Kentucky Road Trip

My parents had their spring break a week ago and they drove down here, picked Jane and I up, and took us to Kentucky with them to see my brother and his family.  Unfortunately Andrew couldn't come because of his work schedule.  Hopefully we can all make it there one day.  One of my nieces was born in January and neither I nor my parents had been able to meet her.  It was so fun to hang out with them for a few days!  And there are a lot of fun things to do around the town they live in, especially since it's close to Lexington, the Horse capital of the WORLD!

^Here's Jane relaxing on the nearly 6 hour drive to Kentucky.  She did really great with all the travelling, though every time we had to get her back in the carseat she got really upset for a few minutes. ha.  Not the car again!!

^Jane hanging out with Aunt Broni and cousin Ivy.

^Jane, Marme, and Nono.

On of the days we were there we took a little trip to the Kentucky Horse Park.  Boy, was I in heaven.  They had everything there, and I loved it all!  The first thing most people might have thought was "Ew, it smells like horse..."  But that's not what I thought.  I smelled the leather, the hay, the shampoo used to clean the horses, aaaah, it felt so good to be in a barn again.  My soul was rejoicing!  So many ponies! (I use the word "pony" as a term of endearment.  I call all horses and ponies "pony", no matter how big or small.  Just letting you know so you don't get confused when I say "Oh look at all the ponies in the field!", and they're clearly quite large horses... That's just how I am.)

^Cousin Thatcher and Jane all ready to go!

These pictures aren't in any special order, nor are they in the order of the day.  We went into a few of the museums that are there, watched a live show called "Horses of the World" (I think), and walked through lots of barns, including a kids barn that had so much fun stuff in it.

^Here's Jane playing polo :)

^Sittin' pretty on a pony in one of the museums.

^Petting some police horses after the live show we watched.  Jane looks unsure, but she LOVED watching the horses during the show.  She was laughing and clapping and being super loud the whole time.

In the American Saddlebred Museum you could sit on this saddle and it projected your image to look like you were riding one of the horses.  It was hilarious!

I didn't take many other pictures of our time there, we were just having so much fun all being together.  One of the activities that almost always occurs when we're with Broni is hair cuts and coloring.  She used to work for Paul Mitchell and really knows her stuff when it comes to hair.  Way more than I know!  I have been itching for a change in color, especially since I already took the leap and chopped off my long locks at Thanksgiving.  I always wondered what I would look like as a blonde, so, with Broni's expertise, we did it!  I was so nervous about it, because that's a big change, but it turned out great!  I'm very thankful for your skills, Broni :)  It would have been a disaster if I tried to do it by myself with a box from the store... I can't even imagine the horror...

On our way back to BV we met up with one of my other brothers and his family for some dinner.  It was so fun to see them.  I love you all!  

My parents hung out with Jane and I before leaving the next day after dinner, which we ate at Pure Eats in Lexington.  For any of you that have never been there I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area.  Talk about a delicious burger!  I've heard the donuts are really good too.  Someday I'll try one :)

Happy Easters!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday!  It was a beautiful day and it was fun to spend time all together and at church.  We kept the Easter festivities pretty low-key, which was really nice because I didn't feel stressed about it all.  We bought a couple bags of our favorite candies (Starburst Jelly Beans and Cadbury Eggs... don't mind me while I drool all over the keyboard) and picked out a new movie for our family collection.  We let Jane "pick" the movie, which meant we held up the three options in front of her and which ever one she grabbed first was the winner.  She picked Frozen :)  The other two options were Catching Fire and The Desolation of Smaug, and I think Andrew and I were a tiny bit disappointed Jane didn't choose one of "our" movies, but Frozen is definitely one she can enjoy sooner than those other two. haha.  And I may enjoy singing along.  Just a little bit.  Ok a lot.  Put on a Disney movie and I'll sing my heart out like I don't know I'm off-key and making strange faces while I do it.

The Brandt's have an Easter tradition that includes the parents hiding the baskets and the children searching for them.  Maybe this is really common but I had never heard of it.  So we gave it a go, starting last year.  We separated our candy into plastic eggs and our baskets and took turns hiding them.  Last year I hid Andrew's basket SO good. hehe.  This year he found it pretty quick, and I thought I hid it so good, too! 

