Brooklyn in 9 months now. She is 23 lbs. 2 oz, 100% and 19.5 inches, 100%. I'm not sure where our little girl  came from! The Dr. is predicting she will be a tall girl! Must take after the Halterman side!

She never stops. Crawls all over the house getting into trouble. She loves to climb the stairs and play with Jackson. 

And you never find her without something in her mouth, anything she can find goes in!  She is such a happy baby. Still only two teeth, but she knows how to use them!

Here is Jackson on his 1st day of preschool. He was so  excited, and loves it. He only goes 2 days a week for 3 hours each day, but it is good for him to get out and socialize. No tears for him or mom. Hopefully that will continue!!

CA Trip

This summer our big trip was to CA. We got to see Bobby's Aunt Sandy, although no pictures were taken, oops.  We went to see Cora, Amber's baby blessed, yet again where was our camera?  But we did get some fun pictures. Jackson loved the beach and the ocean this year. He couldn't get enough, even though we only got to spend a few hours there.

Brooklyn is a natural water-baby. She had no fear when it came to the ocean. She just crawled right in, and loved the water in her face. The sand didn't stop her either. 

We spent one morning at Birch Aquarium. Jackson loved every minute of it. He got to touch a sea star, but passed on the sea cucumber! The sharks were too cool, he liked the leopard sharks. We even saw shark eggs with a shark moving around inside about to hatch.

Bobby didn't have any fun the whole time!

Jackson is such a ham! Luckily Brooklyn slept through most of the aquarium, so no screaming babies for us!

We went to an Angels game one night, where  they won in the bottom of the 10th inning. And we got to see a cool fireworks show after. The kids enjoyed themselves and did well considering it was 10 PM before we even headed to the car. 

We also went to Downtown Disney for a night. It was a lot of fun. We thought about checking out Disneyland, but  heard it was too crazy in the summer rush, although our hotel was about 5 minutes from it. A good trip all in all, although too short.

We spent a few minutes exploring the town Bobby grew up in, Rancho Santa Margarita, from about  2years - 2nd grade. It was fun to see around and play in the nice cool afternoon sun. Not something you get in AZ!

Amber and Sean came back to AZ with us for a few days, and the kids just loved Cora. 

Especially Jackson. He always had to kiss her, and make her smile. He is just too cute.

Brooklyn is eight months now, and is getting into lots of trouble. She is crawling, and trying her hand at the stairs. She also likes to stand, and pulls herself up on everything. She will be walking before we know it. We're not ready for her to grow so fast!

We couldn't get very good shots of her for the 8 months pictures, she kept trying to roll over and crawl, but she is still huge and getting bigger everyday. It may be good if she walks soon so Mikelle doesn't have to carry her so much!

She has her two bottom teeth, and uses all the time. She puts everything in her mouth, and chomps hard! She is such a happy little girl, and just loves her brother. He makes her laugh all the time, and is always so concerned when she cries. He is a great big brother.

4th of July

For the 4th we went to Prescott. It was a great little vacation to get out of the heat and see Mikelle's parents. 

We went downtown to the craft booths. We avoided most of the crowds, and the rain, so we can't complain. Jackson wouldn't try the cotton candy though, so the adults had to suffer through eating it!!

We did the Gherald Brownlow race, Bobby the 10K and Mikelle and Kristin the 2 mile fun run, although they walked.  This was how we all felt after, but it was fun all the same!

Brooklyn at 7 Months!

Here is our little princess at 7 months. She is growing too fast. She is around 21 lbs. and is now crawling! She loves to swim and play with Jackson. She is so happy and loves to smile. She is getting her 1st tooth and already using it on anything she can get into her mouth!

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day weekend we went camping in Williams, AZ with Grandma and Papa Halterman and Aunt Kristin. We had a great time riding the A.T.V.'s, hiking and just being together. It was much colder and windier than expected, but we still had a great time.

Brooklyn decided she likes banana peels, although I think it would have been okay if we never discovered that! She did great while we were there, but it helped to stay in the trailer with Grandma and Papa to escape the cold and wind!

We bought Jackson a baseball glove and T to start practicing his mad skills. He loved it. He still hasn't decided if he's a lefty or not, but Bobby got him a lefty glove to help him decide! He had a lot of fun, and Papa and Bobby played with him a lot.

