peacemaker

Last week, when we studied from "come follow me," we read the Beattitudes. We spent some time discussing what it means and looks like to be a peacemaker. As we were talking, we all thought of little Brinna. She brings so much peace into our home with her smile and her sweetness.

Not too long after our discussion, I was folding laundry and Layla was feeling upset about something I told her to do or she couldn't do (I don't remember which one). She buried her face into her blanket and her knees and started crying. Within seconds, Brinna stopped playing with her toys and toddled over to Layla. She announced "sad" and gave Layla a series of hugs, kisses, and rubs on the head until her big sister calmed down.

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

the beach

We hit the beach in the morning before heading back home to Arizona. 

These are some happy children when they are digging in the sand, searching for shells, and running from waves.

Just enjoying a little bit of baby yoga on the beach. She’s always got a downward dog in her.

These next pictures are the grand finale of our time at the beach. 

Legoland

Since the older boys got a trip to Universal Studios in January, we took the little ones to Legoland!

We kicked off the Lego weekend by all seeing the Lego Movie 2 on saturday. We are all, led in huge part by Perry, huge fans of the Lego Movie. And this second movie was SO good! Perry had been anxiously and obsessively waiting for the movie to come out. He even asked to bring some friends with him. We brought two friends from the ward (the sweetest boys!) and Perry was so thrilled to be sitting next to his friends, eating popcorn, drinking "spicy juice", and watching a movie he was so excited about it.

We left with the three younger kids right after church on Sunday and drove to california. We stayed in a cheap hotel within walking distance of Legoland. Perry revealed to us his new love for playing Uno. We didn't even know that he has been playing at school with his friends and now loves it. So while we were in the hotel room he wanted to play over and over again. We happily agreed! I am excited that he can join us in playing games now.

On Monday, we walked over to the Legoland and enjoyed 7 hours at the park. I had never been before so I was pleasantly surprised at how much there was to do and how nicely it was set up. Our kids were the perfect ages for it. Well, Brinna wasn't tall enough for most rides (she is still shy of 30 in.), but we rotated who stayed with her and it was a really enjoyable day.



This was Layla's first big rollercoaster. While on the ride, they took the best picture of her going down the big drop--she had a look of pure terror! Her eyes were as wide as can be. Part of me wishes we had just spent the $15 and bought the print, but we didn't so I guess I'll just have to keep that moment in my own memory. She rode the ride two more times that day and her pictures on those two rides showed much more enjoyment than fear.





































Layla loved all of the Lego statues everywhere. And wanted a picture with just about every single one.









She got her hands up on this rollercoaster! Perry goes along with any and every ride. Never too scared. Just happy as can be.









Can you see Perry's legs dangling there? Proof that Perry rode this fun ride with me. He yelled, "I'm going to fall into the water!" the whole time.





I got Layla on it, too. She yelled, "I want to get off!" the whole time.





We loved the Star Wars Lego characters and displays.







Perry lit up when he saw the Storm trooper and again when he saw the big ships and scenes from the movies. (His mustache is red gatorade.)



















The ninjago ride was one of the few rides that Brinna could go on with us. It was in the dark and so she hated it! Poor baby.





This was Brinna's favorite ride--the submarine.







Our last ride of the day was the carousel. We had it all to ourselves. But really the park was not crowded all day. We did get a disability pass and used Perry's wheelchair because that just works better for him, but the waits were short regardless.



We couldn't get her on the horse! So she sat in the car on this one.





It was such a fun, quick trip. It was weird being there without Kyler and Kacin, but Legoland is much more suited to younger kids so it was all good.