 So the only problem with this fun little activity is that I'm kind of a sore loser sometimes... especially when candy is on the line.  It doesn't make for much of a Christ-like atmosphere in our home when I'm wandering around the house whining and saying "Andrew!  Give me a better hint!  This isn't fair!  I made yours easy to find! (not really, I just did a bad job hiding it)".  

So Andrew hid my basket really well,  I'll just have to do a better job next year- insert evil grin.  The gloves are coming off, mister!

My parents gave Jane a couple of books and we got her some of those squeezy snack pouch things in a flavor that she really loves, Squash, Peas, and Pear... yummy...  And she just enjoyed throwing the plastic eggs around.  Easter success!

^Here's Jane in her little Easter dress.  She had a pretty rough nap and was not in a very good mood.  So she just sat in her little rocker and ate some Veggie Straws until she felt a little better.  She kills me.

^Look at that sass.  Sassy little miss.

The public library had a really fun Easter activity the weekend before Easter that we signed Jane up for.  They read an Easter story and made a craft, and had an egg hunt.  Jane mostly loved watching all the kids that were there run around like maniacs.  She had a blast!  She obviously didn't really know what the egg hunt was all about, but we showed her where an egg was hiding and she reached out for it pretty fast.  It was so cute.   

^Daddy and Jane with the little craft they made.

^I just love these two.

So that was the extent of our Easter celebrations!  Andrew and I also really enjoyed the Easter videos that the Church put up on the website, especially the "Because of Him" video.  I have the opportunity to teach the 14 to 15 year old girls in my ward every other Sunday, and this week our lesson was about why the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion.  Even though this video isn't about the Book of Mormon, it helped me realize that because of Him we have the Book of Mormon to testify of His life, sacrifice and doctrines, so that we can read it, along with the Bible, and pray to know the truth of these things.  Because of Him we have so many blessings to work towards, we just have to try.

I hope you were all able to feel the spirit of Christ through the Easter weekend :)

Athlete in Training.

We live two minutes away from the University, and there are so many athletic events that we could go watch, but we hardly ever think to do it.  We finally did go to a basketball game and a softball game.  They were lots of fun! :)

These pictures are from the basketball game we went to.  I think she liked this outing the most, and that makes her basketball-loving dad very happy!

She clapped, laughed, and cheered/screamed the whole time.  It was so funny to watch her reaction to everything.  She even followed the ball most of the time.  I guess she can't help it, it's in her blood!  She eventually fell asleep from getting so excited and worked up.  I don't know how she slept through all the loud whistles that make you feel like your ears are bleeding, but she did it!

The softball game we went to was on a nice, chilly day.  That's complete sarcasm.  It was sunny earlier in the day and then it turned cloudy and the temperature dropped.  It was still fun though because we got to watch some ball and spend time with our good friends Tiffane and Franklin :)

^Yes, Franklin is that handsome pup you see staring deeply into Jane's eyes.  It was love at first sight.

^She loves to be around him, but she's definitely not used to being licked in the face.  The cats don't show their love quite the same way...

^This little whatever-you-call-it is hilarious.  And so cute.

Once the weather is warmer we'll definitely go to more softball games (especially since sometimes they have special treats, like free cotton candy (!!!).  Hand it over.)

Andrew isn't in any of these pictures, but I promise he was there with us :)

To show you just how much she's loving basketball, here are some pictures of our little athlete in training.

^Live it.  Love it.  Eat it?

^I dare you to block that cute face from taking a shot.

^Trying to take a cute picture of her and I, but the basketball won her attention.

And one more of our little lady, for good measure :)

Eating Machine.

Jane is quite the eating machine lately.  She loves to sit in her seat at the table and eat real food.  Some of her favorites are peas, pasta, edamame, applesauce, bread, crackers, cheese, oatmeal, and the list goes on.  I know I'm forgetting some, but this girl just loves to eat.  Just like her mom! :)  

^SO GOOD!

^Just letting us know that she's too cool to clean up the mess she made.

Where are you, Spring?

Not much has happened for us Brandt's since Valentine's day, except trying to get outside as much as possible.  I'm so tired of winter.  We keep getting these beautiful, sunny, warm days in between days of freezing cold rain and snow.  In fact it's snowing right now as I'm writing this.  When will it end?!  I usually love cold weather, but now that I've gotten that taste of spring all this winter weather can't be gone faster!  I've taken lots of pictures of Jane in the sunshine (and eating pasta, because that is FUNNY) and I know that she is so happy to be outside.   She loves it!

