I didn't want to forget the details about this Brek story, and the important details were too long for facebook, so I figured I would write it on the blog. That's what it's for anyway, right?
I took Brek to the park around the corner from my parent's house, which we have been frequenting a lot since we arrived in California. Brek was excited that there another kid there to play with. She was a 3-year-old little girl. She also had a little red balance bike, similar to his. He rode his bike around for a while, up and down the hill and around the park. Eventually he invited her to ride with him.
She was a typical 3-year-old: wobbly and unbalanced, quick to get frustrated and give up, and plenty of tears when things didn't go her way.
But how Brek acted made me love him even more and just feel proud of the person he is becoming.
When she fell, Brek would stop and make sure she was ok, and help her up. There were times when he came close to crashing and falling because of where she was or what she was doing, but he handled it calmly, rode carefully, and made sure it was safe for both of them. When she cried because he was faster than her, he would slow down and suggest that they "ride together". For a kid who is always competing and racing, it was very sweet to see him compassionate towards someone else's feelings and frustrations. When she gave up because she thought it was just too hard, he came over and sat with me and talked about her bicycling skills. We talked about some of the ways he has worked to become better at bike riding, how he has learned to handle hills and riding fast, and what he does when he feels like he's losing control. After a few minutes, he told me that he was going to go teach her some of the things he has learned. Then he invited her to try again.
Over the 90 minutes that we were at the park, it was very exciting to see this little girl improve and get better at riding her bike. Brek was a great cheerleader for her as she tried hard things.
It was definitely a proud mommy moment.
Of course, there couldn't be a Brek story without some humor - no worries: During one of their bike breaks while they played on the playground, Brek started singing at the top of his lungs and busting out his very awkward dance moves. Gotta love his unrestrained charisma.
I pushed them both in the swings and after a while Brek got out of his swing and pushed her for a while. At one point he looked up at me and asked, "Is this showing that I will be a good brother?"
My heart broke a little. If there ever was a small child that had a sincere desire of their heart, it is this boy for a sibling. Sure I get a little annoyed at the frequency at which he's pushing on my tummy and asking me if I am pregnant. I wish it weren't so complicated to adopt. But it is. And we're working towards it. His adoption came about with a lot of thinking, but not a lot of planning. This time around, we're trying to do the thinking and the planning. It of course requires patience. Almost 5-year-olds are NOT patient.
But I guess if there is a sincere desire of MY heart, it's to grant the desire of HIS.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Picture-less Family Vacation
We just got back from our family vacation. This is the first vacation that we have taken that has just been the 3 of us. Every other trip we have done has been to be with family. So this was definitely something new. The other "new" element, was that we splurged and got a hotel. For 2 nights! Brek now wishes he could live in one. (Isn't there an old tv show/movie or 2 about this?)
Anyway. Like always, I brought my camera. I actually pulled it out to take a few pictures the first day, and the battery immediately died. I did at least remember to bring the charge cord for it, so we plugged it in our first night. And then I remembered to bring my camera along for the remaining 2 days. And never pulled it out again. So thus the title. An awesome and memorable family vacation, and no photographic proof. (To be perfectly honest, I think I have 3 or 4 pictures on our phone, but in case you weren't aware, our phone is still in the "flip" variety and it's photos don't even upload to facebook, so ...)
Our family vacation was 3 days, 2 nights in Denver. Originally we were going to go to Cheyenne, but Joe was able to get an appointment with is doctor on a Monday WITHOUT school, so we changed the original 2 days, 1 night in Cheyenne to 3 days, 2 nights in Denver. I had assumed that EVERYTHING would be closed on Easter Sunday, so that meant that we would need the day prior to be able to play around the city. After spending Easter Sunday in the city, I am reminded how that culture is SO.COMPLETELY.DIFFERENT.THAN.SMALL.TOWN.NEBRASKA. I shouldn't have worried about it. But I'm also not sad that we had the extra day.