Our little Brooklyn is 6 months now, and really not so little! She is 19 lbs. 12 oz., 97% and 28 3/4 inches long, 100%. She is eating solids, but not too sure she likes them yet. She is such a good baby. Happy most the time and content to sit and play with her brother. He loves to play with her, but only if she doesn't take his toys!!

She sits up fairly well for her age, only falling occasionally. No teeth yet, but any day  they will start popping up.

A quick hike in Prescott on Peavine Trail. Bobby didn't carry both kids the whole way, but  far enough!

Jackson is all boy, and his new obsession is tools.  He loves to wear these goggles  and loves to have mom and dad wear them too. One day we will get a picture of Bobby wearing them!

Easter 2001

This year was the first year Jackson really got into Easter, and it was great. He loved the egg hunts. We did at least five on Saturday and three Sunday. We did it inside and out, with real and fake eggs, and he would have kept going if we had let him! He is just so fun to be with, and has so much energy.

He also really enjoyed dying eggs, as did Kristin and Papa!! Jackson wanted every egg green, his favorite color.  He would put it in the purple, then take it out and want to put it in the green, so we had a lot of green eggs but he had fun, and there was no dye spilt!!

And of course we all had to look cute for Easter pictures. We had matching colors, but Bobby was thankful he and Jackson were in green, and not pink!


On a side note, Mikelle spent last week at home, mostly alone!  Our Ward was great and they helped by bringing in meals and taking Jackson almost daily. It went well, so she is back in Prescott this week, then after Mother's Day she will be back in Phoenix full time. She still has a lot of pain, but is able to manage if she takes things slow and easy. Hopefully in time they can figure out what to do about the pain. Until then we will just keep trying new things!!

We are finally potty trained over here! It has taken a little while, but Mikelle has been in no shape to take on that task. In the end though, it worked out as Jackson has done awesome. 

The first day of training, Jackson insisted that Brooklyn wear underwear too. She looks good in Thomas The Train!

Up in Prescott Jackson has been Papa's good helper, mostly in the garden, but you never know with those two.

Jackson and Brooklyn have loved being in Prescott. Mikelle is hoping to be back in Phoenix for good after Mother's Day. She is doing a few days this next week in Phoenix as a trial run, and if it goes well she will be back in May. She is still having a lot of pain, but less, so that is good and she is getting stronger every day.

Brooklyn will be 6 months May 2nd. She is so big, and mostly sitting up on her own. She doesn't like strangers, or being in a room alone and we're not sure how she will react to losing grandma's attention 24/7. Hopefully for Mikelle's sake, she'll be fine!!

While it is becoming summer in Phoenix, we have been trying to take advantage of the cool mornings. Kristin came to help take care of the kids while Mom is camping, so it was great to have her at the park. Jax has been shying away from slides lately, so Kristin helped him see how fun they can be! Really she's just a big kid at heart and the kids love that!!

Jax is getting more adventurous and loves to climb. We were impressed with all he did at the park. 

Brooklyn slept through the park, but loved playing in our ball pit once we got home.  She is doing so well, and is such a cutie.
Mikelle is getting stronger too, and we are hoping to be back in Phoenix for good at Easter time!

RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

Since we moved to AZ we keep saying we need to go to the Renaissance Festival, but never go. This year Kristin was insistent, so we made it happen, and had such a great time. Bobby had never been, and Mikelle hasn't been in about 15 years. Things have really changed with actual buildings, a stadium and tons more people! Jax loved every minute of it, and tried a few things we didn't think he'd go for. He loved the stocks, but maybe because it was his idea!

This boat ride was fun for Jax. This sweet lady and her boy were going, and offered to take him. He loved it, and it was man powered like all the rides there. 

Kristin of course found the swords and was a bad example to her nephew!!(Not that Bobby wasn't rooting for Jax to play with the swords)! 

We had to get a sword and shield for him to play with. As of yet, nothing has been broken, but just wait! They are wood swords, and heavy.

Jax also got an ax painted on his arm. This surprised us since normally he won't have anything to do with stuff being put on his body, like temporary tattoos or even stickers. He loved it though. He walked around all day with his arm out so not to smudge it! We couldn't convince him it would be safe by his body. He showed it off to everyone and was so proud of it.

Bobby had to get a turkey leg, but really they are so good!

Jax didn't want to ride the elephant, which really made Kristin and Bobby sad, but we think it was just too big for him. He did love the camel though. He rode it with Tina, a friend we met through Bobby's work, and her niece Chloe. It was great to have another child there, even though she's 5, and the more adults the better!