We Are AmeriFinn

December

2011-12-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

November

2011-11-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

October

2011-10-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

September

2011-09-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

August 2011

2011-09-20T14:04:00.003-07:00

So we did soccer again this fall. Kaleb likes to play goalie but still just likes to run around and randomly fall down. He says he enjoys practice more than the games. He told me one week that we didn't want to play soccer and I said that is fine we wont do it again after this season and then he says but I like it. Whatever. :) At least he is going outside and doing something.

July 2011

2011-09-20T14:04:00.001-07:00

If you look close to the top you can see the snowmobile tracks on the mountain side.

We went to Logan for the 4th of July this year and since the weather has been so off this year they still had snow up in the canyon. Seija thought it would be fun to Tony Grove and get pictures of the kids in shorts with now on July 4th. It was a little odd to see people snowmobiling in July for sure. The kids had a great time and we got some cute pics. We had our little picnic and then headed back down to logan. We grilled another night and had a good visit.

Daddy watching the kids. I come upstairs after having a client and this is what I find and Mikko is on the computer. Nice.

Gotta love the slip n slide

Darling hat Kaija got from Isa Mummi. So cute and then in the picture below Kaleb was pouting because he wanted to sit on the barbie bike to get his picture taken.

Took the kids to the preshow of the 24 of July parade floats. It was cool to see all the work that people put into this floats. They had all kinds of things going on and face painting was one of them. But the line was soo long and I did not want to pay for it so I painted the kids faces the next day at home they thought it was great.

Our old neighbors the Anderson's invited us to go to the Hogle Zoo with them. Andy had a work party there and they could take guests. It was awesome everything was free everything and they even provided dinner for everyone. It was great. I could not believe how much money Rio Tinto must have spent to shut down the zoo to the public just for this work party which actually happened in 2 days and I guess for 10,000 people. So grateful to Angie and Andy for thinking of us.

Kitchen Remodel

2011-09-20T14:00:00.002-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Started in May Finally finished end of June first part of July. We are enjoying it.

May 2011

2011-09-20T14:00:00.001-07:00

Easter-Kanab 2011

2011-06-03T15:48:00.001-07:00

California Vacation - April 2011

2011-05-16T13:08:00.001-07:00

View from the condo we stayed in.

Kaija was so obsessed with the DVD's she had to carry them around the whole night one night. She thinks they are a toy.

Story time, the kids slept on a hide a bed that was in our room. Most comfortable hide a bed I have every laid on.

Seriously good cupcakes!

Mikko had a great time at Magic Mountain. Glad he got to go.

You might think she is jumping but really she just falls towards me and I pull her in. She has not mastered the jump.

In March Kanani invited our family to come to California with them cause they had 3 condo's available on a time share they have. So Kanani, McKay, Alvin and our family all went down to Newport Beach during their spring break. I was really concerened about driving that long with the kids but once Mikko heard that they were going to Magic Mountain he was all for the trip. So I prepared as well as I could. I could little toys and books and prizes that they could have every hour on the trip to keep them occupied. Way too much candy and movies got us through it. It was a little rough but we survived. On our way down we spent the night in St. George and my Niece's, Amanda's home and that was great. The kids loved to play with her kids and it broke up the drive just right.

We got to California Saturday late afternoon and the fun began. The kids just love playing with their cousins and even though their cousin's are older they seem to have a great time and my nieces and nephews are great to play with them. Each night the siblings took a turn providing dinner for every one at that was fun. We would just get together outside the condo's and share a meal. Sunday we went to a Newport Ward that met in a building right next to the temple so it was nice to walk around the temple grounds after church.

We enjoyed plenty of time playing in the pool, we went to Huntington Beach, it was a little chilly but if you laid on the sand it was great. Kaija was not excited about the beach this time but Kaleb loved it.

The day everyone else went to Magic Mountain McKay and I took Kaleb, Kaija and Eloise to ......Island where they had a little fun park for kids. They rode on the carousel and ferris wheel, we played in the arcade and enjoyed some ice cream. Fun was had. Kaija was funny on the ferris wheel I thought she was going to start screaming but the thrill kicked in and she LOVED it. When we had to get off was when she threw a big fit.

The thing I wanted to do was go the MAC store which I did and then go to Sprinkles, a famous cupcake bakery. I thought they might not live up to the hype but they were really good. $3.50 a pop is quite steep but it was a fun thing to do.

We left a couple of days earlier then everyone else because I was a vendor at a bridal show that Saturday and had to be back for it. On our way home we stayed the night in Las Vegas and we arrived around 9pm. We drove down part of the strip and the kids loved the lights. Kaleb said when he grew up he wanted to live there. We reassured him that you don't want to live on the Strip just visit it.

April 2011

2011-05-15T08:07:00.001-07:00

Kaleb got a haircut in March and I had the lady cut it just like Dad's and I couldn't believe how much they looked alike. Kaleb surely is his father's son.

The beginning of April brought General Conference and Mummi and Pappa stayed with us for a night. It is always fun when they are here the kids just love to play with them and we are grateful for that. General Conference was good of course but it is really hard to pay attention to the speakers when you have two little ones running and screaming. So I will listen to the sessions again later. I made a cake for a little spring celebration party but it turned out not to happen so we got to enjoy a cute flip flop cake over the weekend. The kids discovered sliding down our stairs and that is always a fond memory of mine as a kid of sliding down the stairs. Although growing up we used slick sleeping bags and it could be pretty dangerous but we had a great time and so did Kaleb and Kaija.

April also started the beginning of soccer games for Kaleb. His team is called Red Hot Fire but it has been anything but warm at his games so far. He has been so excited to start to play. When we got his uniform and gear he would want to put it on every day and just wear it around the house. Kaleb likes to goalie and when he is on the field he just prances around just running with the crowd. But what do you expect from 4 year olds. Kaleb actually is too young to be in the league but I found that out after I registered him. Oh well. Our games our Tuesday and this spring has been brutal. Every week it is so cold the first game, Kaleb did not even last the whole time because it was so cold. I certainly don't blame him. We hope that the last few games he has in May it will actually be warm. This winter has been way to long!

Girlie Cookies

2011-03-25T20:10:00.001-07:00

I had a friend that went into the ER this week and then my sister in law Tye also had surgery this week. So I decided to make some girlie cookies to brighten their day. I hope it worked.

March So Far

2011-03-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Super heroes can always be found in our home. I got this cute cut out mask from the local library for free and the kids have loved playing with them. Good buddy Chase came to play with us now that they are a little closer to Draper. Kaleb wore is mask the whole day pretty much the first day we made the masks. I feel bad for the day when he finds out the there really are no super heroes.

So far this month we also got to visit the Doctor's office. We were at the grocery store and the kids wont sit in the cart any more they have to push around there own mini carts. Well they both ran off down an isle. I give up trying to get them to stay with me and then I hear bawling. When I get to them Kaija is on the ground and her cart is tipped over and she is bleeding. Kaleb admits he pushed her somehow but I don't really know what happens. I decide to take her to the Dr. cause I don't want it to scar really badly. We wait for an hour in the room. Finally glue her and then the next morning she had pulled of the glue in the middle of the night. Just great. Oh well if she scars she scars.

My "sweet hobby" this month so far has led to green and trying to use up more of the fondant I have. I made cute graduation caps for one of the classes at Skin Science Institute since I actually got to go a graduation lunch. Then I made some graham cracker cupcakes with lime curd filling and whipped topping for frosting for a family post Saint Patties Day get together.

Some of the things Kaleb has made lately at school.

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day I made green pancakes and the kids looked adorable in their green shirts.

And no we did not have corned beef and cabbage. I made some delicious Indian food. Chicken Tikka Masala, and Aloo gobi. It was really good it was the first time I have made Indian food or have eaten it. I like to watch Aarti Party on the food network and she is and Indian cook and her food looks so yummy that I had to give it a try.

Soldier Hollow

And before all of the snow had melted up in Midway we went tubbing. I got half off on a city deal and so Mikko took a Friday off and we headed up to Midway for a couple of hours. Kaleb had a great time. Kaija lasted about 30 minutes and then we took her to the car for a nap. It was really fun but probably not worth the money with littler kids maybe we will do it again in a few years. I think the kids will really love it when they are bit older. We were going to go out to dinner in Heber but the restaurant, Claim Jumper, we wanted to go to was not open until 5 and it was only 4 so we headed home. Got some yummy take out from Zuppas for Mikko and I and we took it over to McDonalds to get the kids happy meals and then let them play in the playland. It went really well. You just have to compromise sometimes.

