Did you know that in just a few short months you can put on enough weight to barely squeeze into your class A uniform? I thought that sort of thing took years and years. Anyway, I passed my inspection and so we decided to dress Emma up and take a quick picture. This picture is going to go on our Christmas ornament for 2009 because the Emma and the Army are the big things that happened to our family this year.Gosh I look fat.

Snow Story

The snow stuck last night. So I bundled Damon and Emma up in coats, gloves, hats, etc. and went for a jog. I guess Damon got too warm so he took off his gloves and shoes while we were running. But when we stopped, he ran straight for the snow. He laughed and had so much fun. He hasn't see snow since last year.

When he was done playing, his feet were covered in snow. He started crying because his feet and hands were so cold and red.

So I took off his wet clothes, put warm socks on his hands and feet and bundled him in a blanket.

Then we made hot chocolate with marshmallows and Damon forgot all about being cold. No wonder hot chocolate is such a fun winter treat.

Cute Cousins

We had so much fun with our cousins, and we wanted to highlight a few of the best moments:



Emma and Kamryn were so cute together--Kamryn even shared her pretty flower with Emma!



They played together on the floor when they were both awake.


Damon was so much better at being helped around by Jacob and Chandler. He usually fights when I need to hold his hand.


Emma, Damon, Chandler and Jacob next to some pineapple at the Dole Plantation.


Adam, Emma, JAcob, Chandler, Kamryn, and Damon pose for a photo op. What a cute bunch of kids.

And finally, Joel and Jared show off how hot they are in there BCGs.

Hawaiian Vacation

We just got back from our vacation to Hawaii! It was a combined my birthday/Julie's birthday/happy anneversary/sorry I was gone all summer kind of trip and we all had a lot of fun. On the first day we saw some sea turtles right off the shore by our condo and Damon got knocked over by the waves. He got used to the beach pretty quick and really loved digging holes and getting all sandy. We drove the road to Hana and saw some amazing waterfalls and scenery, including a black sand beach and a red sand beach. Both incredibly beautiful. We also took a four mile round trip hike up to this one incredible waterfall and everyone who passed us thought we were crazy for dragging our kids all the way up there. But it was worth it. We went to the Maui Ocean Center (a really big aqaurium) and got to look at the fish up close and personal. Damon really liked the octopus and was really excited about all the "big fish!" as he likes to say. We did do a little snorkling by taking turns and I saw three sea turtles and Julie saw a sting ray and a sea turtle. I think she wins. We also drove to the top of a volcano and walked around a bit. It gets a little chilly at 10,000 feet but the view was incredible. Mom and Dad's timeshare was right on the water so usually we would just go out on the balcony to watch the sunset.

After an amazing week on Maui we went over to Oahu and got to visit with Jared and Suzanne. We had so much fun. We went to Pearl Harbor and Damon loved riding on the boat. Jared and Suzanne took us to the Dole plantation where Damon got to ride on a train and he loved that too. He also loved his huge bowl of Dole Whip (Suzanne got the best picture of that, and unfortunately it's not on this computer). And then we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and learned all about the polynesian people. They do this show called "Ha: The breath of Life" and it's basically a pageant of some of the major cultures and it's incredible. While we were at the show and the luau, Damon got to go trick or treating with his cousins. He had a lot of fun with Chandler and Jacob. He fought with Adam a little bit but that's to be expected from two two year olds who want what the other has. They were actually pretty cute together. And then we came home and survived the plane ride somehow. Damon slept for 17 hours straight when we got home and woke up on Utah time. Hooray for no jet lag for him! That was long and stretched out and if you read it all you deserve to see some pictures.

Us at the black sand beach.

Damon and Joel at our first waterfall.

Emma and Julie in the middle of the bamboo forest on our hike. It was so thick it looked like twilight.

Julie, Damon and Emma bathing in the Seven Sacred Pools at the end of the Road to Hana (the water felt so good after our hike!)

Damon was a little sand monkey.

Our family at the top of Mt. Haleakala.

Damon and Joel ponder at the USS Arizona.

Joel and Damon play with poy balls. One of many fun activities at the PCC.

