The BrehiThomas Family Blog: Far From Perfect

Well...we all have areas that could use some improvement. Mine happens to be in keeping this lovely blog updated. Thank goodness for New Years resolutions, friends that keep fantastic blogs (giving you an awesome example--looking at you, Jess), and a husband who reminds you that, "you should probably update the blog." So here we are, the end of January with some catching up to do!

AUGUST 2015

Bee's Baseball Game

Don't let how cute he is here deceive you.Please see next pic:

Ah, there we are.

It was stinking hot but we had a ton of fun...aside from Maverick being less than cooperative. The highlight of the night was Lehi going to get a snowcone for us to all share--he came back with a pile of shaved ice in a cup. He said, "I think I just paid $7.00 for a cup of ice." I laughed and pointed out the flavors were on the wall opposite of where the booth was--you had to go put your own flavor on it.

Arizona Trip--Ellie Mae's Blessing

Tasha, Ronnie, and myself were crazy/stupid enough to load up 5 kids in addition to ourselves and drive to Arizona. Maverick won the screaming contest--I think he got up to 2 hours straight. Despite the LONG drive, it was worth seeing the Miller family, eating Dustin's cooking, and seeing Mom & Dad.

Kristina, Tash, and myself got up early one morning to play ball (we pretty much made up a team ourselves). It was a blast. While Tasha's random 3 point swishes (accompanied by her celebration jumping in the air) and my "I am going to tear my ACL again" drives for a lay-in, were all highly entertaining, Kristina humming as she drove to the basket was by far one of the funniest things I have ever heard or witnessed.

Mom and Dad started their regular water-fights with all the grandkids, Dad made best friends with Maverick via Oreo cookies and frosted animal crackers, and Mom pushed kids on cars outside.

Mom, Mav, & Addie

Mom, Addie, Mav, Talin

Dustin & Kristina treated us to Top Golf where mom kicked all the girl's butts, Dad (attempted) to correctly teach form and coach, and Tasha put a backpack over her shirt to mimic Ronnie's pregnant belly (which she claimed impacted her driving game). Despite our obvious lack of skills, it was an absolute blast.

Dad & Kris

Bobo

Dad

Mom, killing it

The gang

Prego Ronnie

"Prego" Tasha

Dad & Tayson

Kris was proud of her 221 score

Ronnie was also proud of her 38 score

Bobo w/Ronnie photo bomb

"Chewy" not too shabby

AZ Boating

Our love for boating was re-instilled when we went out on the Miller's boat. We learned how the Millers all wake-surf like pros, I had some futile attempts to water-ski, Maverick fell asleep on while being pulled on the tube, and Tasha and I spent the last hour or so holding on to the tube handles for dear life while Dustin did his worst. The majority of our conversation consisted of one of us looking ahead and seeing the white caps we were about to be drug through:

"Chewy!"

"Bobo!"

"CHEWY!!"

"BOBO!!"

and then laughing hysterically when we managed to hang on with white knuckles.

Mom & Maverick

More AZ Pictures

Here are some pictures that need no words:

Red, White, and Blue Cousins

Grandpa Reading Stories to Dallin & Addie

Grandpa brushing Addie's Hair

WASHINGTON TRIP

We were then crazy enough to go to Washington. Luckily, I have awesome grandparents in Bosie that let us crash for the night--dividing the trip up into 6 hour parts. Before long, Brooklyn and Parker were calling Grandma Linda "Grandma" and requesting she play with them. Both Grandma and Grandpa spoiled all the kids rotten. It was a huge relief to have a place to let the kids run and get a break from the car (and us a break from them).

We lost the Millers & Hurless' but picked up the Priebe family in Washington. Mike Sanders was kind enough to invite the herd over to ride their ponies. The kids had a blast. Maverick was a little indifferent to the whole thing, but didn't oppose to riding. All the kiddos loved feeding the ponies apples and seeing the baby goats and other animals in the barn.

