Arlington Cemetery

We planned a visit to PA to visit family and view the fall foliage. We flew into the Baltimore airport and decided to see Washington DC. The poor weather limited our ability to see everything we had planned. Luckily, we did get to see a few impressive things. Arlington Cemetery was a moving experience. It started on the airplane when we sat by a young man who was traveling to Kentucky to begin basic training. He talked about his choice to serve his country and how much it meant to him. He always knew he wanted to join the military but finally decided to join when the poor economy caused him to lose his job as a motorcycle mechanic in Las Vegas. His distressed mother was having a hard time with his decision to serve. I sat beside him watching my daughter sleep, wondering, how a mother copes with the decision to share her child with our country, knowing the heavy consequences of such service. These feelings were close to my heart as we entered Arlington Cemetery and saw the headstones of 320,000 servicemen and women. All sons and daughters of a caring mother who love their children, the same way I love my baby girl.

The remains of veterans from every war and major conflict in US history are sheltered at Arlington. It was an honor to pay my respect to the many who have given their lives for freedom. I sincerely thanked that young man on the airplane for his service and I thank all those who give so much for our country.


The atmosphere at The Tomb of the Unknowns was reverent and respectful. If you have the chance, I would definitely recommend seeing the changing of the guard. I would suggest wearing nicer clothes. I felt under-dressed.

Stephie and her blushing groom

Stephanie (Gib's sister) and John Park were married October 10th, 2009. Don't they look great!




Here, Stephanie was teasing John because his face was so red from embarrassment. Steph was looking forward to the garder belt; no blushing from her!


Em was just happy to be there!

Emmy and her handsome daddy.


Emmy liked walking with Steph and hiding under her dress.


Cheryl sure knows how to put on a party. She prepared all the food herself and it was delicious. She received many compliments!

Happy First Birthday!

We celebrated Emmy's first birthday a couple weekends ago. It was a fun party filled with good company and good food. We had a beach party with a BBQ and homemade cupcakes. I spent a significant amount of time trying to perfect a cake recipe that doesn't use milk, butter or eggs because Em is allergic to them. I wanted this to be her special cake she could eat without inhibitions from her Mom and Dad. After a sorry attempt at a fish-shaped cake that tasted like flaxseed (I have a humiliating picture, but I'm not brave enough to post it), we decided to make vegan cupcakes. I was so excited for her to have her cupcake! She really loved it after she got used to the sweetness.

She was spoiled with sooo many great presents! Logan pushed Emmy around the entire park on her little car. They both loved it.
Emmy got to go to the petting zoo at Gardner Village on her birthday. We thought she would enjoy it because she loves animals. The ducks, goats, donkeys, pigs and horses were all called dogs by Emmy. It was so cute how excited she was! She kept screaming out, "Dog, dog, dog"!



The pig was a good sport when Emmy tried to step on it's head.


It was amazing celebrating Emmy's first birthday. Thanks to everyone for making it special!

Emmy's favorite game

Emmy's favorite game is pickaboo. She hides behind her toy, it can be anything: her favorite Elmo book, the drapes, the edge of the couch, or her bath towel. Then she waits for me to say, "Where's Emmy?". She pops her head out with the biggest smile and giggle that melt my heart. What a sweet-heart. We love this little girl. Notice her cute bottom teeth!

8 months old

At 8 months old Emmy sits by herself and is almost crawling. She definitely doesn’t have a problem moving around to get what she wants. She was drinking her bottle at her babysitter’s house when she finished it. Emmy was still hungry so she army-crawled across the floor, picked-up another baby’s bottle and started drinking it. Unfortunately, the other bottle had formula in it, which, Emmy has never drunk before. When her Dad got Emmy home she threw-up all over the bed and broke out in hives because the formula didn’t agree with her. She is a girl who knows how to get what she wants!

Emmy’s babysitter tells us that she is a bit of a bully at daycare. A 6 year-old boy was in her way so she grabbed the bottom of his pant leg and single-handedly pulled him down. I wonder if she made him cry?