We had so much fun, but it is nice to be home. We will post cute pics of the cousins soon.

To Gramie

As promised, more recent pictures of your adorable grandchildren. We love you!

Road Trip

Damon and I went on a road trip last week, and I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from it (in no particular order). Here is Damon killing time at a gas station in Green River UT with his awesome Aunt Melanie. She was truly a lifesaver on this trip, keeping Damon entertained for long days in the car.

This is us on a 1896 carousel somewhere in the middle of Kansas. Damon did not want to leave these horses, but going around was a little scary.

Here is Damon looking out of the top of the St. Louis Arch (see the shadow on the Mighty Mississippi?)

The ride up to the top was a little cramped for Grandma, but Emma did great!

Damon with the Louisville Slugger, the biggest baseball bat in the world. Note the sign for the glass company down the street.

Some rough housing with Grampy and Uncle Greg by Daniel Boone's grave in Frankfort, KY

We went and saw a horse jumping competition in Lexington, KY with Lisa's in-laws. It was pretty cool, and once again, Damon loved the horses.

Bubble gum contest with Gandma Great in SC--a tradition since probably before I could chew gum. Doesn't Lori look cute? (Don't worry, that bubble was not the champion).

Grandma Great with two of her newest great granddaughters. That's Emily and baby Autumn.

We got to visit Joel at Ft. Jackson, SC. Damon had so much fun playing with Daddy. He even got to do push-ups with him.

Joel and Emma, renewing their week long acquiantance after two months.

Damon and Daddy are basically twins now that Damon is a little older and Joel has his hair cut.

Aunt Melanie and Damon playing at a frisbee golf course in Augusta, GA after our picnic lunch.

This is what 14 people loading into a van looks like.

Damon, Aunt Becky, Julie and Emma at a waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

With the Rockets in Huntsville, Alabama. Damon thought they were so cool.

Lori and Grandma Great dance on the beach in Savannah, GA. Can you believe she's almost 92?!

Emma taking a dip in the Atlantic. It was so warm and perfect, and we got there at sunset which was beautiful.

Grandma, Damon, Emma and Julie playing at the beach. Damon loved to wiggle his feet into the sand when the waves came in.

My Aunt Barbara, Damon and Grandma.

It was nice to go, and nice to come home, just like every other road trip I've been on.

Just for You

Joel Bree, remember that one time you decided that it would be amazing to make themed quilts for each of our children and that Damon needed a safari quilt with a little old safari man because he is such a monkey?

Remember how you practiced drawing cool safari animals, and then we made Lisa draw some, and finally we decided that Brenda's safari drawings were just right?

Remember how when you left I promised that I would make Damon's quilt while you were gone so that we could give it to him for his second birthday along with a big-boy bed?

Because it is finished--all pieced, appliqued, tied and bound. And most importantly, he loves it. Rolls on it, wraps up in it, snuggles it, and plays hide-and-seek with it. And I hope that you love it too, because this was all your idea: So now I will fold it up and put it away so Damon won't remember it when we give it to him in a few months. Remember, when we make Emma's Fish quilt, you get to help cut out all the little pictures.

And here's to making the rest of your big ideas and dreams come true.

Now We are Four (or is it Five?)

This past week, my little sister Lori moved in with me for the summer. We've been planning this since before Joel left, but it has definitely been another huge blessing that she came home from Europe and moved in just a few days after Emma and I got home from Kentucky. She's helped keep the house clean, fixed meals, played with Damon, held Emma, and kept me sane by just being here to talk to. I just love her!

Today we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House with Lori, Lisa and Tyler. Damon liked to look at all the pictures of Jesus--he would point to Him and say Je-Je which was adorable. His favorite part was the baptismal font. He kept saying water and "Mooooo" for the oxen. It was nice for me to have a few more adults to help keep him from running all over the place. I just loved walking through such a beautiful building. I'm excited to go back soon. I didn't take any pictures, but I'll post a few other random ones.
This picture is just because I think Emma is so precious.



Here is Damon all dressed up and ready to go. He brought me the shirt, tie, vest and shoes to put on, and then he insisted that it was time to leave.



