Jack's Birthday: #6

 Ok, so this post is LONG overdue, but I am trying to recommit myself to my blog and get all caught up. I need my life to be in order before this baby comes in 3 months. :)

Just after we returned from the states, Jack had his 6th birthday. It's really hard to believe that my first baby is 6 years old. Jack started out as the best baby. He slept great, ate great, and had a really fun personality. He was extra smart and starting talking really early. We loved listening to his little voice. He loved to sing primary songs and I could just listen to him sing them over and over. He was so sweet!

Then...he turned into a toddler. He was SASSY. He had a mind of his own! Justin and I had no idea where our sweet little baby had disappeared to. Right around his 2nd birthday he started screaming at anything that bothered him. My sister Angie came out to visit us and we wanted to take some family pictures. Every other picture Jack would be yelling at Angie, "Don't you dare take a picture for me!!!" And yes, he said "for". It was a delightful stage, but we were so happy to move on! He has definitely matured and it has been so fun to see his little personality change over the past few years. Right now Jack loves drawing, playing the iPad, riding his bike and razor scooter, his new dog Winston, swimming, making crafts, outer space, jumping on the tramp, playing with his friends, and helping with little babies. He cannot wait for our baby to get here. Every time we see a little baby, he says that it's not fair that they already have their baby and we have to keep waiting for ours. He is excited about being my helper once this little guy gets here. 

For Jack's birthday, he requested a spy party with just our family. He woke up to a birthday bucket filled with Lucky Charms and a couple gifts, including spy glasses. Of course Anderson had to have some spy glasses for the party as well. They thought they were so cool!

 He also requested a trip to the drop slide. Now this is no ordinary slide. It has a CRAZY drop at the beginning! Japan definitely does not have the same safety regulations as the states. The kids LOVE this slide. Even in the heat and humidity, they went on it over and over and over.

 Now that is a serious slide!

 McKenna flew back with Justin to stay with us for the summer, so she joined in on the fun. Justin had to coax her in to it in the beginning, but after she did it once, she went back for more.

 After we got home, we set up a little scavenger hunt for Jack and he found a new bike at the end, which he of course loves and rides way too fast for my liking.

 We even had a little laser beam game set up where they had to try and make it through the hall without touching the "lasers". Jack made it through with flying colors.

 Anderson on the other hand, kept standing up and ruining it. Every time he tried to go through, he pulled the string off the wall and would start crying because he didn't know how to make it through. Apparently this game is not recommended for children under 6.

All in all, it was a great day. 

We love you Jack. We love having you in our family. You are our first born, so don't judge us too hard if we mess up. Parenting has definitely turned out to be a trial and error process for us, and lucky for you, you get to be the guinea pig! 

Surprise Visit

 We booked a last minute trip to my parent's house the end of May. I called my mom asking her if I could show up at her house on Monday, which was only 6 days away. We were so excited about it and decided to surprise everyone else. And boy were they surprised! It was so fun to see everyone's reaction. They had no idea we were coming.

The boys settled right in! To say they were enjoying themselves would be an understatement. Cousins, grandparents, and a huge backyard makes for two very happy boys. They kept saying that they want to move to Washington when we are done with Japan. 

 Anderson was especially attached to my mom. He didn't want to go anywhere that Grandma wasn't going. Even when we went somewhere with her, he just wanted to go back to grandma's house and be with her there. The other day he suggested that we name our baby Grandma Brownell. My mom thought it was a great suggestion!

 We loved going to the Mariner's game! I just love Seattle in general and we grew up going to Mariner's games. It was fun to make that memory with my boys. They loved it as much as I had hoped they would. Jack kept calling it the "Merner's game". We need to work on that. :)

 So many boy cousins!! We are even missing one and a half in this picture.

 People say that Scott and I look alike...so we decided to test it out. 

He just needs a little makeup and some plucked eyebrows!

 It was a raining Memorial Day, so we spent it at the Flight Museum in Seattle. Another favorite pastime of mine.

 Heaton, Penrose, and Brownell boys.

Jack and Anderson helped my mom with her chickens everyday. They would go out with her to let them out of the coop and feed them. Then they would play with them and help her gather them back into the "hoop", as Anderson would say. Jack made sure to ask my mom plenty of questions so we will know what to do when we have our own chickens! And yes...we will have our own chickens. 

My sister's and my mom and I talk about how we wish we lived on a farm wearing rain boots and an apron every day. This picture is my great Grandma Hansen (my Gma Gorrell's mom). She's my inspiration! Ok, maybe I won't have that many chickens, but I totally love this picture.

 We had some cousin time at the pool. 

 Stephanie had planned on coming to visit my mom for a few days and had no idea that I was already in Washington. We hid in my mom's house when she came and jumped out to scare them. We scared them so good that Kayson wouldn't stop crying! The timing with her visit and mine couldn't have been planned out any better. 

 We stopped by to see some of our favorites...the Berglind family! Stephanie and I looked at each other after this picture and said, "How did we turn into moms with kids this big?? When did this happen??" We feel like we should still be in high school or even at BYU-I together. The time goes by too fast.

 We got to see both Tanner and Mckay play baseball. They weren't used to such a big cheering section!

 We had a birthday party for all of the June birthdays. Kelli, Stephanie, and Angie all let Jack blow out the candles for them. Jack was totally spoiled before it was even his real birthday.

 All the cousins, minus Finley. It's not easy getting them all to sit there for longer than half a second!

 After my Grandma Gorrell passed away, I was looking through my pictures and realizing how few I have with her in them. So I tried while I was there to get a couple with my boys and my Grandma and Grandpa Brownell. I wish they were better quality! I didn't even take my big camera with me, so these are all from my iphone. I guess it is better than nothing though.

You can tell from this picture where I get my height from. My dad is 5'5", to give you an idea of how short my grandparents are. I'm lucky I made it passed 5 feet!

 After 2 weeks, we were sad to go back. It felt so good to be in the states. We've had a lot of fun experiences here in Japan, but I desperately needed time to refresh and gear up for another year of being far, far away. It would have been even better if we had more time to go visit Justin's family and other friends. Maybe next year! We told everyone that we are currently taking donations for plane tickets. :)

Oh, and did you know that neck pillows are more comfortable on top of your face?