I'd say there were 3 downsides to our trip. Maybe to some, some of these might sound like excuses or justifications or whatever. But I really only am writing about them because despite the fact that I have been enjoying my time with my 2 boys these past 3 days, these elements have been on my mind. It has been my inner battle, and for the safe of journaling and expressing thoughts and reality, I want to include them BEFORE I write about the actual vacation. So, judge all you want. I'm just being real and me here. First, it was over Easter. Although we enjoy the fun "hunt" and "basket" elements of Easter, I really try to focus on the spiritual element. It is, after all, the MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF LIFE. Brek was of course rather upset that we missed our town's egg hunt on Saturday. And then by Sunday was even more distraught that we were not joining in on somebody else's egg hunt either. And in all honesty, although we talked to him about what Easter was about, and he can tell you that it's about Christ being resurrected, we didn't do anything else SPIRITUAL with Easter. We let it pass this year. Hard to do. But done. Second, our trip also fell over General Conference, which is a really important 2 days for Mormons where we listen to our modern, living Prophet and other church leaders. We receive counsel and guidance and inspiration. I have only ever missed watching Conference in my lifetime because of something I could not get out of. But once again, for the safe of our family time, we decided to not watch any of the sessions. Not necessarily proud of it, nor could I say I'm ashamed or embarrassed either. It's just what happened. (And since I've missed it all, I've also been trying to decide what kind of spiritual study I want to start so that I am catching up and watching or reading these talks that I have missed. I am grateful that they are so readily available via the internet.) The final downside would be health. Having a son who is go-go-go almost constantly, with 2 parents that battle such physically limiting health issues is a challenge, and often what makes our parenting less than ideal. I battled a very intense headache/almost migraine for the first 2 days, joined with some "normal" but no less debilitating back/neck pain. And Joe, well, just needed a toilet.
So, now that the negatives are out there, it's time for the positives (and the narrative): We left Saturday morning. We spent Friday (which was the first day of our Easter Break at home, relaxing, cleaning, and mildly getting ready.) We woke up Saturday and packed. No real rush. We got to Denver around lunchtime. We ate at KFC. With a child who fights eating, the constant reminder of "We can't go play until you finish eating" still gets REALLY OLD! And he sure was excited about the playing part. We went to the Children't Museum there in Denver. My mom and I took him there a little over a year ago. Joe had never been, and Brek has been begging to go back ever since. We were not prepared for huge massive crowds. Apparently, the day before Easter is a big one for the museum. This put Brek in his "observation mode" despite his exuberant outbursts and huge smiles about going to the museum while he was supposed to be eating lunch. He still had fun. And he handled the masses well. We stayed until closing, and even then, he wasn't ready to leave. Most of our time was spent at the ball area, of course. But he explored and played in some of the parts he hadn't in the last time. Then we went down to the firetruck area, which hadn't held his attention much a year ago. But he really like it during this visit. At one point, another little brown boy about his age engaged Brek in some awesome "pretend play" and the 2 of them were off fighting fires and exploring houses and driving trucks to their little heart's content. It was precious! After the firetruck, we went up and did bubbles for a bit. Brek really loved the vapor/smoke ones that he could catch. And then he convinced us to go outside to the carnival area which was part of the Easter extravaganza and he played with hula hoops and got to ride a little barrel train. He had only minimal interest in the instruments that were there, but then again, he's around those (and of a much more "realistic" variety) on a regular basis. He then went over to the playground area and attempted some monkey bars as well as an attempt at engaging with/showing off for some other kids. Then joined a large group on the tire swing. And then we ended back at the firetruck area for the last 15 minutes before we got kicked out.
From there, we checked into our hotel and then went to dinner at PF Chang's. I've had a gift card and free appetizer coupon for several years. We ended up eating on the patio since it was a 10 minute wait instead of 40, and in reality, it was closer to 5 minutes. It was still almost too cold to eat outside, but not bad really, and the atmosphere was fun. Our waitress scored us a 2nd free appetizer so we ended up with lettuce wraps and green bean fries. Brek had his first "sweet and sour chicken" and kept talking about how the sauce was AMAZING! I got "almond cashew chicken" which was yummy, but also made me wish I had just gotten honey chicken instead since that's my favorite. And Joe got "salmon avocado sushi." He let me try a bite, and as I had never eaten sushi before, I was pretty hysterical and nervous. But it was yummy. I also tried their strawberry, cucumber, and lime infused water and it was DELICIOUS!!! We ordered dessert to go and went back to the hotel and enjoyed their famous chocolate cake and some chocolate raspberry wontons. It was a really fun night!
