Is it just me?

Is it just me or does anyone else (pregnant ladies) get this awesome water mark from doing the dishes?

Is it just me or do I look bigger than I did with Kaleb? (The first one is when I'm 8 months pregnant with Kaleb. The other one is NOW! I'm in trouble I think.)

Is it just me or does anyone else's toddler hit everybody? Aghh!! The worst part is after he hits, he knows he's in trouble and will be really sweet and pat my face saying "soft" and give me kisses.

Is it just me or does anyone else lose their temple recommend?!! Yes it's embarrassing. But since someone announced it in church yesterday, I figure why not share that on my blog.

Is it just us, or does anyone else count a trip to Walmart as a date? (Because I lost my recommend and couldn't do our temple date, we tried to go to the hockey game in Everett. We were too late for that, so we ended up going to Walmart. Braydan was over-joyed.)

Is it just me or has anyone else tried the awesome new Family Search website? Just from working a couple hours, we already have 13 names temple ready!!!! One of them is Braydan's Grandpa Barrett who, for some reason, wasn't sealed to his parents. Another cool one is a family on his side that needs all their work done and they're from a tiny town in Wales where Braydan served on his mission. We used to be really into family history last year, but we got kinda burned out when we needed Ancestry.com and it cost $200/year for a membership. Now, since the church redid everything, you can find out right away if the temple work has been done. So much easier! (Best of all, I found out there's Eliza's on both sides of our families!)

Is it just me or does anyone else want to give up on trying to get a good family picture? This one the lighting is all wrong and if you look close, I have a death grip on Kaleb's hands to keep them away from his mouth. (I know Amber, we should just splurge and actually go somewhere and do it :)
Is it just me or do I have the funniest boy who likes to chase bugs? I know it's gross. (the video is kinda long, but you can fast forward if you want) ((and just ignore my robe!!!)AND finally, is it just me or does anyone else get excited to watch Dancing with the Stars???? I don't know who I'm going for this time. It makes me want to take a ballroom dance class with Braydan everytime I watch it, but I know that's a joke :) I took a dance class in college and it was so fun. There were twice as many girls as guys, but besides that . . . .

Survivor

This is Braydan. I hacked into Jessica's blog to let you all know I am alive. I had a few issues with my brain. But don't wory they did a CT scan and it is still ok. I'm not so sure why my brain revolted, but after a couple days of Vicadin I regained control. So please stop the phone calls and cards (ha ha I only got one call from my mommy). Where's the love (Sym, Helena, & Travis)? Jessica had little sympathy at first, but I think the trip to the ER in the middle of the night woke her up. Well not literally. I had to drive myself to the Hospital, and when I came back 4 hours later she was cooking breakfast in her bathrobe. At least we only live a half mile from the ER . . . driving and pain killers probably not a good idea. Kaleb had sympathy for me though. He always came in to the bedroom at 7 AM and said "Daddy Ouch" and gave me a bunch of kisses, but then proceeded to throw things at me. But he did tell mommy to "sshhh" when she was making loud noises in the bathroom (you know hair and make up noises - sickos). I agree with Susan's comment about my brain shutting down because of Jessica's continual annoying projects. Jessica is the best wife any husband could ever ask for (brownie points?)! Anyways, bye bye.

Yay's and Nay's of the week

Yay: I finally finished staining the fence!!!!
Nay: It was serious torture. (Thanks Amber for helping!)

Yay: Canned 39 quarts of tomatoes and pears

Nay: I had to build a new shelf in the pantry to fit them all.

Yay: I read the BEST book

Nay: It's over. Got any new suggestions?

Yay: I got 2 new piano students!

Nay: I have a crazy 19 month old son. (sometimes those two things don't go good together )

Yay: I started watching Tori again (just for an hour in the morning)

Nay: She comes at 7:45 AM (That's early okay!)

Yay: I finally found curtains I like!! They're paisley (on clearance - even better:)

Nay: I'm still not done with that room. It's gonna bug me till I finish it!

Yay: I got tickets to Phantom of the Opera!!!

Nay: They were really expensive

Yay: Kaleb knows his body parts

Nay: Braydan taught him how to pick his nose (and think it's funny)

Yay: Braydan got a lot of hours at work last week

Nay: Now he's sick in bed. He went to the E.R. last night, but they don't know what's wrong. I'll keep you posted

How was your week?

1st Annual DuRee Camping Trip

I'm joking about the annual part, although it might prove to be true since we waited so long to go this year. For anyone that hasn't been to Deception Pass, you better get packing. It's so cool. All you DuRees know how Braydan is. He went in May with the scouts and never really told me about it. Well, I found out for myself.

To get on the island you have to drive across the Deception Pass Bridge, which is awesome! It's 350 feet off the water (a little scary when you're looking over the edge) and is so beautiful with the fog coming off the ocean to the north.

Our campsite wasn't far from there and we spent the rest of the day exploring the beach.

Our friends, the Bettilyons, joined us later that night for tin-foils and smores and we stayed up late talking around the fire (courtesy of Braydan's driftwood he stole from the beach :)

I wish I would've taken a picture of our tent. It's a one man backpacking tent and worked fine when we were lovey newlyweds, but not old marrieds with Kaleb. Let's just say it was a tight squeeze. I was afraid to move all night for fear of smothering them, but at least Kaleb slept. I was really worried about that and even pictured myself driving him around in the middle of the night just to avoid waking the whole campground. Braydan and Kaleb at 6 in the morning. I guess you could say they're not morning people :)

I think our breakfast was my favorite part. Have I mentioned I love eating? The whole thing was kinda a fiasco with our blazn' griddle burning up pancakes and eggs left and right. Fortunately, it tasted nummy to me (I don't know if the Bettilyons were so sure). Bettilyon family exploring.