Post St. Patricks Day Gathering

2011-03-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

So for a post holiday St. Patty's Day celebration, I invited the Northern Brown's over to our house. I was pretty lame and only took pictures of the food. Of course that just shows what I am obsessed with. Also we had a Mexican food not Irish. Good thing we are not full blooded Irish, we are for sure offending a lot of Irishmen.

Anyway it was fun to have McKay (minus McKay), Alvin and Robert's families over. We had a little Irish Trivia game and I think we learned a few things so it was an educational evening as well. So glad that I have such a great family. They are all busy but I do enjoy when we can get together.

February 2011

2011-03-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

So last year we decided to take turns at planning our Anniversary. Mikko took last year and we went to Vegas but this year the funds were a little lower since out recent purchase of a home. Anyway I took on the task of jamming as much as I could get in a 24 hour period. I bought a discounted night at the Alaskan Inn in Ogden Canyon and it was only good Sunday through Thursday nights. McKay and Lois were kind enough to take the kids for us over night. McKay picked up the kids around 4:30 on his way home and I headed downtown to pick up Mikko. I kept the events a secret from Mikko.
We dined at Macaroni Grill, Mikko's favorite, and then we stopped at the french bakery called Gormandise Bakery and bought some yummy pastries. We headed up to Ogden. We we got to our room the lights would not come on so we went to another room and it was sooo cold because they had not turned on the heat previously. Anyway it these type of rooms that they have all decorated in themes. Know I can't even remember what our room name was. But it had this big jetted tub in it and it was decorated all woodsy, and log cabin. We enjoyed our pastries and sparkling cider provided with the room.
In the morning we watched a movie in the room and had breakfast in bed, that came with the room rental as well. It was great fun. We then went and test drove some cars and then got massages at Healing Mountain massage. Our last stop was to look at some cabinets because we are thinking of redoing our kitchen and it was off to get the kids back. The silence was over and Kaleb was so sad he had so much fun with his cousin Ella and did not want to come home.

So February I decided to start a new hobby that I have called my "Sweet Hobby". I see these blogs with these cute decorated cookies and I decided that I want to see if I can do it as well. My first batch came out better than my second. It is time consuming but it is fun to do. I also started the HCG diet right after the anniversary and can have no sugar on it and I was amazed that I did not eat any of the cookies even though I really really wanted to. I also made homemade fondant and it taste pretty good, it's just marshmellow and powder sugar. I made some cute cookies for my friends baby blessing and it was fun to go back to our old ward and see people from our old neighborhood.
Kaija loves to draw and thank goodness we have washable markers cause everytime she uses them she draws all over her self, the talbe, the chair and her clothes. She is a stinker most of the time. I really hope that she grows out the the terrible two stage before she turns 2!!

January 2011

2011-03-03T20:00:00.001-08:00

So January was obviously not picture worthy or something. I guess we did not do much. But I love the pictures of the kids with the Super Hero capes. They are so cute when they play together. I am glad they like to play with each other and it is so funny to see how much Kaija loves everything the Kaleb likes. She really loves Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear. Her other favorite is the Little Mermaid. In the opening of the show when Ariel is not at the concert Kaija always put her hands to her cheeks and sighs "ooohhhh".

I spent some time getting ready to be a vendor at a Bridal Show in Davis County. I was thankful to Kelli for helping me out, she would chat with people about my services while I was giving free makeovers. I had lots of interest but nobody wants to commit right then. I swear in Utah no one wants to pay to get their makeup done. I hope those girls who said they wanted to do it will actually call me when their weddings get closer.

Both Kaleb and Kaija got a 24 hour flu bug around the end of the month. Spent 1am to 7am with them vomiting. Why can that be 1pm-7pm. Kaleb was cute at one point. During his 3rd upchucking (which were dry heaves by then) he giggle a little and said "I sound like a frog". What a funny kid. Then Kaija continued for a week or so with diarrhea, so much fun!

December 2010

2011-03-03T19:48:00.001-08:00

December came and went and we had a good time. We started the first week out by hosting and going to a couple of parties. We got to host the "Annual Girls Party" at our home. It was fun to see the girls that started hanging out over 9 years ago. There are now children and husbands added and it was nice to get to visit with them. We have a white elephant exchange every year and the funniest gets a prize. It was pretty funny that Kelli a few years ago brought her senior picture and a gift, so hilarious well this year Liz framed it and re-gifted it again it was a great laugh for all.

The next day we the Annual Northern Brown Christmas Party. It was at McKay's home this year and we had some yummy soups and side dishes for dinner. We also had a little project of making some blankets for the Brown Missionaries in the field, Dalton, Lacee and Acacia. We of course had lots of yummy treats and the kids did a fun present exchange and then the adults did a white elephants exchange as well. We also sang to Kaleb while there for a early happy birthday so my my family could be a part of it.

I made and took out our neighbor treats of caramels. I really like to get it done early and out of the way.

Kaija is getting so big and is pretty independent she doesn't really want help with anything and she is 95+ percentile in both weight and height, which is of no surprise I am sure that the kids will always look a year older then they are for a few years.

Kaleb is doing so well in preschool and is loving learning all the letters. He surprises me by how quickly he picks up on everything.

We took the kids to the see the lights at temple square on one of the more warmer nights and they had a great time. We hope to make it a tradition since we so close to temple square. We just meet up with Mikko as soon as he gets off and we walk over.

We celebrated Kaleb's birthday on Saturday the 18th so that Pappa could come down. Pekka joined us as well and we went to Chucky Cheese and Kaleb had a ball, he loved playing all the games and getting tickets to turn in for prizes. He loved is Iron Man cake and Pekka gave him Iron Man gloves and he has been wearing them every day. Kaleb is 4 and is a pretty good kid, we love him dearly and is grateful to have him in our lives.

For Christmas this year we went to Kanab. Christmas Eve was the traditional dinner and nativity act out at Matt and Julie's home. Kaleb and Trajen got to year the hours and cow costume and just loved it. Kaija would not participate which is no surprise for her age. It was fun to sing carols and watch the family ham it up as usual.

Brant and Jana's family also came to Kanab for Christmas and it was great Kaleb has so much fun with his cousins. Ria and Heath were up in the middle of the night peaking at their gifts it was fun to see the excitement in little children. It makes you miss it. Kaleb was so excited that he got his Iron Man repulsor blaster and Kaija had a good time playing with her stroller and everybody elses stuff. The kids again were spoiled by Pekka and Mikko's parents. They really are too good to them. It was a fun Christmas and I enjoy the time that my children get to spend with their grand parents because I know that time is limited.

New years eve was nothing special I had been sick and not feeling well we just hung out at home got the kids to bed and since I am writing this in March I honestly can not remember what we did. Exciting people we are.

November 2010

2011-03-03T19:09:00.001-08:00

So yeah it has been over 4 months since I have posted. We got light room software and we have not figured out yet how to blog multiple pictures from it. But I finally decided to just export pics to a accessible folder. Now to catch up!

November started out with the white stuff and it snow a bunch. I was not too excited about it but what do you do. Kaleb has been enjoying preschool and is doing very well. He can now write his whole name. Poor kid though, he has such a long last name.

For Thanksgiving it our turn to go to Logan. It was FREEZING that weekend but it was pretty much cold everywhere in the whole state of Utah. Even in Kanab it was really cold, but not below zero like in Logan. Mikko carved his first Turkey and we had a yummy meal. Since Panu and Leah are in Australia only Pekka was there besides us.

While there Mummi wanted to take Kaleb ice skating and that was a task as Kaleb could not stay up but he had a great time.

Mummi went to Finland for Christmas so Kaleb and Mikko got open there birthday presents as well as a couple of early Chistmas presents while we were in Logan.

Mikko turned 35 this year and he enjoyed his traditional "Finnish Birthday Cake", he is so happy when he get this cake.

October/Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

September 2010

2010-11-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Legoland/Cali Vacation

2010-09-09T12:28:00.001-07:00

August

2010-09-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

July 2010

2010-08-01T10:18:00.001-07:00

We enrolled Kaleb into a summer preschool type class. Since we just moved it has been a little difficult for him to leave his friends from the old neighborhood behind so we figured this class would be a great opportunity for him to meet new friends. He is loving it. July they learned about bugs and he has enjoyed it and has become great buddies with a girl named Kate.

