Alphabet Adventures

Ha ha, I am such a dork for putting that title...but oh well! I just had to post these couple videos of Brett playing with his "Alphabet Pal," and later reciting (er, repeating) the alphabet. No wonder this kid's head is in the 100th percentile...it's housing a huge, growing brain! ;) Last night we were just marveling at how he truly ISN'T a baby anymore. He is just growing (both physically and cognitively) by huge leaps and bounds. So fun! I guess that means it's time for another one!...and NO, that was NOT an announcement. :)

Brett decided that playing Alphabet Pal with Daddy was way more fun than that silly old caterpillar!

My favorite letter in this rendition is the ABCs is the letter "I."

cuz you're my cheeseburger

We had so much fun celebrating Mommy's 25th Birthday! Brett even got his very first cheeseburger meal at Fuddrucker's. We'd been wanting to go there for awhile now, because Brett has a pretend toy hamburger at home that he loves to build and take apart. At Fudd's, you can add all your own toppings. We just knew he'd love building and devouring the real thing...and we were right!

Three Firsts on Brett's Second Fourth

We had such a fun Fourth of July this year! Last year, being Brett's first, we played it down a lot because 6-month olds tend not to enjoy staying up past 10 p.m., and they definitely don't fancy the ear-splittling noise that accompanies fireworks. This year, we figured we'd have to play it pretty safe again for our big 18-month old...but he proved us wrong! What a little champ.

For some afternoon fun, we headed down to the Salem River Front Park with Grandma and Grandpa Brown. They had a fun little carnival with rides and games for all ages...and a car show just for Grandpa. We thought it would be packed out, but thankfully it was really easy to find a parking spot and mill around! I guess everyone else decided to wait until the day cooled off a bit. On the south end of the park sits Salem's gorgeous indoor carousel. Brett absolutely LOVED it!

Then we headed home for a delicious barbecue dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's, complete with steak, corn on the cob, and home-made (home-grown!) cherry pie. Yummers! We stuck around until after dark so Brett could enjoy some little fireworks on the patio. I think his favorite were the pop-its because he could do them himself. Then on the way home, we stopped to watch lots of fun shows - some little - some illegal...:) Brett LOVED it! He was sooo tired (did I mention he didn't nap more than 15 minutes on Saturday?!), but he kept those droopy little eyes open as long as he could. After walking up and down our street for a few last "booms," Brett finally crashed at 11:15 p.m. Whoa.

So, what were his three firsts on his second fourth, you might ask?

First Fish:

First Horsey Ride:

First Fireworks: (well techinally he saw one little sparkler last year...but it doesn't count because THIS year he got to throw the pop-its all by himself!)

And just for fun...Brett has also learned to sing along:

a prayer covering

I've recently blogged about my friends, Natalie and Matthew, who were engaged to be married but lost Matt to a hard-fought battle with lung cancer. So many people have been covering Natalie in prayer, many whom she doesn't even know...if that includes you, THANK you so much. To show the extent of all the love and support that's been poured out on Natalie, I thought it would be fitting to post some pictures of the prayer-project we made for her. It was months in the making, and originally designed to be a wedding gift. But the Lord had other plans, and although it is immensely painful, I trust that this gift will be an enormous blessing to her.

The project is a prayer quilt. Simple premise - friends, family, and loved ones each create a hand-drawn square expressing love, support, encouragement, and prayers. Then all the squares are stitched together into a literal prayer-covering, which will wrap up our sweet Natalie in all that love, all that support, and all those prayers. It's a tangible way for her to remember how much everyone cares about her...and also a beautiful memory of her undying love for Matthew.

To all who contributed to making this quilt, thank you from the bottom of my heart. To Natalie - may all the days of your life be covered in not only the love of the Lord, but also the love of all your friends and family. May your quilt be a constant reminder of how much you are loved. I am honored to be your friend, and to have met the love of your life...may Jesus return soon so we can all be reunited again! Until then, cover up in our love and prayers.

~Monique


Brett helps mommy shop for fabric.


Making squares by candlelight...the power went out!


Snacking at the prayer-square making party


All finished!

All covered in prayers

Don't mess with...

All right, I'm finally getting around to posting the pics/videos from our fun in the sun in the Lone Star State! We spent about half our time in Dallas, half our time in San Antonio and driving between the two. Brett was SUCH. A. CHAMPION. He tolerated SO much more driving, fewer naps, irregular schedule, etc...and was a near-perfect angel most of the time. Notice a trend here? ...I said the exact same thing about him on our trip to Redmond in January! I guess we have a natural little traveler on our hands.

So, without further ado, I present to y'all the evidence of our fun trip to TX. By the way, in case you're craving more, the entire set of photos can be found here.


happy camper on the way to San Antonio


Enjoying the Riverwalk by day and by night


Cool Mexican "rattle" we bought on the Riverwalk


Bittersweet - Memorial Day, an evening we spent with good friends Matt and Natalie. That night they had to drive 3 hours to Houston for treatment, after which Matt's health went totally downhill. He passed away on Sunday, June 7th. We are SO thankful to have gotten to meet Matthew, and celebrate such a meaningful day with him. He is truly one of our fallen heroes. Please keep Natalie in your prayers.


Who knew Texas could be so beautiful? - a snapshot of the northern San Antonio hill country.


Our favorite restaurant - Mimi's!


Heehee, all the cousins enjoy a lemon. I love these faces.


Surfer dude :)


Pooltime with Grandma


Brett's learning to drive the golf cart already!


heehee, I love these cute faces.

Playing at a really cool park with cousin Annalise

Hangin' with cousin Alex

hahahaaaa! I love this face. He was actually really happy.

loungin' by aunt Barb's pool

playin' with Brandy

lovin' on Lexi

Brett's unusual fashion statement

Da boyz

Attempting a portrait for Grandma and Grandpa...now I understand how hard it is to get a good picture of 4 kids at the same time!!