Saturday morning the tides were out so we got to touch, squeeze, prod and poke poor little anemones, barnacles, mussels, and who knows what else. Braydan said they found tube worms, but I wasn't brave enough to scramble that far out.

All in all it was a fun camping trip. Kaleb was a good little camper so I don't know why we waited so long.

The Name Game

Many of you know I've been OBSESSED with names lately. The library is probably tired of me carrying a different name book home every week. I've read and researched till my brain hurts, but my work has finally paid off. We have a girl name we both agree on! Phew!! I never knew picking a girl name would be so complicated! I had a hard time because I didn't want a super popular name, but I didn't want it to be weird. Is that so much to ask? I think not, but I guess so. Growing up, there was always a couple of Jessica's or Jesse's (both girls and boys) in each of my classes so that annoyed me. I didn't want a name in the top 10 for sure. To help me, this book became my friend. It's my favorite by far:

The authors are funny and bluntly honest with names. They tell you which ones are going up in popularity, which ones are sinking, which ones are trendy, which ones will stand the test of time! (I think that's the most important thing), and lots of other useful info. For instance, for my name they said:

JESSICA: "When Jennifer was ready to give up her throne, her crown was passed to Jessica, who reigned for not one but two decades--it was the top name of both the 80's and 90's, never sounding quite as trendy as its predecessor, maybe because of its classic Shakespearean pedigree. Although it is still just inside the Top 25, we feel it's ready for a well-earned rest."

Sad, but true! (no offence, mom). So, in my quest for the right name, I REALLY wanted to have it be a family one, but here were my options: (Again, no offence family) Susan, Winnifred, Myrna, Marla, Elsie, Eunice, and Valeen. I could go back farther . . . .Oretta, Evelyn (which I considered, but my cousin stole it), Suzanna, Florence, Nellie, Bertha, Mildred . . .

You get the picture. All very lovely names, but not for me. I happened upon this name, Eliza one day and I knew it was it. Braydan liked it and hallelujah it's the one. I know you hate it family, but that's why I'm telling you now so you get used to it :) I really wanted to keep it a secret till she's born, but all well. I'm too excited about it. ANyways, thank you everyone for all your suggestions (I honestly did consider them all), and support. If it makes you feel better Alisha, you can call her Ellie for short if you want :)

Lake Sammamish Sate Park

Try saing "Sammamish" 5 times fast. Saturday was Braydan's company summer party at Lake Sammamish. It was lots of fun and beautiful weather. Here's some pictures of what we did:

Playing in the bouncy blow-up place with Kaleb. (We need one of those in our backyard).

The boys playing some fierce volleyball.

Braydan almost winning the gunny-sack race. It was like a Micheal Phelps race. Clearly he is ahead, but at the last second, the guy on the left nose dived for the finish line and stole the win. It was for $50. We were bumbed.

Playing by the lake

Rope-pulling competitions. Surprisingly, the Everett office--which is the smallest one compared to Seattle, Redmond , and others-- beat everyone. (They had a big guy on the end)

I forgot to take pictures of my favorite thing. They had a dunking machine and Braydan's two big bosses got up there on the diving board. Everyone was just a little eager to throw the softballs. They got really wet. Last year we didn't win any gift cards, but this year . . . . $15 to Starbucks. Woohoo!!! Are we lucky or what??

Wild Wild Rodeo Adventure

This last weekend was the famous Ellensburg Rodeo. We got tickets in advance (like back in June!) to guarantee good seats. Braydan's been excited for it since then and I was happy he would finally experience a real rodeo. (sorry, Preston Idaho doesn't count Braydan, even though Napolean might disagree)

Well, we got good seats all right, close to the chutes, but right in the blazing sun. Every rodeo I've been to was at night, so I never thought about sun being an issue. I think I'm a vampire. I lasted all of 30 minutes before ditching Braydan and the Bates to go find some shade in the covered stands. Okay, I must admit that it was probably only 70 degrees out, Sammy even wore her hoodie the whole time, but it was hot. (like I said before, VAMPIRE!) It worked out better cause then Kaleb had lots of room to run around and climb without getting burned. I forgot how long rodeos last. We got there at around 11 and it didn't get over till 4. You can do the math. It's a lonnngggg time for a toddler to sit in the bleachers and watch something. Even longer for the mom. I'm glad Braydan and the Bates enjoyed it. I'm still not sure. Especially with the two hour car ride there and back.

The pictures are what Braydan took from our close seats. My brother would be proud. I did come down and sit with them for the last event: bull riding. I knew there would be some intense action and I was right.

The second rider got knocked unconscious and had to be lifted out. Braydan could see the blood all over the rider's face when he got hit. Gross. Those guys are seriously crazy. I was glad to see some of them wearing face masks at least. Never saw that before. Braydan's favorite was the barebacks. They also had a funny team race where one rider ropes the cow and the other teammate has to try and milk it. I kinda felt bad for the momma cows, but it was still pretty funny seeing those big cowboys getting dragged and pulled around by the stubborn cow.

After the rodeo we walked around and Kaleb bonded with the pigs. They were really funny to him. He would stick his finger in the pen and their big snouts would touch him and he would laugh and squeal (almost like the pigs) and run away. Then do it all over again.

He also liked kissing the horse. Well, hope you all had a restful Labor Day weekend!