Yes it is another book review- I recently finished reading A Mother's Book of Secrets by Linda Eyre and Shawni Eyre Pothier. (a mother daughter team) It was so fun I loved how real it was it talked about the good and the bad in very positive ways. I loved the "Moment" secret - Shawnie says "A few years from now I'll be roaming the mall, and all my kids will be in school. Yes, it will be nice. It'll seem so free and strange in a good way. But, ...... I realized that on that day in the future when I'm, wandering the mall all fancy-free, there's no doubt I'll run into my double self from that post-Christmas shopping day. She'll be wrestling with her toddlers with a frustrated look on her face, assuring them that they're almost done with the errands of the day. And oh, will I ever wish I could go back, at least for a little while, and slow life down while I snuggle those kids up and kiss their chubby cheeks. I'll try to envision them as their little selves climbing on me all whiney and needy, and I'll probably tear up a little just like I am right now because I'll miss those little people. .... For now, how grateful I am that I can recognize how much I need to cherish each moment ... Because when I blink they'll be all grown up. But those moments that I cherished will still be there." I loved that! This is why I blog - in the hopes that I will be able go back and read about all of those moments. So here are a few of the things I hope I will remember when Brandon has grown:
- For FHE last Monday we did the second lesson out of the new nursery manual. It was all about Heavenly Father's plan for us, we sang the song "I Am a Child of God" and discussed each line (in a very simple way :)) When we finished we sang the whole song all the way through, me playing the piano and singing, Jared sitting right next to me singing, with Brandon on his lap. To our amazement Brandon sang with us - not all of the words of course but he sang the tune and the syllable that he felt worked the best and it was darling! It was even more special because as of late Brandon has developed a bit of a hatred for the piano (probably due to so many students and time spent at the piano) he cries every time I sit down to play, but not this time. I was so happy I followed the prophets (and my mother's) counsel to put in the time and effort to have a good FHE - it was a wonderful moment!
- Brandon has entered a new stage of climbing out of his crib - it is not a stage that I am very happy about - although there is something very cute about Brandon greeting me at the door each time he wakes up - I do love seeing the pride in his face because he knows he did something all on his own.
- I never want to forget the way Brandon says hi to everything - it is so sweet "Hi car, Hi truck, Hi dog, and on and on and on it goes. He is so enthusiastic about greeting everything!
- Another special moment or memory that I do not want to forget is the way he talks on the phone His conversation goes as follows, "Hi, yes, yes, OH!, yes, yes OH!, Bye! I love that when he talks on the phone he rolls his eyes or he looks at something on the ceiling that must be very important or must somehow help him understand the conversation better. ( I wander what I look like when I talk on the phone?)
- I love Brandon's bed time routine - it has become a family affair. Jared and I both help him say his prayers, then we each get our own hugs, and kisses, and then he lays in the crib with the stuffed animal for the day. We stretch out our pointer finger and he stretches his and we "touch fingers" I do not know why this tradition was started but it is a cute one, then we blow kisses and he is down for the night.
- I love that Brandon says in his most authoritative voice "det down gog" meaning "get down dog" (I am not sure why the d and the g are mixed up on dog and get) you see Maggie, like Brandon has a climbing problem, we regularly find her lounging on top of the kitchen table, or on top of and chair, and always the couch. Brandon knows she doesn't belong there and he is not to shy to tell her so - but for some reason she never minds him?
- I love the way Brandon and Maggie wrestle and play tug with "friend" it is so fun to watch Maggie drag him all over the house by "friend" and it is equally fun to see Brandon smother "friend" to prevent Maggie getting it. They don't always get along but when they do it sure if fun!
- I love when Brandon is ready to sing a song he lets me know by showing me the first action and saying "dat". for example if he want to sing "pat a cake" he starts clapping his hands and says "dat" or when he wants to sing the "itsy bitsy spider" he puts his fingers together and says "dat" or my favorite is "you are my sunshine", he puts his arms over his head making the sun and you guessed it, he says "dat". I makes me happy! :)
Last Tuesday we went with Dana, McKell, Karen, and Nicole to the farm at Thanksgiving Point. It was so fun to watch the kids see all the animals and have fun running all over the place! Brandon was everywhere - I had a very hard time keeping up with him, especially when he scaled the 3 1/2 foot retaining wall and I had to chase after him! 
Watching the baby chickens! So cute!
Cowgirls and a Cowboy - who do not like wearing hats!
Loved the sheep and the goats!
One of Brandon's and the girls favorite parts of the outing were the two old town play houses - they probably spent at least 1/2 an hour running around and dancing in them!
But a close second for favorites was the little play table in the middle of the park, who knew sitting at a table and banging your hands on it would be more interesting than the animals all around?
Feeding the cows was a funny experience - they have very rough tongues, but Brandon did not seem to mind. :)
The absolute favorite part of the day however was the pony ride, this makes four times that Brandon has ridden a horse - I am impressed! We moved to Heber with the hopes of same day owning our own horses, it is funny to me that with all of the horse we have around here the four times that Brandon has ridden the horse have not taken place here - humm?
Of course the box is as much fun as what is inside! :)
Have you ever seen a two year old get so excited about new shoes? :)
One of the 
