Olivia's new bed

Olivia is getting so big!! I can't believe how fast our little girl is growing up. She was so excited when she got her new twin bed a few weeks ago, that I had to post some pictures :) And these pictures are some of the first few pictures that I took with my new camera, which turned out awesome.

Olivia is now a BIG girl.

And of course I had to include one of Brookie too:)

Camp Pendleton Mud Run

On Sunday, June 6th Brian along with a couple of his fellow Kilo Company Instructors ran the Camp Pendleton Mud Run!! It was a 10K run through tons of mud! They did such a great job and ended up taking first place for all Military team!! The girls and I went out to support them at the finish line and we got there just in time to see the boys come in. They were completely covered in mud!

I was so inspired by their effort and how much fun they had that (are you ready for this....) I have decided to run in a Mud Run myself at the end of September!! Anyone who knows me knows that this will be a huge accomplishment for me not only because I will be running 3.1 miles but that I am going to be covered in MUD!!!! lol


Those are some muddy boys!!

Getting awarded their First Place Medals :)

Olivia cheering on Daddy!!

Brooklyn gets her ears pierced

We decided to get Brooklyn's ears pierced, because Olivia did so well with having hers done when she was only 4 months old. Brooklyn was so brave and I don't know who was more upset her or me! I felt terrible seeing her cry afterwards, but she got over it in a couple of minutes. She has now learned that sometimes beauty causes pain!

This picture is so sad!!

The Great Aunt Kate

Although I have already blogged about my sister visiting us and the stuff we did while she was in, I felt that she deserved her own posting. My younger sister Katie is like my other half. When she comes to visit I am always so excited, because we have so much fun spending time together and my girls are just crazy about her!! She is a huge help with them as well. I never even have to ask her for help she just steps right in and does everything.

I have no doubt that when the time comes she is going to be a wonderful mother. We miss you Aunt Katie!! Come visit us again soon!!

Aunt Kate swimming with Olivia in Arizona @ our Aunt's house.


I just had to post this picture!! Aunt Kate sporting Brooklyn in the Baby Bjorn (a natural at it too)!! Ha ha

Our First Road Trip

While my sister was visiting we took an unexpected trip to Arizona to visit our Grandma. We drove the six hours over Memorial day weekend and spent four days with family. It was our very first road trip with the girls!! We had so much fun driving and the girls were so great! I couldn't believe how well they did and I look forward to our next road trip!! Unfortunately, Brian wasn't able to get off work and join us.

We had a wonderful visit & it was nice for all of my family in Arizona to meet Brooklyn for the first time. Olivia enjoyed playing with her cousins and swimming at my aunt's house. We loved spending time with my Grandma and hearing stories about my Dad when he was little.

Here is a picture of my Grandma Beninato who just celebrated her 75th Birthday in June.

All of the girls....

While visiting Arizona we stayed with my Aunt Susie and her family. Below is a picture of my cousin Jessica with my sister and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn laughing at my Aunt Susie....

Florida Trip

At the end of May I stood up as a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's wedding. It was a gorgeous ceremony that took place on the beaches of Captiva Island off the coast of Florida. I was so excited to be a part of Taylor & Adam's special day and we had such a great weekend in Florida. Brian, Brooklyn, and I made the trip from coast to coast while Olivia stayed home with my sister. This was our first time traveling together without Olivia and we missed her so much!!

Since we had to travel all the way from California to Florida and through three time zones (lol) it ended up being a whole day of flying each way! And it was also Brooklyn's first time on an airplane:) She completely impressed us by not making a peep the entire trip there and back along with layovers each way!! She was so good on the airplane that people were complementing her on how well behaved she was. Since birth, Olivia has been on countless airplane trips and has always done well. I am so grateful that both of our children have adapted well to flying:-)

Brooklyn debuts her bathing suit!!


The rehearsal dinner....

The wedding ceremony....

And the wedding recpetion....

Brooklyn's first father-daughter dance:) Just too cute!!

Brooklyn's Dedication

On Sunday, May 16th after church we had Brooklyn's dedication. We were so grateful that both of our mothers (a.k.a Nana & GG) could be there along with our friends from our church family. It was such an exciting day for Brian & I and we have looked forward to Brooklyn's dedication since she was born. We are so honored that God has chosen us as parents to our little girls and we want nothing more then to raise them to know and love our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

The dedication was a time of vowing as parents to raise Brooklyn in a home where God is not only present but at the center of all that we do. We pray that one day our girls will both accept Jesus into their lives and make the decision to be baptized.

These pictures were taken by our friends Hayley & Travis Collins and once again their work is just beautiful....

Olivia giving Brooklyn a big kiss before her dedication.

I just love this action shot of Olivia after the dedication:) She is just a bundle of energy!!

Our Little Gymnast

For the past two months Olivia has been taking a gymnastics class:-) The class is made up of little girls and boys ranging in age from 2 to 4. She has absolutely loved every minute of it and she often wakes up and asks me if it is "gymnastics day"?! lol She goes once a week with Brian or I and it has been fun watching her learn new things.

Here is a video of Olivia going through the obstacle course at the beginning of class along with the help of Aunt Kate who was visiting from Chicago and joined us for "gymnastics day" that week :-)

Mother's Day & Our Anniversary

I am once again behind on blogging and I really need to get better at this!! Anyways, we celebrated Mother's Day last month by going to Church and hanging out as a family. This Mother's Day was so special to me, because I feel so privileged to be the mother of two darling little girls. We decided to just stay in and hang out at home because the girls had been sick that week. Although that may not sound exciting it actually turned out to be a wonderful day. It doesn't happen often that we get to be home with Brian and just relax so I am very grateful for those days.



At the end of the week, Brian & I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary!! I can't even believe how fast those five years have gone by!! I kept thinking about how much has changed in our lives since May 14th, 2005. We are so thankful for how our love for one another has grown and we look forward to the many anniversaries yet to come. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture that day but here is one from Mother's Day.