Jeff & Grayson

Brooklynn & Baby Goats

Grandpa & Tayson

The kids loved spending time with each other and grandparents. They enjoyed a lot of the vintage toys, puzzles, and games my mom has kept in perfect condition for all these years. Ice cream is a staple in the McDonald home and will always be.

Dax, Brooklynn, Parker, Grayson

Mom, Nat, Tash, and myself decided to try and surprise Dad at the temple during his shift. We divided the kids among a few brave families (Wrightson & Kirby) who were kind enough to watch them so we could spend some kid-free time together. It was such an amazing experience to be all together. Ironically, Dad called Mom earlier that afternoon to let her know he was going to call into the Temple because he was running really late and wasn't sure if he would make it, to which she responded, "Um...you have to go." The beans were spilled but that was alright, it was still exciting for us because we thought we were surprising him.

Post Temple Session

We brought flowers to Petey and visited Matt Weiss' & Logan Perry's grave sites. It was a bitter-sweet stop which caused reflection of loving memories, fun times, and a lot of missing-you feelings.

Miss you, girl!

Tasha and I got Burgerville (for the 3rd time) on our way out. We were fortunate enough to catch the end of Strawberry season and the beginning of raspberry shake season. Best. Timing. Ever. We attempted to bring one back to Ronnie but forgot to put it in the fridge when we stopped in Bosie again for the night. Tasha decided not to tell Ronnie, but I didn't want a sick, preggo to live with, so I told her the bad news. She took it surprisingly well--for the loss of a Burgerville milkshake is no small feat to endure.

Happy day.

Death Cab for Cutie Concert w/ Lovells

One of Lehi's all-time favorite bands is Death Cab for Cutie. In fact, the first time he really attempted to be "smooth" and make a move, he was driving in his car and saw me walking towards campus. He pulled his car over to the sidewalk to offer me a ride, and hit/ran up on the curb in the process. In spite of his apparent lack of driving skills, I accepted the ride (I was going to the library, of course). I got in the car and commented on the song, Marching Bands of Manhattan. Lehi was smitten and decided my taste in music was every bit as good as my looks.

The Lovells made a trip up to Utah and joined us for the concert in on of the parks in Salt Lake. It was a blast. People watching was almost as great as the music. I was excited to attend this concert with him, because his last Death Cab concert was with an ex-girlfriend, so I was happy to make it on the list of "awesome dates."

Lehi & I

Goodbye to Cousin Fun

After spending the summer in the Hurless house during Lehi's internship, it was time for us to return to Rexburg for our final semester at BYU-Idaho. Dallin and Maverick were the best of friends. They would talk to each other, make each other laugh, chase one another around the house, and look for each other first thing in the morning. It was sad for them to part, but Dallin was expecting a little brother to beat up on soon and Maverick was ready to see his Rexburg buddies. Maverick sure did miss Dallin, though (can you blame him, look how cute this kid is)!

Toilet Paper, Anyone?

Trouble makers

The simple things in life

3rd Anniversary

Coming up with a surprise for Lehi is always tricky, because he likes to know what he is getting (extremely impatient when it comes to surprises) and I am always too excited to keep it a secret. So he usually figures out/cons me into telling him what his gift is. Well, this year, I exhausted my resources and came up with an epic and creative idea. I had a custom picture drawn of Lehi as Batman and myself as Wonder Woman by an insanely talented artist. It is all pencil and couldn't have turned out more perfect:

Wonder Woman & Batman

SEPTEMBER 2015

Hello to 4 more months in an apartment and Rexburg, Idaho. I returned to the Exercise Physiology Lab to teach 6 sections (this is my happy place, I always get a big smile on my face when I walk into the lab). It was extremely bitter-sweet knowing it was my last semester teaching on campus. I warned my students that I may cry on the last day of the semester. I figured mine would be tears of sadness and they could add their tears of joy that the semester was over. Lehi would have been among these students. He has his last first-day of classes at BYU--Idaho (as you can tell, he and Maverick couldn't be more excited).