Peas are Emmy’s favorite food. She is a good eater. Carrots, squash, green beans, prunes, applesauce and rice cereal are everything Emmy loves to eat. Her Dad bought peas at the grocery store as a joke, thinking it would be funny to see what faces she would make when she ate them. He didn’t imagine that she would love them! She sure showed him!

She is still very petite and small for her age. She is just starting to wear her 6 month clothes. Her Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert keep her well-dressed. They buy her everything from princess pajamas to baby cashmere. She has more clothes in her closet than her Mom and Dad put together!

She smiles easily and is most often happy. Her bright blue eyes are vibrant and twinkle when she smiles. Everyone says we are spoiled to have such a good baby. She seems so wise, as if she already knows who she is as a daughter of God. She is keeping busy noticing and loving everything; a tiny string on the edge of the comforter, Chris and Dani’s plush carpet, her shadow on the side of the bathtub, the feel of the breeze in her hair, the sound of the cars, and the reflection of light on the ceiling from her toy mirror. Cause and effect is an exciting concept for her right now. She loves to see how the light reflection moves across the ceiling as she points her little mirror in different directions.

Emmy loves to play with her Mom and Dad. Her Daddy holds her and jumps backwards when her Mom lunges at her and says, “I’m gonna get you!” We repeat this over and over in different combinations. We all laugh together when we play this game.

Emmy loves to sit with Grandma and Grandpa Brems at church every week. She is certainly the most entertained baby at church. It is one of the many advantages of living with Grandma and Grandpa! They share a special relationship. Every Friday, when her Mom and Aunt Ashley go to work, Emmy and Logan get to spend all day with Grandma and Grandpa. They do so many fun things together. They play with toys, walk to the park, swing on swings, read books, visit Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Sommers, and giggle and smile a whole bunch.

Five little monkeys

Logan and Emmy love it when we sing
"Five little monkeys swinging from a tree
Teasing Mr. Alligator, Can't catch me, Can't catch me
Along comes Mr. Alligator quiet as can be and
Snaps that monkey right out of that tree!"

As you can see, the adults like it as much as the babies!
We got some pictures of Emmy in her Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland.


Chris also really liked the Minnie Mouse ears. I wonder if he is thinking, "I'm too sexy for my ears"

Celebrating . . .

We are celebrating Emmy's half birthday. We can't believe it's been six months since she was born. Time flies! It has been the most rewarding six months of our lives. Here's a picture from Valentine's Day. We are so excited that the builders are breaking ground on our new home on Monday. I ran 5 miles with Chris at Daybreak today and can't wait to have our own home there. This is a picture on our property. Sorry about the poor light. It's the best we could do. We are happy that we just had good food with good friends, Drew and Alesha. Thanks for the fun night. Can't wait to do it again.

Is it always so dark in here?

My family went to Disneyland over the weekend. We got to play at Disneyland and California Adventure, visit the David Brems family, and cheer for our runners at the Huntington Beach Marathon and Half Marathon.

On Saturday night, we went on the Storybook Land boat ride. It was awesome riding a boat through the whales mouth. Then, the boat emerges from the whale in a quiet atmosphere where we see well-lit scenes from various Disney stories. After puzzling about it for half the ride, I finally ask, "IS IT ALWAYS SO DARK IN HERE?" It took everyone a minute to figure out what the heck I was asking. When they discovered that I thought we were inside, I got a lot of laughs, even from the strangers and the Disney tour guide on our boat. Dani kindly explained that I really do have a college degree. Oops, that was embarrassing! Now Gib tells me to come out of the dome when I am gullible.

It was a blast to have Emmy and Logan at Disneyland. Emmy loved it. She enjoyed looking at everything; the bright colors and lights. The weather was fabulous. When we got off the plane on the Long Beach Airport runway, there was a warm breeze that blew through Emmy's hair. She looked into the breeze and smiled and giggled as if it was the greatest feeling ever.

Her favorite ride was Toy Story. She loved the sharp turns. She smiled the whole time and she didn't even chew on the lap bar. Good girl!