What happens on Mikko's watch stay's with Mikko??? Cutie Kaija got into the paints.

For my birthday this year we went to Logan so Mikko's parents could watch the kids while Mikko catered to me. I got a 90 minute massage which was awesome, then Mikko took me to the movie and then to dinner at Hamilton's which was DELICIOUS. I had an awesome steak pasta dish. If you ever go there I suggest you try it. I then had a makeup job the next day so I headed back to SLC and on the way out the Cache Valley I went shopping at Kohl's it was awesome to go shopping without any kids!

I have been trying to get some good photo's of Kaija and Kaleb in the bath so that I can frame them and put them in the bathroom for some decor.

Kaija's hair is finally long enough for piggies but unfortunately she just pulls them out soon after I put them in.

Here is Kaleb helping me make a cake. Isn't he doing a great job. When I asked him to help he said I need my little apron. He has a great memory he hardly wears it and thanks mom for making it for him. He looks so darn cute when he has it on.

Kaleb kept getting a bloody nose one day and at this point I told him to lay down so the blood would stop coming and he soon feel asleep.

Rolling down a hill at the reception center when we attended Mikko's friend Clint's reception. It was a pretty place and Kaleb had a great time looking at the fish they had in a pond in the back.

Blue eyed cutie. She get so many compliments on her eyes and Mommy and Daddy can take no credit for them, thanks recessive gene!

The Brown Family reunion was in Kanab this year and the 24th weekend. It was great fun. McKay and his family prepared a great weekend. We got to see "Kungfu Panda" in our parents backyard. Mikko got brave and went on the hike the next morning. I stayed behind since I have a knee of a 77-year old, at least that is what the orthopedic tells me. Hiking and my knees don't mix well. I wish I would have taken and pic of Mikko's face upon their return. It was beet red. He said the young nieces kicked his but on the way up.

They hiked the squaw trail. Mikko kept saying it was really hot and Kristi was loving the heat. I guess it is just what you are used to. I would have to agree. I don't remember it being so hot when I was a kid in my parents home with just a swamp cooler but now I have lived in central air for so long being in my parents home with just the swamp cooler is a killer.

I hope that Mikko comments on this cause I am not sure why he took it other than he is trying to work on his photographic skills.

We enjoyed the 24th of July parade in Kanab cause I found some shade. Kaija enjoyed watching the floats and animals and Kaleb of course loved the candy being thrown although he would pout every time other kids beat him to the candy.

Cute cousins Ella and Kaija. Ella is a doll she would always come up and tell me how cute Kaija is.

Family enjoying the parade.

Ria enjoying the swing.

Ella once again. Again Mikko working on his skills.

We played a fun game that we had to put an oreo on our forhead and then try getting it into our mouths with out any help from our hands. It was quite fun and I actually got it in my mouth, the trick is to keep your head back and used a lot of facial stretching.

This was a miss.

Mikkel even looks cute when she is doing this!

Brittany and Tye also had a baby shower for my niece Ashley while at the reunion and I made these cupcake pops for the party, it was fun but time consuming to do.

And just yesterday for our family outing we went down to Thanksgiving Point to the Ancient History Museum. Now that we are so much further south Utah Valley is really close. We had a great time. Here Kaleb is enjoying on exhibit on all kinds of things light does.

He was so cute he was scared of the Brachiosaurus skeleton and had to be held and there was a black tunnel we had to walk through with a bunch of stars and he was scared to go through that too until Dad flew him through like Buz LightYear and then he wanted to keep going back through it so he could be Buzz!

Kaija was pretty good all things considered. She sure loves to walk around since she has finally started walking so keeping her locked in the stroller was a little bit of a challenge. She would growl or bark at most of the displays which was quite funny and at one part they had some sounds playing of some type of bird like sounds and she did her little bird call chirp thing that she has been doing for the past 4-6 months. We had a great time, thanks honey for taking us out on a great family day.

June 2010

2010-08-01T10:05:00.001-07:00

Man we took a lot of pics in June, well at least for us. We finally moved into our new home in Draper and we are loving it. It is a great location I am loving the convenience of having so many things not very far away at all. In fact most place we go are less then 5 minutes it is AWESOME!! Kaleb is having a great time as you can see he had played himself into a sleep!

Mikko had a little photo shoot with Kaija for her one year old pics. Since we got a new camera and Mikko took a class I thought he should try out his skills i think he did OK and he got some good pics of course none of these are been "worked on" but the rules he fine tuned look even better.

Wish she would keep this dang bows on but no luck!

Within in the first couple of weeks of our move Kaleb's but Chase from our old neighborhood came down for a visit and they had a great time on the slip and slide. I did not get a good one of the both of them together, darn.

Kaleb loves to help out with me baking, can't you tell.

We did Kaija's official first birthday about a month later than her actual birthday and she had a great time. Mikko's parents came down, and Mikko's brother came over. My parents along with my sister in law happen to stop in too so that was great.

When Mikko's parents came back from Australia last year the gift they brought back to Kaija was a little Koala sleeping buddy and she LOVES it. So I decided to make her a koala cake. I think I did a pretty good job and it was a yummy chocolate cake with burnt butter frosting. My brother McKay turned me onto that awhile ago and I love it.

She actually touch the candle when it was still hot so we had a few tears but she got over it and enjoyed the cake.

Kaija enjoyed opening presents, KB not so much as he wanted to open the gifts for her but they managed to share and have fun.

Here is her rocking moose we got her and she did not ride it much at first but now she is a pro and gets going pretty fast and hard.

Bath time, she loves to put everything in her mouth especially bottles of things, shampoo, lotion, soap, deodorant an so on..

KB found this snow suit we got from my friend for Kaija and he wanted to put it on one day. What a goofy kid!

Cute Kaija wanting to paint.

There is the doughnut shop down the street called "Beyond Glaze", they have gourmet doughnuts well the doughnuts are just regular doughnuts but the toppings are the gourmet. They were quite yummy the best were the fruity one, and the PB&Jam I thought was so great because the jelly tasted just like grape jelly! They were pretty pricey and I am sure a million calories each so they might just be a once a year special occasion. I bought them fathers day weekend and my parents were there so I figured those two event called for a special occasion.

We got daddy just a little something for fathers day.

Nothing exciting just some Oreo cookies, but hey they are his favorites.

Some fun in the sprinkler. Mikko had to join Kaleb so he would be brave enough to actually go through the sprinkler.

I love my white skinned boys. Don't want any skin cancer at this house. Well at least not again!

This bird was the bird that was annoying us for a good month after we moved in. Every morning at 5:30 it would be out on our deck chirping away. I think it was taunting out cat Tonka, but Tonka would not do anything about it. So we bought a bb gun, and we never hit it, I put out shiny metallic balloons which was supposed to scare them away....not. But after about a month the chirping stopped. I have no idea what happened but I think Tonka finally got sick of it and maybe took him out whatever it was we are very grateful.

My handsome boy.

Enjoying a popsicle on a warm day!

More bath time.

What brothers are made for right??!!

May 2010

2010-08-01T10:03:00.001-07:00

May was busy. We were busy packing up our home and looking for a new home to buy. Mothers Day weekend came and went. Mikko's parents came down to watch the kids while we looked for homes. We had already been out looking for home 3 times prior and this weekend on the 7th of May we put in an offer on a home in Draper, we looked at this home 3 times and finally decided that it was the one. Mummi had made this shirt for me with the kids on a weekend prior that they had watched them while we looked for homes. It is such a cute shirt and I thank my mother in law for being so thoughtful.

Kaija did not want to be cooperative and smile in the pics.

Through the craziness I did not have time to officially celebrate Kaija's b-day but on the official day I managed to put a little cake together for her. We had no furniture in the house as we moved out a few days later.

1 YEAR OLD

We then stayed a week with Mikko's cousin Nina and her family we thank them so much it was so nice of them to let us stay we could not get into our home until the 27th and this is our new home. We are really enjoying it. It has a little updating to do but we feel good about the move and really like the area of the home.

Kaija enjoys a courtesy cone from Artic Circle

April 2010

2010-08-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

April came in slow then picked up dramatically at the end.

We enjoyed Easter at home and the kids enjoyed there Easter Baskets.

Kaija was simple just some snacks and call it good.

