Photo shoot

 Brinners and I had a little photo shoot last week! This little bridge is in our apartment complex. I love having a camera! I think besides my family it would be at the top of my list of things I would grab if there was a fire.
 It's really hard to get her to look at the camera. That's why most of the pics she is looking somewhere else.

Ha I think she looks silly in the one below.

This ones pretty funny too. She loves that bunny.

goodbye!

Brinners and projects

Brinlee has been making the funniest face ever since we moved and it cracks us up!  Something must be in that Portland water because our friend's little boy started doing the same thing when they moved here too. At first she would do it when she didn't want or like something, but McKay and I would always burst out laughing when she would do it so now she just does it to make us laugh.

This is the best pic I could get of it. It is so much funnier in person. So you will have to come visit us to see what we mean! 

Some other things Brin's been doing since we got here are: folding her arms during prayers (makes me giggle which is very inappropriate during prayer especially in church) , and waving to EVERYONE she sees. It has become very hard to go to the store with her because she has to wave at everyone that comes within 50 feet of us. And of course everyone stops and says hi and says how cute she is! It's cute but adds 20 more mins to our trip. But I hope she never changes : )

The first day we got here I found this by the garbage. It was a little rough around the edges but still in really good shape. While we were in Rexburg I got free paint at Lowes. McKay said that I was silly for getting it. Not so silly anymore now is it McKay!

Before

 It's an off-white and we like it for now.

 After

 A dresser that McKay's Parents gave us! I can't find the before pic but it was about the same color as the "before" entertainment center. But here is the after. I painted with the same paint as the entertainment center, modge-podged the doors and put new door knobs on it.  I got my inspiration from a craft store in the burg. Thanks Janis for giving it to us and thanks mom for helping me with it : ) 

It is really addicting to find something and redo it! Especially when what you find is free or is passed on to you from family!

 Last Sunday we went to the Portland Temple. the grounds are so beautiful! missionaries give tours every sunday and they have a new Visiter's Center that has a short movie and interactive info about temples and stuff. It is really neat and is supposed to be dedicated in a few months. 

 Brinlee looking at the beautiful temple

 Here's the fam!

And I almost forgot the story about Brin being afraid of her reflection. Well in our old apartment the only mirror we had was the one in the bathroom which was small, so I guess Brin has never really seen her reflection in the mirror before. Our new apartment has mirrors on every closet! So for the first few days whenever Brin would see her reflection in the mirror she would freak out and scream! It was so funny. We have now named her reflection Twinlee. It took McKay and I a bit to figure out what was wrong with her, but when we did we were dying! She would go to the corner of the mirror where she couldn't see herself then pop her head in front of the mirror and freak out. Sometimes she would raise her arms and again freak out when Twinlee would do the same. I'm kind of sad that she is now used to seeing Twinlee. Now she will just wave to her, which is also pretty cute.

Here she is staring at Twinlee making sure she doesn't go anywhere! (please excuse the mess we had just moved in : ))

The City of Roses

   Well we finally made it to our new home for the next 4 years on Wednesday. Then on Thursday found out that McKay's dad had some work for him to do so we zoomed home from Ikea, threw some clothes in a bag (then forgot to grab Brinlee's bag and diapers) and headed north 11 hours to Fairfield, MT. Oh the adventures! But we are really glad that we were able to come up to Montana one more time before school starts to be with family. McKay is about 4 hours away giving Potable water to firefighters. It's a crazy job because fires can be so unpredictable. One day it's here the next day gone and then the next day another has already burned down 10 houses. We are really grateful that McKay has the opporunity to work and to help his dad out. Never in my life did I think I would pray for fires! There's a lot of things I pray for that I never thought I would being married to a farm boy : )
  I took a bunch of pics of our box filled apartment, then forgot to bring the camera of course. But it looks a lot like our appartment in Rexburg, except it's not stuck in the 70's except for the fact that theres NO light in the bedrooms (so I'm thinking a man must have designed it cause no way would a girl forget to put lights in a room that you get dressed in), and it's on what would be the busiest street in Rexburg times 10, there are 2 Targets within 3 miles from our place, and the Zoo is right down the street too. Ok so it's a little different from our home in Rexburg.
   I feel like going to Portland was a trip or some kind of dream and that when McKay is done working we will head back to Rexburg and start another semester of school. It will be a weird transition but we are so grateful for it. My testimony of our Savior has grown a lot since McKay and I have been married. especially after this move. I know he knows each of us better then anybody else does and knows exactly what we need, when we need it. Now I don't know how I am going to survive without hanging out with my sis jess and Krew or having my mom come down to visit all the time, but I know that this is where we are supposed to be right now and I am excited.
    A few facts about our new home:
- Nicknames: City of Roses ( Mother I think it's time you see the gardens again : )), beertown (great...), and soccer City USA (double great... I am not a fan of soccer! remember our little trip here Mom, Dad, and meg?)
- As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States, but has Approximately 2,260,000 people that live in the Portland metropolitan area.
- Portland has a climate marked by warm, dry summers and wet but mild winters, which makes it perfect climate to grow roses. (Mother don't you think it's time that you and dad change locations?)