Damon loves to play in the "ball pit" at the bottom of the stairs. He thinks it is fun to throw his balls down the stairs, and I am too lazy to bring them back up over and over. So he makes a ball stash and then goes down and hangs out.

Damon is adjusting to having a baby sister pretty well. He loves to hold her, gives her kisses and throws away her diapers. His frustrations seem to be getting a little better. He doesn't try to push her off my lap as much or try to bite/kick me as often. I am getting a little more patience with him and figuring out ways to help him be happier. I hope things keep getting better.

This is Damon meeting Emma for the first time--see that cute smile on his face? He likes her.

Today, Emma was getting a little tummy time, and Damon decided that he wanted to be a baby too.

Tagged

Suzanne tagged me to post seven little known facts about me, so here they are:

1. I’m partially tongue tied.
2. I grew up less than 20 minutes from four ski resorts, but I have never been downhill skiing/snowboarding.
3. When I finally got around to reading the Harry Potter books (back when the fourth one came out) I read all four, plus Macbeth for school, in three days. This is why I try not to read books too often—I get sucked in and nothing else gets done.
4. I lost 5 toenails running cross country in high school. Don’t worry, they all grew back.
5. I have been mistaken for my younger siblings’ mother since the ripe old age of 12. It started out just with the babies. The worst was on my mother’s 40th birthday when they thought I was the mom and she was the grandma. Now I’ve moved on to being the mom at Cub Scout banquets and 6th grade plays with those same former babies. I keep hoping people just take things at face value and don’t look too close, but a little part of me is really afraid that I must look old.
6. I was a National Merit Scholar (this is little known, because I don’t want people to think that I’m bragging, but it is a fact).
7. I hate spiders, but I’m a little addicted to spider solitaire.

I tag anyone who has never been tagged before. You know who you are.

New Addition

Here's a picture of our new little angel fish.


Of course we wish Damon were here with us but considering the circumstances I think he'll one day grow to understand.

Family Day at Fort Knox

(Joel's side of the story) (Yes, this is actually Joel telling his side of the story)
Thurs. June 25, 2009 I was sitting in the chow hall about 1/3 of the way through my breakfast and I was looking forward to seeing Julie and Damon and my mother in approx three more hours. My drill sergeant (DS), Drill Sergeant France, comes into the chow hall and asks for Private Bree. I stood up and he said to me "Let's go private, you're done!" I thought I was in trouble or something and I still had a lot of food on my plate so I started handing it off to people around me because you hate to see food go to waste. DS France turns back towards me and yells, "Private leave that, I said you're done! Your wife's in labor! Let's go!" Everyone in the chow hall cheered as I raced out of there right on DS's heels. Within minutes I was in the back of a truck on my way to the hospital. It turns out that Julie had started labor sometime that morning and came to the hospital right on base. My DS told me that they were going to send her to the hospital in a nearby town. My mom was waiting for me when I got there and she told me that they weren't going to move Julie because her water had already broken. So Mom took me up and after ten long weeks of not seeing my wife I saw her for the first time in a delivery room. 40 mins of holding her hand, telling her how much I loved her and missed her, and a few short contractions later Emma Ray cried her first cry in this life. 18 inches long, 5 lbs and 2 ounces or pure beauty. Lucky for us she's got Julie's looks. They told us that at this particular hospital they don't deliver babies earlier than 36 weeks and that if anything was wrong with Emma (because in case you had forgotten she was only a 35 week old baby with a due date around July 28th) that they would have to send her to Louisville hospital where they had a Newborn ICU. I was praying everything would be okay because my family day was only a day long and I wasn't allowed to even go to Louisville. So if Emma went there and Julie followed after I was going to be a little annoyed. Luckily Emma was breathing as if she had been full term and didn't have any problems except for being skinny and tiny. It was an amazing blessing that in all honesty was probably a lot more than I deserved. But the blessings didn't stop there. My first sergeant (1SG) pulled some strings got me a week of paternity leave and set Julie, Emma and me up in a nice hotel on base.
And that's where I am now: in my hotel room, enjoying a family day that turned into a whole family week, loving my beautiful girls and giving more and more thanks to Heavenly Father.