Handsome boys!

On an exciting note, Lehi and I attended a BBQ put on by the owners of our new apartment complex. Amidst eating a ton of awesome food, we participated in an egg-toss for prizes. While the first contest was an epic fail, with my inability to catch the egg on a mere toss #3, we rocked the third contest and got us a date night basket--gift certificate to the Hickory, Bee movie, and lots of sweet treats. Team Brehi for the WIN!

You can see the winning eggs nestled in there

OCTOBER 2015

Halloween was a huge highlight for us in October. I decided to be ambitious and "sew" Maverick's costume (the sewing pretty much consisted of a tail and hand stitching some dots and triangles on a jackets & sweats). But it turned out pretty fantastic. We cracked up every time he would walk.The day before Halloween, our pediatrician office put on a indoor trick-or-treat for kids to walk through the office and get some candy. We met the Cherry's and began the adventure. Maverick had a tendency of grabbing the candy before it went in the bucket, but he and Sam both had fun. Sam was an adorable honey pot and had the biggest smiles. They were too cute together. And Season's Medical hooked these kids up! I think there were a total of 7 "stations" and their buckets were full. Win for the parents!

On Halloween, we attended our ward Halloween party--which was fantastic--got a family picture in the photo booth, and headed to go trick-or-treating with Sam, Joe, and Jess. The husbands took the boys to the first house while Jess and I hung back to snap pictures. The boys did a great job knocking on the door...and then waiting....and then we realized no one was coming. House number one was a dud. Luckily, the next few houses were awesome and Sam and Mav did great! Maverick did try to go into one house, and I got my heel from my costume stuck between the slates in a deck (I had to take my foot out and pull the stupid heel out), but overall, there were no major tragedies. We decided after a few houses Sam and Maverick had a pretty good feel of trick-or-treating and headed to Fat Cats movie theaters to be somewhere warmer and get some more candy for us (ehem, the kids). There was a decent line, but Joe and Lehi entertained the crowd when they played a pretty intense game of air-hockey. Maverick disappointed Lehi and I when he insisted on grabbing the dumb-dumbs or other forms of cheap lollipops rather then the Milkway or Reeses goodness. But he will learn "cheap, good, better, and best" soon enough. :)

Family Pictures: Owen, Claire, and the Indominus Rex

Halloween 2014

They are just too cute

First Successful Trick-or-Treat

NOVEMBER 2015

One of the top highlights of November was Maverick graduating to Nursery. Wohoo!

Thanksgiving with the Lovell and Cherry family is always eventful. Last year's Thanksgiving was known as the Gravy-less Thanksgiving of 2015, but Alex was determined not to allow that to happen again. Everyone made their favorite side dishes and thanksgiving essentials--and they were all amazing. We had so much food between the three couples, most casseroles and desserts only had 1-2 pieces cut out of them. So we had the day-after-Thanksgiving and the second-day-after-Thanksgiving dinners together to try to get through all the food. We LOVE our Thanksgivings with this group and will miss them dearly.

Lehi played in his last football game. He is a killer middle line-backer. He never fails to tear it up. Watching him play was the highlight of my fall and in 3 seasons, I never missed a game. Not only was he stinkin' good, I would always hear students in my lab that played on the teams talk about him. I would mention to Lehi that so-and-so said this about him and he would look at me confused and ask, "who is that?" Apparently, his name was known among the football boys. One of my former students commented, "He is way faster than you think he would be." Another said, "He is dang good, but I think what makes him so great is his ability to read the offense. Nothing gets past that guy." And of course, I had fellow wife friends I would sit with at games. One of these wonderful ladies said, "Bernie was so happy he was on Lehi's team this year. Not just because they are friends, but he hated to be on the other end of his tackles. Lehi hits hard." We are sure going to miss watching him play!