I think Mckay will be going to school for his 3rd and 4th year a few buildings to the right of the the long bridge in the middle. They are still in the process of building it.

post for when we get back: in 24 hours we have- heard someone almost get killed, almost got killed oursleves, Brinlee's affraid of her reflection, and can you guess where we got our new furniture!

P.S. we expect our place to always have visitors so come visit us!

Happy Birthday Brinlee

Our little girl, who I swear we just welcomed to our family a week ago, turned one! We are Sooo in love with her!
In honor of her B-day we threw a little party! Here are some of the pictures from the event.

There was lots of food...

Good Friends...

On a b-eautiful day...

And Large! bubbles!

Sorry I had a video of Brin with her cake but it's not working

Yesterday My sis Jess helped me take pictures of Brin. It was a lot of fun!

I was trying to recreate a picture found on Pinterest where a little girl is sitting next to her birthday cake. Yeah that did not happen! As soon as we set the cupcake down in front of her, she literally dove right in! It was pretty funny!

Earlier today we went to Porter Park and played on the splash park. The water was pretty cold, but I think Brin had fun.

 Try not to look directly at that lady's blaring white legs. You may regret it. I have no idea who they belong to!

 Our friends little girl said, "she looks like a cute homeless person in that towel" : ) kids say the darnest things don't they!

So here is a little about our Brinners:
-She is a super happy girl!
-She now does great with both naps and bedtime. She will lay right down and go to sleep without much issues
- She loves when mommy and daddy give her horsey rides.
- There has been no foods she hasn't liked... well yet. We are enjoying it while it lasts
- she says, dada a lot and every time I say, "say mama!" she says, "dada!" grr!!!
- She has never been a snuggler up until about a month ago now she will snuggle right before I lay her in her bed and on rare occasions she will other times like shown in the pic at Porter Park.
-This last week she will look at us and then turn her head sideways and giggle. Ya she thinks she pretty funny.
- If you say where's your nose? She will pick her nose!
- She will point to her belly button if you ask her where it is
- She will usually wave if you say goodbye
- She points at everything. Especially people. It looks like she is shooting a gun. It's pretty cute : )
- Brin loves when you chase after her and will giggle her heart out when you do.
- She started walking (post on that later) on Sat June 2. and is still taking it slow. But on the 21st she started taking off.
Well that's it! We love you Brinners!!!

crazy head and nap time

This last weekend we went up to Fairfield to visit McKay's side of the family. One morning at breakfast Mckay's Sister (Lacee)'s child said, "he got crazy head!" (She may have had slight bed head) : ) We all busted out laughing. Though I didn't get a picture of her bed head on that day, here is a little reenactment of what she looked like.

 Okay so maybe it didn't quite look like this. But pretty darn close!

Bath time!

I remember My parents used to always spike our hair in the bath. Passing on the tradition!
Yesterday the funniest thing happened! McKay was laying down in the living room and Brinlee decided that there was a perfect little spot for her right between daddy's legs.
"Careful That's the danger zone Brinners" - McKay

She tends to sleep in the very corner of her crib like this. Maybe she was trying to tell me it was nap time? who knows. It was pretty darn cute though!

That's right Brin, I would run away too!