Oregon Coast!!!!!!!!!!

In August we went on a spectacular trip to Lincoln City, Oregon with the Thurgood side of the family. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, such a great trip. Every single person was there--Ben surprised us and showed up from Utah. We rented this big, beautiful house about half a block from the beach. It has all sorts of amenities: a hot tub, flat screen tv's in every bedroom, two big screen tvs, a huge dining area, an arcade machine, a pool table, a couple of video game consoles, beach toys, a partial ocean view... it was a great place. Both of the kids loved the beach and playing in the tide pool. Levi learned a new word: "ocean" and says it in the most adorable way. He also refers to the ocean as "the big woker (pronounced wok-er)" a.k.a. the big water. Every day we went down to the beach and played in the sand, flew kites, went for walks, collected sea shells, and even braved the deathly cold water. One of the best parts of this trip was how well Brinley slept. We put her in a big ol' walk-in closet and she slept soooo well. Since then, we have gotten black-out curtains for her room, and she has been sleeping loads better!

Hundreds of pictures were taken on this trip, and there's no way I can post even a fraction of them. So I decided instead to just pick out a select few to share with you all. If you ever have a chance to take a trip to the Oregon Coast--DO IT! The house we stayed in is called "Drift Away" and I highly recommend it.

Classic Oregon Coast beach attire: shorts and a hoodie :D

We made a trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. There were lots of cool fish, and this shark tunnel was a big hit--especially since Levi had been watching a lot of Shark Tale.

Here is the AWESOME house we stayed in. Sam took pictures of every room, so if you are really interested I can hook you up with detailed pictures.

Oh! The sunsets! B-E-A-Utiful!

We also hit the outlet malls. This is my younger brother, Ben, sporting an awesome hat and glasses. Crazy kid.

Daddy keeping Brinley warm.

Our little family, walking in the surf. Oh man... I wish I could go back right now!

My cutie-potootie parents!
We have a long standing, and very true, joke in our family about us crazy full-blooded Thurgood's getting playing in cold water, while all the in-laws sit on the beach. We call them "cold-water wusses". Being at the beach changed nothing. Above are my dad, me, and my 5 siblings after we had played for way too long in the extremely cold water. It was so much crazy fun... memories that will last forever. I love my siblings!!!
This picture pays tribute to everyone who braved the cold water (I believe... if I'm wrong, please correct me.) The three additions are Bronson (Amber's), Madi (Amber's), and Savannah (Jared's).
Miss Brinley LOVED the sand and water. We had to keep grabbing her before she plunged into too deep of water.
Levi also had a blast playing in the sand. He wasn't too into the water, though. This was both of our kids first trips to the ocean.

Seriously, this trip was so much fun. A small post just cannot do it justice. I hope we will go back very, very soon. Being near the ocean just made me feel so relaxed and happy. The cold weather and cold water did not matter in the least. Just hearing the waves crash and feeling the salt air made my heart happy.

Splish! Splash!

The second reoccurring theme among my pictures was bath time photos. Brinley and Levi both love water. Brinley especially right now. It is quite often that I end up showering with both kids... which makes shaving my legs quite the event. Sometimes I'll put them both in the shower if I ever need a break (or if they are total messes, which is quite often). I think Brinley would prefer more baths, though she does love the shower, but there's no way I'd let leave her in the bath tub unattended, so showers end up being much more common around here. Wow... talk about a run-on sentence. For shame!

One of my favorite things in the world is after I get the kids out of the water, I wrap them up in towels and tuck them into my bed to get warm. When I leave to go get their diapers and clothes, I always come back to Levi making Brinley laugh. I love it!

Food! Glorious Food!

As I've looked through the pictures I've taken over the past couple of months, I've noticed a couple of reoccurring themes. One of those is Brinley eating. I've started letting her feed herself and experiment with utensils. It worked great with Levi--he was eating with a fork before his first birthday--so I decided to try again with Brinley. Well, she has been loving it, and we love how adorable she is with potato salad smeared over every inch of her face... strike that...every inch of her head. :-D



p.s. Bonus points for whoever can name the movie that this post's title comes from. :-)

Camera Malfunctions....grrr!!!

We had a few issues with digital cameras this summer. First, our camera got left in a hot car, and now all the pictures from it are distorted. So we purchased a new camera. After taking a month of pictures on it, our memory stick failed. Boo! We lost all of July. Sob. That means we missed the following:
*Brinley learning to crawl (she started crawling at 6 months)
*Brinley pulling herself to standing (right about the same time as crawling)
*Brinley climbing in the dishwasher for the first time
*Levi getting his first x-ray--He had to have his chest x-rayed because he was really wheezy. He did such a superb job! I was so proud of him for not being scared and doing just what the technicians asked.
*Levi riding his trike wearing his dad's bike helmet and gloves. It was adorable! Especially since he found them himself and we had no idea until we saw him riding his trike. I sure love that boy.

Note to self: Do not go a whole month without uploading my pictures. Wait, I've already broken that rule again! Hopefully my memory card doesn't fail again. Technology... it's a blessing and a curse!