Kaleb for days wore his helmet and pads, he still has trouble riding the bike though for some reason he just can't get the concept of pushing his legs forward, he just goes backwards and of course that puts on the brakes.

I really need a lot more paitence cause it is frustrating to have him practice the bike. He just gives up when he can't do it after two tries.

Kaleb got potty trained in Feb. but he would not do no. 2 on the potty. He would hold it for 4 days at a time and I have no idea how he could do that. So he originally chose to have a Batman cave toy as he prize if he got fully potty trained but that didn't seem to have the draw for him to do the no. 2. So one day I thought about this IronMan helmet he saw once in a store and was always asking for it. Of course I was not going to buy it for him it was way too expensive. Well I found on online for way cheaper so my brilliant idea was to offer him as choice. So we asked Kaleb what would he rather want if he starting pooping in the toilet... Ironman Helmet or Batman Cave he chose the Helmet and Within a week he started going no. 2 in the toilet at least every other day and then every day. Yeah and he got his reward!

Over General conference weekend Janice Lee, mother of my friend Angie from South Carolina came to SLC for conference. We were able to meet for dinner and catch up. It was fun to get to visit with her and get all the news of her family. Kaleb fell asleep while at dinner he has been trying not to take naps anymore and sometines this is what happens in the early evening.

We did not go to Kanab for Easter this year because I had a bridal makeup job that I wanted to do but we decided to go down the next weekend. Kaleb always enjoys playing on Grandpa's riding lawn mower. I hope he wants to mow the lawn when he gets a little older at our house.

I got attacked by the little ones, they had a great time.

Looks like my age is showing in this pic.

Mikko took the kids up to Logan for the weekend it was my payback because Mikko got to be all alone when I took the kids with me to Minnesota so I got my alone time. I got a massage, went to dinner and a movie with my friend Kelli. I think I got a pedicure too, I can't remember.

The kids always enjoy time with Mummi and Pappa and we are so glad that they love to have them visit.

11 months old

They like to play together even though sharing is a challenge but I am sure that will be like that for awhile.

Kristi and Tom came up to SLC for meetings. They stayed at a motel downtown and Kristi invited us over for a swim a great time was had by all.

I stated before that April got busy at the end and it did. We had our home up for sale from Sept-Feb and we did not get any offers so we took it off the market th

en in April you used a discount broker where we just paid to have it listed but did not hire a Realtor that way we did not have to pay their fee and we were able to lower the price of our home. Well we did that the first week of April and we had about 6-7 showings then the last week of April we were outside working on the yard and a family stopped and asked if our house was for sell we said yes and they wanted to come look so we let them. We ended up getting an offer that day from a previous showing so we informed this family of that, that evening we got a full price offering from this family and we accepted and then May was a crazy month for sure.

March 2010

2010-08-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

So March came and went and so did April through-July. We had some things going on, and we got a new camera that took much bigger files and when I would upload photo's it would take forever so then I got laze on the blog and did not pay attention to it for 6 months but now I am going to try and be better.

Back in March I took the two little ones with me to Minnesota to go to a MAC makeup class as well as visit my good friend Evonne and her family. The above pics are of the flight out there. This was Kaleb's third time flying and Kaija's first they did pretty good on the way over but on the way back Kaija fought sleep the whole time until just as we were landing...of course. I don't know what possessed me to think it would be good for me to travel with two little ones by myself but we survived.

The kids had a great time with Evonne's children. I was lame and did not get any pics of Jaxson or Cooper but her is Liv, she was such a cutie. Jaxson taught Kaleb a few new things like holding your breath when you drive under a bridge and Kaleb really loved all of his GUNS! He had quite a few.

Kaleb even 5/6 months later talks about Liv and Jaxson and Cooper. He had a great time and thankfully the kids slept really well while we were there, thank goodness. Thanks Evonne for such a great time.

We went out for frozen custard the evening we got back. This was Kaija's first official taste of ice cream.

10 months old, she already does the actions for patti cake.

Some crowns we made one day. I don't do many projects with the kids but I thought about doing this and Kaleb had a great time decorating them.

Mikko has been trying out his photo skills and below I think Kaleb actually took that picture, pretty darn good.

This kid could eat PB & honey sandwiches everyday. I guess I could too, I love PB!

February 2010

2010-02-28T20:14:00.001-08:00

This year we celebrated our 5 year anniversary by going to Vegas for the weekend. We spent our honeymoon there and we needed to get away with out the kids and Vegas was a cheaper alternative. Mikko took a few shots testing out our new camera we got for Christmas. We need to figure out how to use the settings.

The glass flower ceiling at the Beliagio. We went to the dinner buffet one night it was super expensive and there were way too many things to try.

I love to watch the water show at the Bellagio, it never gets old to me.

Mikko had never been to Hoover Dam so we took a morning and went out and did the Dam power plant tour. Unfortunately the weekend we were there in Vegas it rained the whole time. I have never been to Vegas when it rains!

They are building a huge new bridge that goes over the canyon, it is crazy high!

I swear that I think I have the cutest kids ever!

Seriously this is the cutest look. She thinks she is going to be a model! Kaija is 9 months old in this picture.

Uncle Pekka went to a conference and came back with some goodies for Kaleb. A new hat and a backpack. What a sweet uncle!

January 2010

2010-02-28T19:18:00.001-08:00

For FHE the activity we do most is the "Freeze Game", Kaleb loves it. We play music and run around the couch and freeze when the music is stopped. Kaleb pulls the exact same face every time he freezes. I usually make Mikko run around with the kids so he can at least get some sort of exercise in for the week!

Kaleb had a blast attending his first car show with Dad.

Kaija is 8 months old.

My brother's family had our names for Christmas and they made us these Suomi shirts. So I made us some matching PJ bottoms to go with them.

We made it out to the Brown's annual snow day and they love to do pinata's so here is the snow day pinata. All the kids got to take turns. Kaleb really gave it all he could. It took a long time to get this box open but the kids sure had fun! I think I need to start having those so I can take out some of my frustrations!

Kaleb and Ella love to play together and we are so glad that he has a few cousins that are not too much older than him that love to play with him.

New Years In Kanab

2010-01-05T15:52:00.001-08:00

We went to visit my parents to ring in the new year. We had a great time. Brant and his family were there as well and Ria, Heath and Kaleb had a wonderful time together. This was the first time that Heath and Kaleb played really well together and I was glad. Every day the kids rode the stairs. As you can see from the pictures they had a GREAT time. When I was a kid, we used sleeping bags, this foam pad has got to be way more comfortable. The other pic of Heath and Kaleb I thought was funny. They got into some old clothes and found some Hawaii t-shirts and then decided to put on some boots and play in the snow. Isn't that ironic?

Ria loved to hold and entertain Kaija. We rung in the new year at Kristi's playing games and eating yummy snacks. I was introduced to Jicama sticks and I really liked them. It's going to be a good healthy snack in our home now.

Mikko and I got to go on two movie dates. We went to "New Moon" (Mikko says he looks just as good as the werewolves...haha) in Kanab, and for both of us it was a steal of a deal....

Admission for 2 + small popcorn + XL cherry sprite + skittles = $12.75

Then we went to Hurricane and saw Sherlock Holmes. Thanks family for watching our kids so that we could have some sane time.

Both kids got Pink Eye some how and that was my first experience with it and Jana told us about Colloidal Silver and it is working wonders. YEAH!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. We stayed at our home this year. It was Mikko's parents turn, but they went to Finland this year. We started off the celebration on Christmas Eve with a yummy dinner. We invited Uncle Pekka over and he was a culinary surprise. He brought Christmas tarts, orange rolls, cookies and drinks. Since the better half is from Finland, and they have a traditional Christmas dinner every year, I decided to be kind enough to cook their favorite Christmas Finnish dish. Mikko chose Carrot box and Pekka Potato box, they are casseroles. My first time making them and the men say they were good. I also provided my favorite Finnish dish, Karelian Pies. We all enjoyed the food and then enjoyed it two more times on Christmas day!

Finnish tradition is that Santa comes with gifts on Christmas Eve after dinner and you open all your gifts then. Since I am American I just can't let go of my tradition of opening gifts on Christmas day. I let the two kiddos open a gift each on the eve. They got some PJ's and we got the kiddos off to bed.