^We've been to the park that's a few blocks away several times and she loves to sit in the swings.

^It was funny to see her play with the snow and try to figure out what it is.  And a handful of muddy grass is always fun to play with too.

We've had a few picnics out in the backyard, too

^An awful attempt at getting a close up of Jane.  Ended up just getting an out-of-focus Jane and Piper creeping on us in the background.

^She could eat peas ALL. DAY. LONG.  

^And dead leaves and grass are just as tasty.

^On those warm days we like to wait outside for Andrew to get home from work.  

Valentine's Day Fun

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

I have always liked Valentine's day, and it's really fun to have a permanent date night set every year with Andrew :)

Last year for our Valentine's date I think we went to The Southern Inn Restaurant for a fancy little dinner (which I usually get the meatloaf... but man, that is some fancy meatloaf with the most delicious mushroom sauce).  Andrew worked there as a server a few years ago -Jane just rolled over by herself, pardon me while I give a hearty WHOOP WHOOP!- and two of his nieces have worked there, so he still knows some of the people there.  So we sometimes get a little discount when we go :) (it's nice to be married to someone people like).

This year we decided to stay home, and Andrew wanted to make me dinner.  Andrew is a pretty good cook.  He knows the basics, and he LOVES to cook meat.  Which is perfect, because I love to EAT meat :)

He bought some super delicious New York Strip Steaks from a local butcher and whipped up a super delicious dinner for him and I.  He even went as far as to make potatoes au gratin.  He's more of a baked or mashed potato guy, but he decided to get fancy! (anything that sounds French is fancy right?)

So there was Andrew making this mouth-watering meal, and it's as if Jane knew that it was time for her to go to sleep and let mom and dad have free hands to stuff our faces with.  Right as Andrew was done cooking I put Jane down in her room.  A sleeping babe, a perfect meal, my handsome man.  It was a nice Valentine's date.  

We didn't talk much except to say how amazing the steaks, asparagus and potatoes were.  Seriously.  We STUFFED our faces.  Andrew did a good job on that meal.  We still talk about it.

"Hey remember those steaks we had?" (dreamy look on both our faces)

"Yeah.  Those were GOOD steaks."

Andrew was re-creating the first meal he made for me while we were dating.  He said he needed to make up for it, cause that first one was... not so great.  I thought it was yummy, but he just keeps making it better and better.  I'm so lucky to have a man that loves steak as much as I do :)

Beside that, Andrew is just the best.  The best dad, best husband, best friend.  That's why Jane and I made him this sign!

^Those two.  Just the best.

I tried a couple of ideas to get Jane's footprints on there.  It wasn't working too well... so I tried a hand print.  Even worse!  But that's OK, it added a little character to the sign.

^Jane in her Valentine's Day outfit :)

^Laughing away!

Sorry for the explicit description of the dinner we had.  I just wanted to share the deliciousness of it with you all :)

We Got Snow!

I was giving up hope that we would see a good, solid snow storm this winter (this part of Virginia almost never does...).  We got a little here and there, but it was mostly just a mix of ice and rain.  I wanted SNOW!  Thank goodness we got some!  It was so fun to watch it fall and get deeper and deeper.  It made this cold winter worth it.  For now anyway.

 ^This is the view from our porch the morning after most of the snow fell.

^This shows how deep the snow was, and it still wasn't finished!

We took a walk up to Andrew's parent's house, since driving was out of the question, to help shovel their driveway.  BV isn't all that great when it comes to snow preparedness... The roads also had a thick layer of ice underneath the snow.  All sorts of craziness going on with this storm!

^This little miss hadn't seen this much snow.  All she knew was that it was really cold outside.

While we were walking the 5 or 6 blocks to Andrew's parent's we passed several people that were out shoveling like we were.  One guy stopped to talk to us and he was so funny.  He loved Jane and thought she was so cute and he commented how it's good that we have her out in the crazy weather.  

"My generation would say 'Don't take them outside! They can get sick and die!'"

So he was applauding us for taking our child out into the freezing cold snow storm :)

Jane is healthy as a horse, and we had her bundled up pretty good, so we weren't too worried about her.  And it's not like we were walking 10 miles or anything.

So that was our fun snow day.  Most of the snow has melted, thanks to this warm weather we're having now.  I'm glad we got the snow, it's what I've been waiting for since Christmas... but now it's time for spring.  Please.