This particular picture was the last game, Championship game. It was freezing cold and poor Maverick was screaming, so after the first quarter, we re-located and watched from the car. The Knights might not have won, but it was a fun game. It was bitter sweet watching Lehi's last game, but I am sure happy I was able to see the games I did. You're a stud, babe! Defensive MVP 2 seasons in a row (would have been 3 if they did awards this season)!

Maverick LOVED watching Dad

Mav & Lehi

Brei's 80 year old Knees

For those of you who don't know, my Achilles tendon happens to be my entire left knee. In high school, I tore my ACL, MCL, and meniscus my junior year and then the ACL again my senior year playing ball. Although many might say basketball has not treated me well, I love playing. You can imagine my joy when I discovered our Ward was putting together a rec team for the women. I was quick to sign up and ecstatic to play!

Lehi and I have an on-going joke that whenever I am about to go do something active, he says, "Don't tear your ACL." It was no different when I headed out to play our first basketball game. I laughed and rolled my eyes at his generic response. About an hour later I called Lehi:

"Babe. I am 99% sure I tore my ACL."

"Are you serious??"

"Yup. Can you come get me?"

It wasn't even a legit move to the basket or an and-one. I was running down the court to defend a fast break, got in front of the girl, planted my leg to turn her away from the basket (she ran into me a little) and bam. I was laying on the floor. Felt the ever familiar "pop" and knew what had happened. For real?

Lehi came and got me, we dropped Maverick off at the Cherry's (because they are awesome like that) and played the ER waiting game. 2.5 hours later, I left with crutches and an immobilizing brace. Two weeks later an MRI, and a few days more for the orthopedist to confirm, "so...you tore your ACL." He also said the route I was going, I would need a knee replacement when I was 50.

The Cherry's brought us many dinners and kept my gimp self company. I will most likely be getting surgery #3 this year, but I am getting around just fine without an ACL for now. :)

Two days post-tear

DECEMBER 2015

Christmas season is my favorite time of the year (along with 99.9% of everyone else). Well this December was far from simple. It was packed with crazy fun and fond memories.

We went to Lehi's work-Christmas party where we did a white elephant gift exchange and ate Blisters (one of our favorite BBQ places in Rexburg--straight outta a gas station). We gave a 4 year old box of fireworks away and got some candy in return. We ate a ton of food, chatted with Lehi's co-workers, and Lehi got the "How 'bout them Cowboys" award.

After that party we went to our Ward Christmas party and ate more delicious food, talked, and watched Maverick play in a pool of ice with the other toddlers. Porter and Mav are buddies and thought it was so fun to pick up the ice and throw it back in the pool. It as all fun and games until there was ice all over the floor because they and some other kiddos decided it was more fun to throw it on the floor. It was a fun clean-up for the adults, but they sure enjoyed themselves! Maverick also met Santa for the first time. Santa was smart and showed Maverick the candy canes, so he had no problem sitting on his lap for a quick picture or two. :) Lucky for us, Mav walked away with a blue candy cane (blue of all the 7 other colors he would have picked).

Mav's first Picture with Santa

Ice, Ice, Babies

Look at those expressions of pure joy

Family Pictures

Lehi is kinda a bum when it comes to me wanting family pictures. But I got my way (I guess he had a little of the Christmas spirit) and we got some done. It was snowing the night before and all day so the photographer asked me if we still wanted to do them. I said, "makes for better pictures" and we toughed it out. So worth it.

Lehi bought our Star Wars: The Force Awakens tickets in October for opening night. He requested I do my hair like Princess Leia so I did my best (although you can't really tell in the picture). We dropped off Maverick with sweet Rachel and Taylor and got in line about 2 hours early. Joe, Tyler, Alex, Reed, and Reed's brother all joined us for the film. It was awesome.

The Theater Members Dressed Up

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Lehi was able to take a couple trips up to the mountains before we left them for flat, warm, San Antonio. He loved being able to board at least once a week for the past two winters with Reed and Tyler. These boys had too much fun and made awesome memories together.