Pekka stayed over and the kids both woke up at around 7:50am. It was fun to watch Kaleb he had such a great time. The highlight for him was his IronMan action figure, he sang "I am Iron Man" all day for a few days. He was again spoiled by family and he has been enjoying all of his great new toys.

Mikko got lots of movies, Pekka got lots of books and my highlight was a new SLR camera. Now I need to learn how to use it. It takes some great pics.

Christmas night we went to a house in Murray that had lights set to music and that was a fun little ride. We had a great day and I am so thankful for a wonderful family and for a Savior who has made it possible that we can be a family forever.

Saturday we went down to Utah Valley and McKay and Lois were kind enough to watch the kids while Mikko took me to "Avatar". He wanted to take me so bad. After the movie we had a yummy pizza dinner at the Brown's they are such great cooks and we opened some gifts from them. They gave us matching Suomi shirts. I will post a pic of us showing they off as soon as I make some PJ bottoms to go with them.

Kaleb's 3rd Birthday

2009-12-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

Kaleb turned 3 this year. Mikko wanted him to be able to open his presents in the morning because he said that is how he did it growing up, well we let him and he loved it except for the fact that everything I got him was crappy. He got a shirt from Aunt Kristi which was really cute but of course he was not that interested in it. The hotwheels launcher I got him stopped working after a couple of tries so I was really mad so I got a Dr. set gift out that I was going to save for Easter. Well that too was really lame because it was crappy quality and he couldn't even get the stethoscope to stay on his ears. I took back the Dr. set and let him pick out his gift which was a dragon and then of course later the launcher thing started to work again.

Back to the idea of having him open gifts in the morning, well all he could talk about was getting his cake since we had already starting the festivities. The small gathering that consisted of Uncle Pekka and Kaleb's good buddy, Chase and his parents did not start until 6 that night so he kept annoying me all day about his cake. He chose to have a rocket cake and it was fun to make. The thing that was funny was that after he blew out the candles we let him open a couple of gifts that he got from Pekka, Chase, and Kaylynn and Dave. Well he got a transformer and all he cared about after that was the transformer and he intently watched uncle Pekka try to transform it for a good 15 minutes and did not want the cake anymore. He also got an IronMan toy from Pekka and in two of the pics he is showing off what Iron man does. He is obsessed. The last picture is of what he got from Grandma and Grandpa a couple days later. He is one spoiled kid.

Logan/B-days

2009-12-20T06:25:00.000-08:00

Since Mikko's parents went to Finland for the holidays we went to Logan for the weekend before they left to celebrate Mikko and Kaleb's birhtdays. A fun time was had by all. Mummi, Pappa, Mikko and Pekka took Kaleb to the Fun Park. I stayed back with Kaija while she napped. Kaleb enjoyed all the games they said he had such a great time and he enjoyed the prizes he got with the tickets he earned.

We then wen to dinner at Olive Garden for Mikko's birthday. Then Kaleb got to open presents from Mummi and Pappa for his birthday. He was pretty spoiled of course and he kept saying "oh this is my favorite" with every gift he opened. He got a cooking/eating set and he has really enjoyed making us dinner every day. After gifts we all had some yummy Christmas cookies and Pulla for desert to highlight the holidays

December

2009-12-20T06:07:00.001-08:00

Forgot to add these photos. My neighbor Becky was kind enough to take Kaleb with her son and best buddy to the mall to see Santa. She said it was a good thing Kaleb went because Chase was not sure about sitting on Santa's lap but Kaleb was not shy at all. She said that Kaleb told Santa that he wanted Iron Man and Star Wars toy for Christmas. These boys are too cute.

So here is the first of of December. It has been a busy month of course. We have had a good time so far. I was going to get the Christmas decorations out the Monday after Thanksgiving but it didn't happen . I think it was a few days after that. Kaleb had a great time helping decorating and he really was such a great helper. I spent most of the December trying to fight off a cold from hitting me hard. I have been pretty successful so far. Kaleb got sick right after we got home from Thanksgiving and that last a good 7-10 days. Then Kaija got it and had a high fever of 103 and then was stuffy after that and had a hard time breathing. When Kaleb got better we had already had a really good snow. I bundled him up on afternoon and let he go outside for a bit. He just loves the snow. He really loves to eat it.

Kaija is now 7 months old and is sitting really well by herself and we have let her take a few baths with her brother and she loves it. We look forward to her being a little more stable so that she can play even more with Kaleb.

I was too lazy to make my own frosting and get stuff for a gingerbread house so I just bought a kit. What a mistake. The icing was such a pain but we got through it and Kaleb has enjoyed eating it ever since.

Forgot to take the typical month to month picture of Kaija but I took this one on the 7th month mark and I think it is cute enough.

Kaleb the photographer

2009-12-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

Kaleb loves to take pictures whenever he can get his hands on the camera. Which I don't like him to do. Here are just a few of the latest that he has taken.

Mikko's B-day

2009-11-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

I wanted to surprise Mikko this year for his birthday. We decided to take his car down to Kanab so wednesday I told him to trade cars so I could get the car all packed. I then took it to get the windows tinted. We had talked about doing it several times and I thought this would be a good surprise. As you can see he was surprised.

So then on his actual birthday I made him a him his traditional traditional Finnish birthday cake and it was really yummy. Pekka joined us for dinner at Red Robin then we came back to the house for the yummy cake.

Mikko says that he doesn't care if he get anything else on his birthday as long as he get this cake once a year. Happy Birthday Honey!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

We headed down to Kanab for thanksgiving and had a great time. We stayed with McKay's family at their condo. It was great to be where it was quieter. I am sure we missed out on most of the action at Grandma and Grand pa's and Mom even said that she hardly got a chance to hold Kaija. Sorry Mom. Anyway we had Thanksgiving dinner at the church because there was almost 60 of us there. The gym was freezing. It was warmer outside than in the gym. Dinner of course was abundant and delicious. We forgot to take any pictures of course but the shots above were that day. The Elementary is right by the church so Mikko took a few pics of Kaleb enjoying the swings.

The next day McKay planned a hike and Tom was our guide. I took Kaleb while Mikko took care of Kaija. The hike was to Water Canyon and it was a 2 mile up and 2 miles back. I was so shocked that Kaleb did so well. He enjoyed and we only had to hold him a few times. He was quite the hiker he even got stuck by a cactus but survived.

He loves being with his cousins That had a great time as you can see.

We made it to the end and there was fresh flowing water coming out of the rocks. We all filled our water bottles with fresh water and enjoyed some strawberries that cousin Lindsay brought.

Here is Kaleb walking with Tom he was having fun walking in front of him and not letting him pass. And the best part was the drive back as the kids were all exhausted and took naps!!

November

2009-11-26T20:53:00.000-08:00

November came and went really fast. We were busy. Mikko keeps on working, and I keep on taking care of the kids which is a task. Kaija started teething at the end of the month and her sleeping habits are getting worse instead of better. I am hoping that I can get a good nights rest sometime soon. I hope that is not in years.

Kaija like to play with her feet and she will even suck on her toes.

Here she is holding her own bottle now. A couple days before Thanksgiving she decided she no longer wanted to nurse, so she is a full time bottle girl now. Above is also her 6 month picture she is getting so big. We went to the Doctor for her 6 month visit and she was off the charts for her height, 28.25 inches tall. She is in the 95+ for weight, 18.8 pounds.

These kids are a daily challenge for me but I love them dearly. Kaleb everyday wants to wear either his Spiderman or Ironman suit, so that is why there will be lots of pictures of him wearing them.

Halloween

2009-10-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

We had a good Halloween, well at least I think we did. Kaleb got to decorate some fun cookies.

His favorite part was eating them. This same day Kaleb would not take a nap at about 4:45 he wanted to look out the window and watch for Daddy to come home. I kept telling him he would not be home for another 45minutes. He went down to the front room anyway and within in 10minutes I went to check on him and found him like this.

We had fun carving out pumpkins. Could not get Kaleb to help clean them out. He was willing to just watch us do all the yucky work. But he loved to look at them after we lit them up.

These next pics crack me up. Kaleb was planing on being Spiderman for Halloween and that was fine but I found an Iron suit and it was only $12 so I bought it too. But I did not want him to ruin the mask so we did not give it to him until Halloween day. He was really excited and had to wear it immediately. So as you can see in the next pics he was having a great time being IronMan. Mikko was willing to dress up and that was great of him. I just took pictures and video of our little clan.