Our hotel room had 2 rooms in it, so that was nice because Brek got to sleep in his own room. He also enjoyed the tv time, tho he is still getting a grasp on the concept of tv since we watch everything on the computer. He doesn't fully understand that he doesn't get to watch WHATEVER he wants when he wants to. Sunday, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then went swimming. Brek was disappointed that there wasn't a hot tub, but the pool was nice and warm and felt good anyway. And the shallow end was only 3 feet so Brek was able to get around on his own. We brought our own food to make paninis for lunch (although we forgot the panini press at home, so it ended up just being fancy sandwiches) and then took naps. Once we were up, we went on a search for a park. With a bathroom. This proved to be more challenging to expected. We ended up in the heart of a huge residential area, with a really huge park. And it seems going to a park on Easter Sunday in the afternoon is what EVERYONE IN DENVER does. Haha! We did find some portopottys at least, but the playground area was on the complete opposite end of the park, and then there was no parking anywhere either. So after some deliberating we decided to head back towards the hotel and try and find another park. I think we tried 3 or 4 before we found a park area with a visitor's center with a bathroom, and after paying an entrance fee, had less than 30 minutes to play there before it closed. We wanted to fly kites; there was no wind. We also had some "Easter basket toys" that I hid around the park for Brek to find. I guess the way we do Easter baskets in our family is that we hide everything, not just the eggs. And there wasn't much candy anyway. Brek's favorite toy was a rocket that I found. He actually had asked for a rocket for Christmas, so I was excited when I found this one for less than $5. And it's something he can totally power and do himself. So after Brek found all his toys and we played for about 10 minutes, we got back in the car and went back to the hotel and swam again. Then we ventured out for dinner. This also proved a little more challenging than expected. We ended up in downtown Denver. Joe was on the hunt for a bathroom. I was in charge of finding parking. Had to pay for it over the phone, after setting up the car and the credit card into their system, and then having to call several times because it didn't make sense. Then, the restaurant that we had looked up wasn't open, so we had to improvise. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe. The food and experience was meh, but still memorable. :)
Monday, after enjoying breakfast at the hotel again, we did some swimming. Then packed up and left the hotel. We went shopping at Costco, which, after living in such a small town, is always a fun thing to do. Then we enjoyed lunch at Panera Bread - because Joe knows I love deli type places. Then Joe had his doctor's appointment, and after that took 1 1/2 hours longer than planned, we headed home. We had to go home via band practice for Joe tho, so we actually didn't get home until late.
Saturday was definitely the favorite of the trip. But truthfully speaking, it was just nice to spend time together. We played board games. We watched cartoons. We slept. We cuddled. We laughed. We swam. We spent a ton of money, which is only a big deal because, as Brek says it, "we're trying to dopt a baby." We made memories. We were together, focused on each other. And someday, we'll do it again.
Anyway. Like always, I brought my camera. I actually pulled it out to take a few pictures the first day, and the battery immediately died. I did at least remember to bring the charge cord for it, so we plugged it in our first night. And then I remembered to bring my camera along for the remaining 2 days. And never pulled it out again. So thus the title. An awesome and memorable family vacation, and no photographic proof. (To be perfectly honest, I think I have 3 or 4 pictures on our phone, but in case you weren't aware, our phone is still in the "flip" variety and it's photos don't even upload to facebook, so ...)
Our family vacation was 3 days, 2 nights in Denver. Originally we were going to go to Cheyenne, but Joe was able to get an appointment with is doctor on a Monday WITHOUT school, so we changed the original 2 days, 1 night in Cheyenne to 3 days, 2 nights in Denver. I had assumed that EVERYTHING would be closed on Easter Sunday, so that meant that we would need the day prior to be able to play around the city. After spending Easter Sunday in the city, I am reminded how that culture is SO.COMPLETELY.DIFFERENT.THAN.SMALL.TOWN.NEBRASKA. I shouldn't have worried about it. But I'm also not sad that we had the extra day.