Julie's Side:
I had been looking forward to seeing Joel again for months. Everything was all set for Damon and I to go when a few little things happened that made me start to worry that maybe we shouldn't go. I called my doctor, talked to my parents, prayed about it, and almost didn't fly to Kentucky. Everyone said the things that were happening were a little bit "concerning," but not indicative of labor, so I should just take things easy. I knew that if I didn't go, I wouldn't have the baby and I would spend the next few weeks beating myself up about it. My father gave me a blessing that night and I was told to go and have a "joyful time with my husband in Kentucky." So we decided that I should go, but leave Damon with my family.
Everything went really well the whole way to Kentucky and I figured that as usual, I had just over-dramatized things and I calmed down. Then I woke up in the middle of the night and knew I was in labor for real. I woke up my mother-in-law and she drove me to the hospital on base. They checked me to make sure I was right, and then they gave me a shot of something to try to stop contractions so that we could go to a different hospital. Joel's mom called his DS so that maybe she wouldn't have to go all the way back to base to get him in a few hours. They said that they would bring him over. After about half an hour, the doctor checked me again to see if the drugs were working. They weren't. And then my water broke and they couldn't send me anywhere (I think that kind of freaked them all out). They took me to another room and soon afterwards, Joel came. It was so good to see him and hold his hand the rest of the way.
I have been so amazed by how wonderful people are and how truly blessed we have been. Everything has fallen into place so perfectly that I am sure someone up there has been planning this for a long time. That, and Emma is definitely a Daddy's girl who just couldn't wait to see him. We should be flying back to Utah on Wednesday and Joel ships out to AIT at Ft. Jackson on Thursday, so we are just having a wonderful time enjoying our sweet baby until then.

This week has been a little crazy. I worked 4 full days this week, and considering I usually don't even work 4 full days in a month, it was a little exhausting. I was also in charge of training an intern the entire time, but she was sweet and learned fast so it was all good. The highlight of my work week was a dear elderly Kiwi who had been through a lot these past few months. She was so cheerful and when someone complimented her on her attitude, she just said (in a delightful accent), "Well, you can't sit and cry in a hankie your whole life." I think it will be my new motto for a while.

My good friends Driel and Melissa threw a shower for Emma and me on Saturday. We had so much fun seeing friends and family! It always amazes me how many wonderful, fun people I have in my life.

I was supposed to teach Relief Society this morning, but Damon spiked a fever of 104.8 last night, so I had to call my poor RS president early this morning and tell her I couldn't make it to church today. Damon has been so sick all day today, I hope he gets better soon.

Joel says he is doing well and again wants me to say hello to all his friends and family from him. He says he rocked the final PT test--he even got 100% on the 2 mile (I have a hard time picturing him as a runner). He is very excited to graduate in less than two weeks, and we are very excited to go see him, even though it is just for a few hours.

Wheeler Farm

We went to Wheeler Farm yesterday with some of my sisters and their kids. It was so much fun for Damon to finally see all the animals we've been reading about. The atmosphere was really relaxed and we just wandered and let the kids spend as much time as they wanted with the animals.



Damon, Joey and Ellie have fun hanging out in the chicken coop-esque tree house. It's always a miracle to get the three of them getting along and happy at the same time.



Peeking out the window with Ellie.



Such cute chicks. There were turkeys too, and one even puffed up all his feathers for us, but I didn't get a picture.



Damon feeding the cow. One of them was mooing like crazy, so Damon finally figured out that cows say moo and not baa.



Damon with the sheep--he couldn't get enough of them. So much fun for free!

Joel says that he's doing well. He passed Basic Rifle Marksmanship so now they are gearing up to pass the last Physical Training test. His last letter was water and mud stained because he wrote it and then ended up practicing army crawls through a huge mud puddle. His Book of Mormon and the rest of the notebook he wrote the letter in were completely destroyed.

Damon finally learned to say Mommy and Daddy this week. He also put two words together for the first time. He signed Where and then said Daddy. He's done it every time we see a picture of Daddy today, and it's really sweet and kind of heart- breaking. How's he supposed to understand that Daddy's learning to be a soldier in Kentucky, no matter how many times I tell him?