Board Buddies

Leaving Friends Family

We loved having the Lloyd family so close to us. Rachel never failed to volunteer to watch Maverick for us when we did our monthly Winco run. We knew we always had family to spend time with, and someone that would take amazing care of Maverick while we escaped on a date. Maverick and Hudson spent every Friday morning together during the semester while Rachel went to classes and became pretty good buddies--although Maverick still had some "only child" and "I'm bigger than you" issues to iron out. We were sure going to miss the Lloyd family! And I was going to miss my Friday girl talk with Rachel!

Over the past three years, we developed some amazing relationships. Among the greatest was with the Cherry and Lovell families. We were always doing SOMETHING at least once a week and loved every minute. Our boys were best friends and they became family to us. I could write an entire post about how much we love these two families...and I will do just that...another day. So be looking for it. For now, know leaving them behind was the hardest part of leaving Rexburg.

The Brothers.

Our Rexburg Family

We had an epic Ugly Sweater party (can you see the "epic" part in these awesome sweaters) with desserts, hot cocoa, and Christmas movies. It was our last formal get-together as one big group and it was a blast. (Again, sappy post will come in the near future)

The evening before we left, Lehi and I decided we would do our last dinner in Rexburg at our favorite little Mexican resturant, Case De OChoa. The Lovells were leaving for Utah but stopped in the parking lot to say our final goodbyes. While it didn't seem real, I could tell Lehi was having a hard time keeping it together. Luckily, the Cherry's would be joining us for dinner so we weren't all by our lonely selves, both Lovell and Cherry-less. We gave lots of hugs and wished safe travels to our Lovell family. OChoa was delicious as always. Lehi and I were sorely disappointed that we discovered their amazing fish tacos the same week we were leaving. May the Cherry and Lovell family consume as many as possible with their time left in Rexburg. Joe, Jess, and Sam joined us back at the apartment to help clean what we had left and to spend some more time together.

We left Rexburg feeling weird, like leaving a little piece of us behind. It is where Lehi and I met, where we dated, where we got our first apartment, where Maverick was born, where we met our friends, where I started my career, and where we both graduated. It was exciting to start a new adventure, but we both knew we would miss Rexburg. Not to mention, Rachel and Taylor would no longer be a few minutes drive away. We drove for forever and talked just as long and finally arrived in San Antonio. We stayed for a day and then got on a plane for Pennsylvania to visit the Thomas' family for Christmas.

Christmas & PA

Inside the Tunnel (story to come later)

I feel like I could just post a million pictures to summarize our trip. It was awesome seeing so much family in one place. Rachel, Taylor, and Hudson surprised everyone when they walked through the door on Christmas morning--and it was an awesome surprise! All of Lehi's immediate family was home for Christmas. Maverick (and all the kiddos) LOVED the "choo choo."

Mav & "Choo Choo"

Dad helping with the Choo Choo

Great Grandma Reciting, "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Mav & Raelyn passing out presents

Papi and the Grandbabies

The best way to wear these kids out

Pure joy on this kid's face

Check out those biceps!

Uncle Matt helped with the mechanical issues

All the Thomas Grandbabies

Gigi & Papi with kiddos

Favorite pass-time: Swiping them off the fridge and pushing them under it.

Papi got Maverick a step-stool to play. He would grab anyone's hand and lead them upstairs to play

Maverick loved his Uncle Matt

This lady had a hip replacement a week earlier and you would have never known it.

Maverick also ate dog food for the first time. So there's that.