Our first stop was at Kaleb's buddy, Chase, house. These two just love each other. Chase hurried and got ready and they went trick or treating together. They had a good time and Kaleb would keep holding onto some of the candy given to him and would not put it in his bucket. I guess he just had to have his hand on some.

Kaija was our cute little giraffe. She was a good sport and enjoyed going with us down the street. It was such a nice day the weather was great it was really cold the day before but Halloween was great. We did not even have to wear a jacket.

Rest of October

2009-10-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

I have not updated in a while and I have take a few pictures and we have done a few things this month.

Kaleb always wants me to take his picture with Kaija so here again is another pic of the two. I could not get it to rotate.

Kaleb is on and off with his eating habits. Sometimes he is a good eater and will eat vegetables and protein but then sometimes I can't get him to eat anything. So I tried to be a little creative. With Halloween this month I tried a couple of tricks like these mashed potato ghost. Kaleb enjoyed biting off their heads. I also made some Halloweenies, which were sausages wrapped up in crescent dough strips and baked. I forgot to take a picture of those.

Kaija 5 MONTHS OLD. She really loves to smile and laugh. I also had to get a picture of her chunky legs. She is in the 95% for her weight and it shows. It is adorable, at least I know she is not starving.

We made a trip to Kanab for my nephew's farewell and Mikko was also out of town for work so it worked out good. The drive down was a bit of a challenge. Almost 3 year old + 5 month old + 5-6 hours in a car=not a brilliant idea!

Once we got there the weekend went great. Kaleb enjoyed being able to go the park. The weather was great and Grandma and Grandma took good care of us. McKay and Kanani were also down so they helped out with the kids and Kaleb's cousins, Morgan and Sydney were willing to play with Kaleb although they are a lot older than him. He loves to play with the older kids and I really appreciate them being willing to play with him since he does not have and cousins the same age as him.

Kaija enjoyed Grandma reading to here and I had to get a picture of Kaija in the Halloween outfit we had with Kaleb to see how similar they look. I compared and you can tell they are siblings but they do look different.

Grandma made some yummy banana cupcakes for Kaleb to decorate. He made a cute spider. Speaking of cupcake McKay made some YUMMY devil food cupcakes with some AWESOME butter cream frosting. You burn the butter......SO delicious. I brought down the chocolate that we had ordered through a co-op up here so we of course had to try and the high end cocoa and boy was it good.

Grandpa loves little Kaija and I am grateful that my parents love all of the 38 grand kids. You might think that after 38 of them you might not care but they put forth great effort to show that they love them. Thanks Mom and Dad.

I made these cute baby leg warmers for Kaija and they were pretty easy to do. Did it in 5 minutes or less. If you make them you have to make sure you use ladies knee highs or they wont fit. While I was in Kanab we tried some I guess they were crew socks and they only made it just past her knees.

Logan Weekend

2009-10-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

We went to Logan this last weekend to visit Mikko's parents. We had a good time especially Kaleb he loves to visit Mummi and Pappa he has such a great time.

We went out for a picnic at 1st Dam it was a beautiful day. Fall foliage is so amazing in Logan I wish I would have taken more pictures of the wonderful fall colors.

Another grandma was there with her grandchild and she was nice enough to give Kaleb a piece of bread to feed the ducks. He would yell "here" and throw down the bread. Dad and KB had a good time feeding them.

Kaija was a good little girl for the picnic. She is enjoying grabbing for toys now.

We had some yummy sandwiches for our picnic. We could only get Kaleb to eat the cheese. Poor kids just don't know what they are missing

Hogle Zoo

2009-10-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

For months now on Saturday's Mikko will want to go to the Zoo and the weather has not cooperated or it just doesn't happen. Well we finally went. I did not take too many pictures because I used the video camera more. Kaleb had a great time he always wanted to climb up to see the animals better and to just play on the fences. I was impressed with the size of the zoo I had not been there since I was little. We missed the playground which I hear is fun so we will have to do that next time.

Kaleb so badly wanted to ride the carousel so how could we say no. Mikko hates these pics of himself. But we all had a good time and Kaija was a good little sport as well. I am such a bad mom and did not take any pictures of her.

Odds & Ends

2009-10-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

We watched our neighbor every week for trade because she watches our kids once a week. It's a good little deal. A couple of weeks ago we had Macie over and here we are playing the alligator game. I was trying to do anything and everything to show Macie a good time because I short time earlier my almost 3 year old bit her. I was mortified that he did it and I wish I would have been watching at the moment it happened so I could have stopped it. Needless to say Kaleb was promptly and sternly put into timeout and then I showered Macie with treats and whatever she wanted so she would want to come back to see us again.

My neighbor informed me a day or two later that she wanted to come play again so I feel better. Later that night the socks were still on the floor and Kaleb was playing around. He says ouch ouch and come over to me and shows me his hand and I asked him what was the matter he said "the alligator got him". And he kept doing that every time he touched a sock. It was cute.

Every once in awhile Mikko and I will give each other a foot rub and we were doing it this night and Kaleb wanted to get one too. So here he is enjoying a great foot massage from his Dad.

First Brown Sister's Weekend

2009-10-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Brown sisters finally had our sister's weekend. Well it was more like 24 hours. We have talked about doing this for a few years so when we were all sitting at the same table at our nephew, Terrance's luncheon I brought it up and volunteered to be the first host.

We started the event off with some Chinese take out, it was spicy and delicious. Then we headed downstairs for a movie. We had it at my place because I am still nursing Kaija and could not be away from her yet. The movie was good and we had fun chatting.

I forgot to take my camera for the rest of the event but here is what we did. The next morning we headed out for a walk. Kristi and Kanani were speedsters. It was nice to chat with Vanae. After the walk we had a yummy breakfast of creme brulee(sp?) french toast, bacon and fruit. We then watched a session of conference and worked on some file folder games that we are going to donate to the humanitarian center.

Then it was off to lunch at Texas Roadhouse, pretty good. Then did a little shopping and headed down to the school that I teach at for our facials.

This picture was taken after our facials. Kinda scary well at least I am. All the sisters enjoyed their facials and I am so glad that they did. I loved mine as well and realized that I have been so silly not to be doing it more often since I get two free treatments a month. What was I thinking by not going.

Thanks Vanae, Kanani and Kristi for coming to my house for a good time and for being my wonderful sisters!!

Cap Cutie

2009-09-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Mummi made this hat hoping to have a granddaughter someday. We had a little photo shoot with it. We just love this little girl. Thanks Mummi for the cute hat.

Buddies

2009-09-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Kaleb loves his neighbor buddy Chase. When they see each outside they start squealing and run to each other. At church they love to hang out together and they hold hands and walk down to Nursery after Sacrament. It really is so cute to see them together. Most of the time it is a love hate relationship. One minute they are doing great then they start beating on each other and cry, but if you separate them they cry cause they want to continue to play.

The other day Chase was over playing and so we got a couple of Spider Man shooting web. They have so much fun together.

4 months old

2009-09-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Our little Kaija is now 4 Months old. I can't believe how time has flown, and how big she is. She is a chunk and is not a little baby anymore. I held the neighbors baby this morning, and it was like picking up a feather compared to Kaija. Hope she has her Dad's metabolism and not mine when she gets older.

3 Reasons Why

2009-09-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

I would love to have Kaleb potty trained and I have attempted a few times to start with him. Here are 3 reasons so far why it is not working.

1st reason. HAT:

I try about 6 months or so ago because Kaleb would come up to me and tell me that he is poopie so maybe he is ready?? I buy him this potty at Ikea cause it is dirt cheap. Bring it home and try to get Kaleb to sit on it but he just wears it as a HAT.

2nd reason. ROCKETS:

I try again I think shortly after Kaija is born and I see this Cars potty at Walmart and it is not to expensive and he like the Cars movie so I think yeah he will want to sit on this. So he is excited and he does not want to sit on it but I convince him to. He actually pees cause I had the tub water running and he gets a treat. I get him to sit on it one more time then he likes to pretend it is a ROCKET.
3rd reason. HIS DAD/MASK:

I buy Kaleb cool SpiderMan, IronMan and BatMan underwear and tell him that if he is a big boy he needs to go potty in the toilet and he can wear the fun underwear. Well Mikko shows Kaleb how to do this with the underwear and now he just wants to wear them as a MASKS!! Thanks honey. Oh well we will try again in a few months.

