy reading her favorite books

Still happy after about 7 hours on the road!

We arrived at my parents house at about 8pm and put the girls right to bed! 

The next few days we spent with my parents and my Aunt Karen who was in town for a few days. We went blackberry picking, on long walks in beautiful Ridgefield, played games and had fun just hanging out.

Blackberry picking by the side of the road. Blackberry bushes grow like weeds here! They are everywhere!  Oh how we miss blackberry picking! 

At the park!

Merrilee with Nana

Merrilee with Aunt Karen

Blackberry picking Again (Second time). Don't mind my weird pose.

On Friday, Ben's cousin got married. Ben went down for the sealing at the Portland Temple and I met up with everyone at the luncheon afterwards. We didn't get any pictures for documentation, but it happened.  On Saturday, we took the girls down to Portland to the Saturday's Market and Powell's books. 

We saw our good friend Whitney at her booth at the Market. She makes the cutest little girl stuff!  Check out her etsy shop  Here.

Bucket drummers and dancers. Fun!

We were going to go to VooDoo Doughnuts because apparently  you HAVE to go try their donuts if you are in Portland. The line was WAY too long on Saturday, so we went back a few days later and got some. They were good, and interesting, but I still don't get what all the hype is about!

Merrilee checking out Portland from her comfy ride.

We walked down to Powell's City of Books. I LOVE this place! It is a whole city block full of new and used books! I wish we could have spent a little more time there, but the girls were getting fussy and it was almost impossible to maneuver a stroller there. Merrilee (the book lover) was in heaven when we went to the children's section. We got her a little book about puppies. She loves it. 

We saw many street musicians and performers, but this guy was the coolest!  He played the most awesome, captivating cello music! There was a big crowd around him. We were tempted to buy his homemade CD for 10 bucks! We didn't but now I'm kind of wishing we did! He was Amazing!

We got some yummy greek Gyro's for lunch! Gotta love Market food!

Sunday, We went to Church at Ben's parent's ward and then went back to my parents for lunch and to pack up. We spent the next few nights with Ben's parents.

Monday morning, Ben woke up to a phone call from a recruiter he's been working with. A company he interviewed with in Provo a couple weeks ago wanted a second interview either that day or Thursday! He obviously could not make it on Monday, so we decided to cut our trip short to make it back by Thursday. Monday morning, we went to the Salmon Creek Trail with the girls and Ben's mom to pick more berries. (Can you tell we like picking berries?) We love this trail. Ben and I have been on many a walk and many a run on this beautiful 3 mile trail. We barely went a half mile on the trail, but we sure got a lot of berries!

This is just the beginning!

Merrilee was surprisingly very well behaved sitting in her stroller for so long!

Alice decided it would be a good time to take a nap!

You can't see it that well, but I tried to take a picture of a blue/gray Heron. 

I even taught Merrilee how to pick berries and she helped add to the loot! Gotta start em' early!

Blackberries EVERYWHERE!

Monday Evening, we went on a walk on the Columbia River Waterfront. This is where Ben and my romance blossomed. It is "Our" spot. This is another place we've been on MANY walk and talks together. This is the spot where we decided we would marry each other after Ben got home from his mission! It sure is beautiful and peaceful.

The girls loved the walk.

The obligatory kissing picture at the waterfront. 

 Monday night after the kids were in bed, Ben opened his graduation gifts from his parents. He has officially stepped into manhood now that he has TOOLS! Yay! Thank you Mom and Dad Brewer!

This is just a tiny sampling of the generous loot he got!

Tuesday we went to the Oregon Coast with Ben's Parents. It was so much fun! We went with them last August to the beach also...its starting to be a annual thing! Merrilee LOVED playing in the sand. We had fun just relaxing, eating a picnic lunch and enjoying the girls. 

Daddy and daughter on the beach!

Alice was a little fussy at first.

Then she calmed down and dozed off

Playing in the sand!

After she got a nap, Alice was as pleasant as can be!

Merrilee found her favorite "spot" on the beach where she played, relaxed, and watched the ocean waves in this position! Funny girl.

Sorry, another obligatory kissing picture. We went on our honeymoon to the Oregon Coast!

After relaxing on the beach for a couple of hours, we drove to Seaside and walked the main drag.

Salt Water Taffy! 

Wednesday, we started the drive back to Utah to get back in time for Ben's job interview. Instead of doing the drive in 1 day, we decided to take 2 days to get home. It was a little more relaxing. We stopped in Jerome, ID Wednesday night and everyone had a good night's rest. We got back yesterday (Thursday) around noon and got Ben off to his interview. We are a little sad we had to cut our trip short. There were lots of things we were planning on doing, including hiking in the Gorge, going out to eat, playing golf, going to the temple, and enjoying more time with more friends and family. Oh well. Hopefully this job stuff works out for Ben! We are looking forward to a fun Labor Day Weekend! :)