Sidney, Nebraska

What's in Sidney Nebraska, you ask???  Not much...j/k  Jeff's parents moved to Sidney a few years ago, and we have never been to see them as a family, so we decided to take a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gallego.  Jen and her family were there as well, and we had such a blast.  It was fun to see where they live, and to spend time with Jen's kids.  Jeff especially loved it...he misses seeing them ever since they moved to Washington.  He has a real bond with them from when he lived with their family and watched the kids while Jen was at work.  They are all getting so big, and it is fun now that we have kids too and they can all play together.

This is what happens when Aunt Jen is in charge of bathtime

Beckham and Aidyn sure had fun together

Kasen smiling for Grandma...as usual.  I swear she has magic abilities...that kid doesn't smile for anyone else

Grandpa Gallego enjoyed holding the babies too

Grandma and Kasen

Daddy and Aidyn

Jen bowling

Grandma bowling

At the taxidermy...we were able to go to the Cabela taxidermy and see where they store all the stuffed animals.  It was 3 floors of hundreds of animals...really cool, but kind of sad, especially when you see the little baby animals.  

A huge Rhino

Jen's whole family...and Aidyn.  She wouldn't leave Taylor's side

Dog Beach

A few weeks ago we decided to go to the dog beach...it was still a little chilly, but it was nice to get out and let Bella run around...and Aidyn.  She sure loves dogs.  I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Bella to keep her company.  You got to love sunny California.  Where else can you go to the beach in March???

Kasen's Blessing Weekend

We blessed Kasen a few weeks ago.  The majority of Jeff's family was in town, and it was really nice to spend time with them all weekend long.  Jeff did a great job with the blessing...I was so proud, and Kasen was given many blessings that I know will help him throughout his life.  I am so grateful for the priesthood, and having a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder.  He has had the opportunity to use the priesthood to bless our family in many ways, and I look forward to many more in the future.

Our family

Jeff's whole family...minus Bobby, Michael, and 4 of Jen and Wes' kids

Grandma Gallego can sure make Kasen smile...I have never seen him smile so much than when she holds him

Aidyn enjoyed playing with the refrigerator magnets

The three youngest of the Gallego clan...Emi, Carsen, and Kasen

Grandma Gallego making Kasen laugh...priceless

Journaling

This is a boring post...but I have decided to use my blog as more of a journal than just an update on pictures...most likely there still will be pictures and info on our family, but because I don't keep a journal, I really need to be better at writing down my thoughts and feelings. Boring for others, good for me...feel free to skip over the journal entries to the good stuff, it's fine by me.

Life is...good. Jeff and I celebrated our 4th anniversary by doing....NOTHING!!! We actually went through half the day without even realizing it was our anniversary. Time sure does fly, and I am glad we don't feel the need to do anything big to celebrate. We did enjoy a day without Aidyn, thanks grandma Snell, and then had some friends over for games and dessert.

We are currently living in Escondido, CA. We are not liking it one bit...the area is a little, what's the word...GHETTO. We have had too many situations that really make you worried about the safety of your children. Police officers have been to our street 6 times in the last 6 months, and I swore to myself I would never let my children enter the Escondido school system...it is a joke. So, we are eagerly looking for a house to buy up in Temecula, CA. We, both Jeff and I, are excited about this move. We both have lived there before while growing up, and love the family environment there. The schools are great, it is safe, and close to grandma and grandpa Snell. Hopefully we will be able to find a house soon because I don't know how much longer I can wait.

Aidyn has been a handful the last month...I don't know what it is, maybe bringing home baby #2, but she has been throwing tantrums already and she is only 18 months. Kasen is a very high maintenance baby. Colic, acid reflux, etc. If he is awake, he is screaming, and there is rarely 20 minutes in a day that I can set him down without having him scream. This makes it very hard to ever get anything done.

This is our life currently...just thought I would write a quick update.

I LOVE THESE TWO...

I live for moments like these...Aidyn loves being outside. I have mentioned this many times I'm sure in the last year. When Jeff mows the lawn, he usually keeps Aidyn in the house, because she would probably wonder into the street and he doesn't like having to watch her while he is trying to work...so, he came up with a solution. My mom found this backpack at a garage sale so that we could take Aidyn hiking...and it sure did come in handy. I love that Jeff is willing to do the little things for Aidyn. To him it may have just been an extra 10 minutes to get her situated, but in the long run, I am sure Aidyn had a blast. And I loved watching them as well. It makes my heart smile when I see Aidyn interacting with her dad. She truly does love him...way more than she loves me...but I am ok with that because he loves her back just the same. I look forward to many more opportunities to see my husband in his role as a father.

Bragging time...

So I had the camera out the other day and I remembered to take a few quick pictures of the latest project Jeff did for our house...the wood floors. We decided a few months ago that when we move to Temecula we are going to rent out our house, and that having wood instead of carpet would be a smart choice. He did the project the week before we had Kasen...talk about good timing. I love the look of it, and if we were staying in this house I would get some rugs, but I really didn't get a chance. I love having such a handy husband. He really is amazing. He had never done wood before, and the first few rows took him a little longer to do, and he got a little frustrated because it was harder than he thought it would be, but once he got going, he was way fast and finished the project in one day. He has really made our house beautiful...on the inside anyway. Between remodeling the kitchen, rewiring the entire house, tiling the master bathroom, building laundry area/desk area, putting wood floors, he really is amazing. I am one lucky girl, and I don't tell him I love him enough.

The next project is the fireplace...he really wants to tile it to make it look a little nicer before we move...more pictures to come later.

Friends for dinner

We usually try to have a family over for dinner on Sunday...if we can...and a few weeks ago we were able to invite a new couple in the ward over. They had a daughter that is 2 1/2, and her and Aidyn really got along well. Aidyn tends to be much better with kids that are a little older than her. She doesn't play well with kids her exact age or a little younger, so it was nice to see her interacting well with another girl.

They enjoyed climbing on the shelf and sitting next to each other

You can see her face is still a little scabbed

Wild Animal Park...again

Our Wild Animal Park passes expire soon and so we are trying to go as much as possible. We were able to go with some friends from Temecula...Julianna and Nick Bernadini and there son Nicholas. We were able to see the baby gorilla which is our favorite, and while at the playground, Aidyn took a spill while playing in a concrete truck...not a great idea for whoever put that in the middle of a children's playground. She scraped up her face and had a scab there for the next few days...luckily it didn't bother her that bad.

You can kind of see where it scraped her face...I really thought she was seriously hurt...she hit the corner really hard.

The baby gorilla...so cute and my favorite thing to go see