Brinley's voice

We took this video the first of July, when Brinley was 6 1/2 months old, because we wanted to capture her voice. She's a little screamer/squealer. We'll see if that hold true throughout her life. :D

Clements Family Reunion 2009

We had a reunion with Sam's side of the family the last week of June. We gathered at The Wasatch Mountain Club lodge up Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake City. It was loads of fun! Everyone was there except Rhonda and her family. On the way there, Sam's sister Andrea and her family rode with us in my sister's Suburban that we borrowed. That meant there were four adults (one of which was a pregnant woman), two toddlers, and two infants. It took us 12 hours to get down there--- not a trip I'm excited to make again anytime soon. But it was well worth it. We had lots of fun playing together, got some family pictures taken, and were even able to attend a blessing of our niece, Audrey.

Our Cabin:

We went for a walk around a little lake just down the canyon a smidge from where our lodge was. It was very beautiful.

Levi fell asleep in the car--when you are traveling, getting your kids to take a nap any time for any length is fantastic!--so we put him in our kiddie backpack. We thought he was pretty darn cute. I love that he sleeps like a log and had no problem being transferred from the car seat to the backpack. Isn't Brinley so cute in her little bonnet?

Around the cabin:

Grandpa and Levi playing in the snow--Vista overlooking Park City--Joe, Sam, Levi, Andrea, Benjamin, Sariah, and Dan at the vista--Becky and Isaiah--Connie and Eli--Grandpa and Levi again--Sam and sleepy Brinley

In the cabin:

Levi and Mommy sleeping (notice how Levi has his arm wrapped around me)--The cabin from another angle--Mom and Becky working on crafts--Brinley (6 months) and Benjamin (8 months)--Funny story, see below*--Asa, Isaiah, Sam, and Levi playing soccer in the cabin

*So I was outside cleaning out the Suburban for our trip home, and Levi was out helping me. He got cold, and I didn't want to go inside and get him a jacket, so I gave him a sweater of Brinley's that was in the car. This sweater is size 3-6 months... ummm, yeah right. Levi ended up wearing it all night and we thought he was pretty darn cute. Besides the sleeves that were incredibly short, it fit pretty well!

One day we were there, we went down into the valley and attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and toured Kennecott Copper Mine. We had never been to the copper mine... it was totally awesome. You all should check it out.
1. The family at the temple. It was very beautiful. I love going through temples. 2. These pictures of the copper mine don't even begin to do it justice. I believe the pit is 3/4 mile deep and more than a mile across. It was sooo massive. You had to use binoculars to see a bus at the bottom of the pit. 3. Levi and Daddy. 4. Brinley and Daddy. 5. Abe, Laruen, Asa, Sam, and Ann. 6. Our cutie little family in front of a tire from one of the dump trucks used in the mine. The trucks are roughly the size of a house. HOLY COW!

Summer's Over?!?!?!?!?!

It has been brought to my attention, much to my chagrin, that Summer is over. Technically, it is not over until September 21st, or whenever the Equinox is, but as far as it goes in our culture Summer is over as of Labor Day. I guess that means that Summer is over. Sigh.

Well, enough of that. WELCOME FALL! I love Autumn. I would love if we just had Spring and Fall all year long... but I probably wouldn't appreciate them nearly as much without the extremes of Winter and Summer. Now, after my long Summer reprieve, it is time to get back to work updating the blog. Prepare to be inundated with posts....

A brief update on us:
Sam is super busy at work (they just got a ton of stimulus money and lots of projects to go with it). He has also been traveling quite a bit--at least once a month, this month the tally so far is 3. Sam is also our Ward Mission Leader, so that keeps him quite busy as well.

Levi's vocabulary has absolutely exploded--especially in the last 3 weeks. It is incredible! He says some hilarious things. A few examples:
*I was getting in the car to go to a church meeting with some of Sam's siblings and was saying goodbye to Levi. Me: Say "I love you." Levi: "Goodbye Joe." I guess we can see who he loves!
*I told Levi that we were going grocery shopping and that he could get Jo-jos, a tradition we have.
Levi: Owie Jo-jo (At least, that's what I thought he said.)
Me: The Jo-jo is owie?
Levi: No! Owi Jo-jo.
Me: Were the Jo-jos hot the last time we got them?
Levi: NO!
Me: Always Jo-jos? (To myself: Doubtful, I don't think he knows the word "always".)
Levi (exasperated): Yes!
Me: What do you want then?
Levi (super excited): Chicken!
At the store, he actually decided to go with the Jo-jos.
*Levi has the best manners I've seen and always says "please", "Thank you (insert name here)", and "Welcome!" The other day, Sam sneezed and Levi immediately said "Bless you Dad." After a minute of silence, Levi then said, "Mom.... Bless you Dad." Always reminding me to have good manners!

Brinley is growing like a weed.... Maybe I should say, developing like a weed. We just had her 9 month appointment, and she isn't really growing all the fast. She is just one little girl. Right now she is 16.5 pounds and 26.25 inches. But she is incredibly active and a little bit of a terror. I have proof in pictures that will be coming shortly. Good news... she is sleeping better at night. Shhh... I can't say that too late or it's all over from there.

My life consists of try-and failing-to get my house clean, reading lots of books, and taking care of the two most beautiful (albeit sometimes exhausting and frustrating) children in the world.

That pretty much sums things up for the Clements' family. Now get ready for the exciting details of our summer!