Cute Noises

2009-09-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Finally captured Kaija lauging. I have to take video from the side otherwise she just stops and stares at the camera.

Bubbles

2009-09-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Kaija like to blow bubbles lately. It is really cute. I was trying to get a picture of her blowing the bubbles but of course I pull out the camera and she stops whatever she is doing and just stares at the camera. I wonder if that would work while she is crying. Maybe I will start taking pictures while she cries to see if she will stop. If you click on the photos you can see the frothy spit around her mouth!

Spider Man does Sleep

2009-09-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Went to the Kid to Kid Halloween costume sale with Kaleb and we found a Spider Man costume. It was a little big but Kaleb wanted to wear the mask really bad. I let him and I still had to run two more errands but he would not take off the mask. He got lots of comments and looks from people in the stores. I was surprised he would even wear it. But as you can see he would not take it off and Spider Man fell asleep in the car on the way home. He continued to wear it all day. I hid it that night after he went to sleep!

Strong Men

2009-09-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

Labor day weekend we spent most of the time still cleaning and organizing our house since we put it on the market but we got a little bit of fun in. We borrowed Pekka's key and used the pool at his townhouse.
The boys were trying to prove how tough they are.

This is only the second time that we have taken Kaija into the pool she is just too little to be out in the sun.

Third Month Sort Of

2009-08-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

Seriously, me trying to keep up with this blog now that we have two kids is a joke. And as I was putting this together, I feel bad that I just don't take as many pictures of Kaija as I did Kaleb. I hope to get better.
So Kaleb wanted to put my socks on the other day, he then hopped up onto the ottoman to show off his wonderful new trend.

Kaija is growing up so fast, she can already sit up in the bumbo pretty well.

I already slacked on taking a picture of Kaija every month. This is a little over the 3 month mark, but it's pretty close. She is smiling all the time and she loves to babble and laugh.

Mikko loves this picture he think it is funny. I think she looks like a little alien.

Our cute little children. KB likes to sit up in this chair that is in Kaija's room, and then he tells me that he wants Kaija to sit by him. Then he says, "Take a picture Mom".

Kaleb had a fight with the stairs last week, and the stairs won. I did not see what he was doing, but he fell down the stairs and skinned his face up. Poor kid.

Love them. Hoping that Kaija keeps these pretty blue eyes.

Quiet Book

2009-08-26T13:07:00.001-07:00

So here are 8 of the 20 pages of the quiet book I finally finished, well 99% finished.

So here is the deal back in June I decided I wanted to get a quiet book for Kaleb for church since he has decided that he can't be still for an hour and really why do we think that toddlers should hold still for an hour. Anyways, I search the Internet to buy one, but couldn't fine any, but found a lady who sold kits. Well on her site it said completed pages, that to me means done like what is shown. But all it was is 10 pages printed on pellon. I still needed to color, assemble and sew. So for some stupid reason I buy 2 kits because I felt stupid that I was at this ladies house and I did not realize how hard it was going to be, so I could not back out. OK that was 35 bucks a kit, but then you have to reinforce the pages, so I end of buying a bunch of extra pellon and wonder how to accomplish that. So I go to Kanab thinking that I will have time to do it down there, but all I accomplish is spraying the pages with starch and ironing them.

So in the past two months I got them colored and made many trips to the store to get felt, fabric markers and crayons, eyelets, shoelaces, ribbon, Velcro and probably more that I am forgetting. I asked the lady how much it would cost if I just paid her to make them and she said she charges $150 a book. Believe me, now I know why she charges that much!!

This last weekend we sent Kaleb to Grandparents house so I could do the sewing, and it took me three days, some bad words and watch a bunch of episodes of Buffy to get it all done.
So my advice for anyone who wants to make a quiet book........ do it if you want to dump a lot of money and time in it and do it before you actually HAVE children, it will be easier.

Kaleb and Kaija will have to play with these for years so that we get our moneys worth!!

Blessing Day

2009-08-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

We finally had Kaija blessed. She looked so adorable and the blessing by her father was beautiful and we had a wonderful day with our families.

Again me trying to get a shot of her smiling. I borrowed the dress from a neighbor it was so cute.

Our cute little but big family. Kaija did not stay little for long.

Mummi and Pappa with their first grand daughter and 2nd grand child.

Grandma and Grandpa Brown with number 38 grandchild and they love everyone of them. Mom and Dad stayed with us the whole week. They had the booksellers convention and Rhen's wedding to go to. We were glad that they could stay with us. Mom was great help with cooking for the lunch and she provided the meat and my dad helped us put in a bunch of gravel in our landscape. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Pics by Kaleb

2009-08-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Neither Mikko or I took many pictures at the lunch we had after Kaija's blessing. But Kaleb got a hold of the camera after most people had left. He was loving taking these photos and he did not do too bad of a job.

FOR LORI

2009-08-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

My friend Lori gave Kaija this adorable outfit. She said that she wanted proof that I would use all these pieces together because this is the way the outfit is supposed to be. It's bold but so is Lori. I think it is cute. Can't get the booties to stay on but they are darling.

Mmmmm Flour & Dancing

2009-08-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a still shot of my dancing family.

I was making cookies and Kaleb wanted to try out the flour for some odd reason. Well the outcome was this and he loved it. I don't know why, but he is a crazy kid.

Dancing Family

2009-08-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

We had Kaija dancing on the counter so of course Kaleb had to get on the counter too. This is the evidence. I think my family is so cute. If you look closely KB hangs his tongue out lately.

Mustikkakeitto & Mansikka Kiisseli

2009-07-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

So I tried my hand at another Finnish dessert. In english this would be called Blueberry Soup and Strawberry Soup. I followed the directions to the T, even using potato starch instead of cornstarch. Mikko said he never got Blueberry Soup like that in Finland so he thought it was a special treat.

July 24th

2009-07-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Only captured a couple pics on the 24th of July. We went to the parade in Bountiful on the 23rd. It was at 6pm but it was stinking hot. I was sweating up a storm. Kaleb enjoyed waving a flag for a bit. His favorite part was to see the motorcycles. We left when they still had about 40 more entries to go but we had already seen a 100 entries. We wanted to beat the traffic, we then hit up Costa Vida it was yummy of course.

Here is Kaija holding her flag. She looks thrilled eh? The next day we went to my sisters house for a BBQ the food of course was yummy and it was fun to visit with the fam. Saturday night we lit off some fireworks. I forgot to take pictures. We invited the neighbor kids to come out. It was funny Kaleb would hold the sparklers but the neighbor kids were not fond of them. We had a great time.

Forgot to Post

2009-07-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this picture and I think it is a good one. Both Daddy and KB enjoying their computers. But really I hope that KB does not pick up Daddy's WOW habit in the future.

"Simmin"

2009-07-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday Pekka was kind enough to let Kaleb and Mikko go swimming at his town homes pool. I know I forgot the "w & g" in swimming on the title that is because that is how KB says it. As you can see from the pics he had a great time.

He was pretty cute he would plug his nose until he hit the water.

We were pretty proud of our brave little boy this is the first time he did the jumping into the water.

Pekka and Mikko were the whitest people there at the pool. But at least they are not getting cancer or hyperpigmentation. Thanks again uncle Pekka we hope to go again soon!

2 Months Old

2009-07-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

2 MONTHS OLD

I took a picture of Kaleb every month for the 1st year so I am going to try and do the same with Kaija. Monday was her 2 mo well visit and she weighed 13.2 pounds and is 23.5 inches long. She is two pounds heavier than Kaleb was at two months. I hope she is a tall girl but not gigantic! She also got her shots and I am proud to say that it was the first time I did not cry while watching my kids having pain inflicted on them.

She is enjoying bath time already. I am so glad I have this ducky safety tub it is so much easier than trying to bath babies in the sink.

One of my favorite pictures that we have of Kaleb as a baby is the one I took of him and Daddy taking a shower. So naturally I had to do the same with Kaija. I think it is just so cute.

Cuties

2009-07-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

Kaleb kept pulling the pieces out to this thing wanting me to put it together. I finally gave in. He wanted Kaija to enjoy it with him, I thought it was cute.

A couple of the goggles I bought for Kaleb to keep him happy. The other night Mikko calls me to come into the bathroom and this is what I found.