Philly Get-Away

I managed to get us tickets to the Eagles vs. Redskins game the day after Christmas from Eli through Brandon Bair (Eagle's DE). Gina & Rebekah were so sweet and watched Maverick for Lehi and I so we could get away and explore Philadelphia. We stayed at the embassy suits and walked around Philadelphia before game time. We also ate one Philly Cheese-steak at Pat's and one at Geno's (the two biggest competitor s for the best cheese-steak in the world. We concluded that, Pat's has better Cheese-steaks, but Geno's had the better cheesy fries. Although, ordering at Pat's makes me feel a little like ordering on Seinfeld's Soup Nazi (you will understand when you read the "how to order a steak" picture.

Skyline

How to order at Pat's...and they really will send you to the back of the line.

Pat's Steak

King of Steaks

Geno's (Did I mention they are RIGHT across the street from Pat's?)

Geno's Steak

Geno's Cheese Fries

We went back to the hotel a few hours before the game, worn out from all our walking, and took a nap. Lame right? But it was so heavenly sleeping on a King bed completely child and worry free. One might even call it a blissful sleep.

We realized very quickly we are subway "newbies" after following people and copying what they did. At one point, we were the first in line and had to get directions from one of the officers how to proceed (which was dropping one coin into the machine and walking forward). The subway was PACKED with Eagle's fans. I don't know if I have ever had such a Sardeen like experience. We got off and walked through a few parking lots filled with tail-gating fans. Then we located the booth at the Linc (which had VIP over it...how cool is that). We found our stellar seats, walked around the stadium, went to the team room where we ate a complementary dinner & snacks with family members and friends of the players (we sat at a table with Zach Ertz's best friend in high school and his parents). Then we waited in the tunnel where the team enters the field. It was surreal when the music started playing and all the players walked out. Lehi held up a little girl so she could see all the players (she was somehow related to Fletcher Cox)--which was the sweetest thing ever. Many of the players (Fletcher Cox, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff) came face-to-face with us, giving the kids high-fives and making silly faces. (Lehi recorded this all on his phone). We went back to our seats (row 34, seats 21 and 22) and enjoyed the game. It was a bummer the Eagles lost, but the experience was a once in a lifetime. Thank you, Brandon for this opportunity!

Can you spot Lehi in his Christmas present?

VIP Tickets

Fly Eagles, Fly

Happy Couple

Right off the End Zone

Sad Eagle's Fan

Why Eagles, Why?

On our way back from the game, we decided to stop in Love Park (for the second time) to see if we could get a picture together. It was empty (minus that one couple that took FOREVER to get a picture). While we were waiting, we noticed a nice, fat rat wandering around the vendor booths (which made me happy we opted not to eat there for lunch). We got our picture and Lehi said, "Let's get out of here before Master Splinter gets back." I am not sure if there had been a more appropriate time to deliver a Ninja Turtles line at any point in our marriage.

I do love this guy

Lehi and I expressed how excited we were not to touch each other while we slept because we had a king size bed. Usually one of us ends up with a knee in the gut at some point of the night on our queen. Well, was I wrong. I woke up in the middle of the night to find Lehi's head on my pillow. He was sleeping diagonally. I tapped him on the forehead and said, "Babe. You are on my pillow." to which he quickly replied, "I missed you." Didn't skip a beat. Even from dead asleep to half awake, Lehi's wit seldom escapes him.

That morning we hit up the "Rocky" steps on our way out--because, you have to to. After walking the steps and admiring the museum, we headed towards the Rocky statue. There was a gentleman there, grabbing people's phone, giving pose instructions, and asking for a tip. We didn't mind helping this gentleman out and decided to let him take pictures for us. When he saw our Eagle's t-shirts (side note, we got dressed in the morning, looked at each other, and realized we had packed the same shirt. But since it was an overnight trip, neither of us had an alternative to wear. So we were matching), he said, "Oh no, Eagle's fans." Then he shook his head and clapped Lehi on the back and said, "What are we going to do, man?" It was too funny. After we had some pictures snapped, Lehi realized he left his wallet in the car. He assured the man he would be right back with some cash for him. I waited in the car while Lehi walked the money back to the man and of course snapped a picture so we could remember him.