I'd say there were 3 downsides to our trip. Maybe to some, some of these might sound like excuses or justifications or whatever. But I really only am writing about them because despite the fact that I have been enjoying my time with my 2 boys these past 3 days, these elements have been on my mind. It has been my inner battle, and for the safe of journaling and expressing thoughts and reality, I want to include them BEFORE I write about the actual vacation. So, judge all you want. I'm just being real and me here. First, it was over Easter. Although we enjoy the fun "hunt" and "basket" elements of Easter, I really try to focus on the spiritual element. It is, after all, the MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF LIFE. Brek was of course rather upset that we missed our town's egg hunt on Saturday. And then by Sunday was even more distraught that we were not joining in on somebody else's egg hunt either. And in all honesty, although we talked to him about what Easter was about, and he can tell you that it's about Christ being resurrected, we didn't do anything else SPIRITUAL with Easter. We let it pass this year. Hard to do. But done. Second, our trip also fell over General Conference, which is a really important 2 days for Mormons where we listen to our modern, living Prophet and other church leaders. We receive counsel and guidance and inspiration. I have only ever missed watching Conference in my lifetime because of something I could not get out of. But once again, for the safe of our family time, we decided to not watch any of the sessions. Not necessarily proud of it, nor could I say I'm ashamed or embarrassed either. It's just what happened. (And since I've missed it all, I've also been trying to decide what kind of spiritual study I want to start so that I am catching up and watching or reading these talks that I have missed. I am grateful that they are so readily available via the internet.) The final downside would be health. Having a son who is go-go-go almost constantly, with 2 parents that battle such physically limiting health issues is a challenge, and often what makes our parenting less than ideal. I battled a very intense headache/almost migraine for the first 2 days, joined with some "normal" but no less debilitating back/neck pain. And Joe, well, just needed a toilet.
So, now that the negatives are out there, it's time for the positives (and the narrative): We left Saturday morning. We spent Friday (which was the first day of our Easter Break at home, relaxing, cleaning, and mildly getting ready.) We woke up Saturday and packed. No real rush. We got to Denver around lunchtime. We ate at KFC. With a child who fights eating, the constant reminder of "We can't go play until you finish eating" still gets REALLY OLD! And he sure was excited about the playing part. We went to the Children't Museum there in Denver. My mom and I took him there a little over a year ago. Joe had never been, and Brek has been begging to go back ever since. We were not prepared for huge massive crowds. Apparently, the day before Easter is a big one for the museum. This put Brek in his "observation mode" despite his exuberant outbursts and huge smiles about going to the museum while he was supposed to be eating lunch. He still had fun. And he handled the masses well. We stayed until closing, and even then, he wasn't ready to leave. Most of our time was spent at the ball area, of course. But he explored and played in some of the parts he hadn't in the last time. Then we went down to the firetruck area, which hadn't held his attention much a year ago. But he really like it during this visit. At one point, another little brown boy about his age engaged Brek in some awesome "pretend play" and the 2 of them were off fighting fires and exploring houses and driving trucks to their little heart's content. It was precious! After the firetruck, we went up and did bubbles for a bit. Brek really loved the vapor/smoke ones that he could catch. And then he convinced us to go outside to the carnival area which was part of the Easter extravaganza and he played with hula hoops and got to ride a little barrel train. He had only minimal interest in the instruments that were there, but then again, he's around those (and of a much more "realistic" variety) on a regular basis. He then went over to the playground area and attempted some monkey bars as well as an attempt at engaging with/showing off for some other kids. Then joined a large group on the tire swing. And then we ended back at the firetruck area for the last 15 minutes before we got kicked out.
From there, we checked into our hotel and then went to dinner at PF Chang's. I've had a gift card and free appetizer coupon for several years. We ended up eating on the patio since it was a 10 minute wait instead of 40, and in reality, it was closer to 5 minutes. It was still almost too cold to eat outside, but not bad really, and the atmosphere was fun. Our waitress scored us a 2nd free appetizer so we ended up with lettuce wraps and green bean fries. Brek had his first "sweet and sour chicken" and kept talking about how the sauce was AMAZING! I got "almond cashew chicken" which was yummy, but also made me wish I had just gotten honey chicken instead since that's my favorite. And Joe got "salmon avocado sushi." He let me try a bite, and as I had never eaten sushi before, I was pretty hysterical and nervous. But it was yummy. I also tried their strawberry, cucumber, and lime infused water and it was DELICIOUS!!! We ordered dessert to go and went back to the hotel and enjoyed their famous chocolate cake and some chocolate raspberry wontons. It was a really fun night!