We went to Logan last weekend to visit Mummi and Pappa. We had a great time. We hit the sauna, kaleb played at the park and with lawn toys and finger painted as seen below. Also enjoyed a yummy icecream sandwhich as seen above. Thanks for all the fun Mummi!

Kaija has started smiling this was one of my many attempts to capture one. I am not doing to well at it.

KB's Dance Moves

2009-07-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Check out Kaleb's dance moves. This was taken while we were cleaning up after the 1st day of the Brown reunion.

Kanab visit/ BFR 09/ 4th of July

2009-07-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time in Kanab. Kaleb and I went down the Sunday before the Brown Family Reunion. Kaleb had a blast. I needed to have help and so it was a good compromise. Although my parents only have a swamp cooler I survived.

Grandpa hooked up the wagon to the mower and gave KB rides all over the backyard. He loved it he was grinning the whole time. While down there Brant and Jana and family are living with my parents until he finds a job. Well Heath got a new batman toy and that was just too much for Kaleb he wanted it so bad and cried about it a lot. I took him to the family dollar store and got him a load of iron man stuff and he LOVED it. I know its not the best way to parent but I can't stand the crying all the time.

We celebrated my birthday while there KB enjoyed blowing out the cake. I made my own tres leche cake, it was delicious. Mom and Brant made chile verde burritos they were so so good, I need to get the recipe from Mom. Kaija was totally spoiled for a week she was always being held. Here is big brant and little Kaija.

Another shot of Kaija being spoiled this time by her cousin Brooklyn. We went swimming at the pool at McKay's condo. The water was freezing so we did not let Kaija in but we got her dressed for the event.

This shot is great after swimming we drove through McDonalds to get some lunch and we tried hard to keep Kaleb awake. We gave him some crackers to keep him up but this is as far as he got. The next picture was the talent portion of the first night of the Brown reunion. This night we got together with not just our family but my two uncles families as well. We enjoyed games for the kids and a great dinner and a little talent program.

The 4th of July was hot. The family had a float to represent. We did not win. Obviously they were not going by good looks. Some family whose roots are not even from Kanab. I guess matching shirts and a drum band is what the people like!

Our family had matching shirts for the 4th. And here is little Kaija's frog pose.

Swimming time at the public pool. Almost tradition that we got the pool at the reunion. Kaleb loved it. Kaija just dipped her toes.

They got a new slide at the pool. You go down on mats. Kaleb I chose not to use one afraid we would go to fast and be scary. Well my shorts pulled up and we got stuck at the end!

Dinner again with the family at the school field. Here is KB enjoying an ice cream. Dad and KB enjoying the fireworks. Krisit was in charge of the reunion and she did and amazing job. She got everyone this light sticks and Kaleb had a great time with them. He fell asleep that night holding 4 of them.

Sparkler time. And finally the trip back home. Kaleb took off his head rest and wore it on his head. I think he look like Queen Amidala from star wars. He now keeps doing it. He thinks it is pretty funny.

2nd Child Syndrome

2009-06-26T21:17:00.001-07:00

So it is official I have so fallen into the 2nd child syndrome. I feel so bad. With KB I am sure that I took a picture of him almost every day! Poor Kaija I hardly take any photos at all. I am too busy feeding or trying to pay attention to big brother. Also the first few weeks she just slept all the time and how exciting is picture after picture of a sleeping baby. Anyway here are a few I have taken.
Too cute for words.

If KB sees me taking a picture he gets in on the act. I thought he did a great job of posing for this one. He does love his sister even though he is confused at times of why she is getting most of the attention.
He loves to give sister kisses on her head. He has tried to smother her a couple of times but then he wants to love her and he says. "Kaija is kewdie".
Daddy's girl. She just loves to be held all the time. It makes it a little hard to get anything done around the house.

OFFICIAL 1 MONTH PICTURE.

Taken right before bed I was running out of time, she looks a little tired!
Headbands are a norm for baby girls, but Mikko hates them. He says they look like 80's basketball players. He doesn't mind the tiny ones cause that is more proportionate to their heads. I sneak in the little flowers. He really hates the huge ones. Of course I think that is a little much too.

First Two Weeks

2009-06-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

First bath at home. Grandpa and Grandma came to help out and I am grateful that they did. Thanks for all the food and home improvements that you did!

So precious sleeping. Pretty much what she does all the time. Tried to get Kaleb to hold her. The first picture shows he true feelings and is why he wont hold her. Second was just a lucky shot we got of him. He loves to give her kisses but does not want to hold her.

She loves to sleep on the love sac. Grandma and Grandpa again with number 38 grandchild.

Mummi and Pappa got to see there 2nd grandchild on their way home from Australia. We are glad that go to stop by and hope they get to visit her again soon.

Actually got some shots today with her eyes open. and then KB wanted in on the act, he would not hold her so this is the cute shot we got of the two.

Helmet Boy

2009-06-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we went to the distribution to buy some garments and there was two motorcycles parked outside. KB is obsessed lately with bikes. He went to the bikes and put on the helmet that was on the bike. He was mad when I told him he could not wear it since it was not ours.

Anyway when we got home he went over to the neighbors to play and he disappeared in their garage for a long time. I went to check on him and he was sitting on their 4 wheeler with a helmet on and say there for ever until their Dad got home from work and he was kind enough to take him on a little ride. Well we could not get him to come home. I finally had to go get my helmet and now he wore it the rest of the night and then that was the first thing he got when he woke up this morning. You got to love his face in the first picture. Click on it to see it larger.

Baseball Mitten

2009-05-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

Kaylynn was watching Kaleb the other day so I could have a little break. When I went to pick him up he was playing with a mitt. Oh the fit he threw when we had to leave. So we ended up going to Walmart and getting him his own Mitt. Then the next day we went and got Mikko a glove so he could play with him. Here they are there first Father and Son game of catch.

KB does not want to get to far from you when he tries to catch.

He has a pretty good arm.

His catching stance.

KB's Pics

2009-05-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Kaleb loves to get a hold of the camera and take pictures. Here are a few of the usable ones. Say cheese Dad.

Took a picture of his neighbor friend, Macie, when they came to the hospital to visit.

And here he is trying to take a picture of himself. We need to get him his own camera. He has almost ruined the one we have, to many drops on the floor.

Gateway

2009-05-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

I got a little behind with the birth of sister and all but now I am catching up on what has been going on. These pictures are from when we went to Gateway for two reasons. This was on the Saturday before Kaija was born. The reasons for going was 1- I took the blue cohosh that was supposed to make me go into labor (but didn't). I took it then I walked around Gateway to try and get the contractions started. 2nd- was for Kaleb to have a good time and from the pictures you can see that he did. Here he is with the ball contraption thing. He likes to pull this face lately when getting his picture taken.

The policeman. Not quite sure since Mikko was the one with him while I was out walking.

He loves playing horse with Dad and so he looks like he enjoyed pretending on this horse as well.

He loved the Helicopter that the have on top of the building. Dad said that he was so excited when you pushed the button and it makes the noise like it is actually going to take off.

When he saw these pics he told me about how he pushed the button and then he made the helicopter sound. He is so animated.

Daddy and son had a great time together and I am glad they had the opportunity to spend the afternoon together just Father and Son.

Too Cute

2009-05-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just had to post this picture of our cute little girl. This was her coming home outfit and she sure does like to sleep. And people keep asking how her name is pronounced. Kaija is a Finnish name and the "j" makes a "y" sound.
And this is KB's first photo that he has taken of his sister. He loves to use the camera. At least he got most of her in the frame.

1st Pics of Baby Sister

2009-05-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Right after the birth. I was happy and surprised to get to hold Kaija for a long time after the birth. I asked the midwife and nurses if she was OK and they kept reassuring me that she was. KB was taken away after birth because of his breathing problems so this has been a new experience. I was happy it was over if you can't tell and it is a good thing we did not video the birth. Mikko said I had CRAZY eyes during the pushing phase. He said he is glad that he is not a woman.
7lbs and 15oz, 21 inches. Baby sister was a whole pound bigger than her big brother and couple inches longer. He better watch out.

Another shot after the whirlwind delivery. I still can't believe how fast it went.

The first meeting KB was not sure about his sister but he seems to be doing a lot better now. We will see what being home is going to be like.

Our little girl, she looks just like KB did.

Lots of hair.

Daddy Daughter, so precious.

Going home. It was a task to get our car seat back to infant size it was still set up for a one year old.

Mikko did a little decoration and I was so happy that he did.