Our hotel room had 2 rooms in it, so that was nice because Brek got to sleep in his own room. He also enjoyed the tv time, tho he is still getting a grasp on the concept of tv since we watch everything on the computer. He doesn't fully understand that he doesn't get to watch WHATEVER he wants when he wants to. Sunday, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then went swimming. Brek was disappointed that there wasn't a hot tub, but the pool was nice and warm and felt good anyway. And the shallow end was only 3 feet so Brek was able to get around on his own. We brought our own food to make paninis for lunch (although we forgot the panini press at home, so it ended up just being fancy sandwiches) and then took naps. Once we were up, we went on a search for a park. With a bathroom. This proved to be more challenging to expected. We ended up in the heart of a huge residential area, with a really huge park. And it seems going to a park on Easter Sunday in the afternoon is what EVERYONE IN DENVER does. Haha! We did find some portopottys at least, but the playground area was on the complete opposite end of the park, and then there was no parking anywhere either. So after some deliberating we decided to head back towards the hotel and try and find another park. I think we tried 3 or 4 before we found a park area with a visitor's center with a bathroom, and after paying an entrance fee, had less than 30 minutes to play there before it closed. We wanted to fly kites; there was no wind. We also had some "Easter basket toys" that I hid around the park for Brek to find. I guess the way we do Easter baskets in our family is that we hide everything, not just the eggs. And there wasn't much candy anyway. Brek's favorite toy was a rocket that I found. He actually had asked for a rocket for Christmas, so I was excited when I found this one for less than $5. And it's something he can totally power and do himself. So after Brek found all his toys and we played for about 10 minutes, we got back in the car and went back to the hotel and swam again. Then we ventured out for dinner. This also proved a little more challenging than expected. We ended up in downtown Denver. Joe was on the hunt for a bathroom. I was in charge of finding parking. Had to pay for it over the phone, after setting up the car and the credit card into their system, and then having to call several times because it didn't make sense. Then, the restaurant that we had looked up wasn't open, so we had to improvise. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe. The food and experience was meh, but still memorable. :)
Monday, after enjoying breakfast at the hotel again, we did some swimming. Then packed up and left the hotel. We went shopping at Costco, which, after living in such a small town, is always a fun thing to do. Then we enjoyed lunch at Panera Bread - because Joe knows I love deli type places. Then Joe had his doctor's appointment, and after that took 1 1/2 hours longer than planned, we headed home. We had to go home via band practice for Joe tho, so we actually didn't get home until late.
Saturday was definitely the favorite of the trip. But truthfully speaking, it was just nice to spend time together. We played board games. We watched cartoons. We slept. We cuddled. We laughed. We swam. We spent a ton of money, which is only a big deal because, as Brek says it, "we're trying to dopt a baby." We made memories. We were together, focused on each other. And someday, we'll do it again.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Brek's Pictures
Once Brek's marching band costume was really coming together, we decided that we wanted to get some professional photos taken of him in it. But with the tightness of finances, we couldn't afford any of the people we have heard of in the area, plus I prefer to use photographers that I actually know, and that narrowed my local photographers down to the couple that runs our town's newspaper, and I really couldn't afford them either. So we decided to ask Joe's sister Janelle if she could take some pictures when we came out for Christmas. We were so happy that it worked out. She came over New Year's morning. Brek was quite the pill, considering the late night from before and being upset about cousins leaving and all, but she still managed to take some wonderful shots and dealt magnificently with a stubborn 4-year-old:
So if you're in Utah and are in need of a great photographer with reasonable prices, I totally recommend Memories by Janelle!
The Last Day of Our Vacation - aka New Year's Day
Brek enjoyed helping Grandma Jensen shovel the snow:
It was a fun night. And a wonderful end to our visit to Utah. And a fun start to our 2015!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
December Part 4 - The rest of our vacation and New Year's Eve
One morning Brek convinced Grandma Jensen to pull out her cello. This is one of Brek's favorite things to do when we visit.
On New Year's Eve day, we drove up to Salt Lake and went to the zoo. It was a free admission day. I knew it was going to be cold, but I wasn't quite expecting freezing. Brek was pretty whiny and unpleasant. There weren't as many animals out as we had hoped. But we hung in there for an hour or so and called it good. We did get to see the gorillas (inside, thankfully), and an elephant out playing in the snow, and the sea lions and seals (not even the polar bear was out!), but we did see the brown bears, and then the tigers too. They were pretty active.
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| Playing with Jensen, Eliza, Mara, and Olaf |
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| Brek, Eliza, Mara, Lizzie, Olaf, and Sabrina |
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