Christmas Time has come and gone . . .

We had a Merry Christmas! Here are a few pictures of present unwrapping and playing with toys. I have a video with more that I am still trying to fix so that it will work on here. Our house has no shortage of toys! (As if it did before Christmas!) The boys loved opening presents, they both couldn't decide whether to play with the toy they just opened or open the next one. Aidan loves the USA puzzle that we got him, he can't stop putting it together! Aidan and Liam also love to play basketball with the new hoop they got, they will be practicing up for later! Thank you to all our family members that sent gifts to us even though we weren't able to be in Utah this Christmas like the last two years. We had a lot of fun with Marci/Maimeo (Grandma) coming down for Christmas! We hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Aidan is 3! Happy Birthday!

We had a great time celebrating Aidan's Birthday at a Park in Claremont with all his friends. We wish we could have had more family there but we did have Aidan's Maimeo (Grandma) there! Thank you to all that came and made Aidan's 3rd Birthday a blast!
Aidan loved playing on the rocks, he did that almost the entire time but we still got him to come down and open some presents and eat a cupcake after everyone sang to him. Enjoy the videos (It's almost like you were there!).

Snow Day at Heritage Park in La Verne, CA

We had a great time playing in the man-made snow with the kids! It's an event they hold every year and so we got in our snow gear and took the boys. Aidan threw snowballs almost the entire time but he also went down the sled hill twice, once with Mommy and once with Daddy. Liam loved picking up the snow and trying to copy his big brother by throwing a snowball. Once they figured out what to do with the snow and that everyone else was having fun playing, they couldn't stop and didn't want to leave!

Fall Fun

Hello everyone! We have had a busy and fun fall so far! The boys are now in a preschool program called mommy and me. It is twice a week and I go with them. It has been a blast! They have a lot of free play time (just what a kid should get!) and they do lots of crafts and singing. We have been able to go on several field trips with this group and that is where a lot of the pictures are from. We started off with the LA county fair in September and the boys just loved it! We spent all day there because it is huge, one of the biggest in the country. Then our next field trip was to a farm about an hour from here called Oak Glen. You may be surprised but just east of us are some beautiful mountains that have little farming communities in the valleys. It is so lovely up there. Oak Glen is famous for it's fresh apple cider so the class went to an apple orchard and picked apples and pressed cider in an old fashioned cider press. We got to go on a hayride, have caramel apples, learn about the "olden days", and see farm animals. The boys had so much fun (except when Aidan fell and cut his head on a wooden platform!) We ate lunch at a historic public house and the boys got their own tin mugs with the alphabet engraved on them. Our next field trip was another farm just ten minutes from our house called Heritage Farms. We again got to hang out with farm animals(can't tell you how many goats we have seen in the last few months!) and go on a hayride. Then they boys got to pick pumpkins from a pumpkin patch and decorate them. They had a great time and wanted to take home ALL the pumpkins! Then we had a fun Halloween party at the school. We had a potluck lunch and a costume parade along with a class trick or treat. We are going on another field trip this week to a Nutcracker activity where they will dress up in soldier and ballerina costumes and make Nutcracker crafts as well as dance around and have treats. It should be really fun! The boys also had school pictures (which will be coming soon for the grandparents to pick from!) Aidan is still in gymnastics and loves that. He had gymnastics pictures as well and he was not happy about taking them so they are the most sullen pictures I have ever seen, oh well. We also went to Las Vegas for a weekend because Brett had to present his breast cancer research at a conference up there. We got to see the Terans for a day and that was fun. Vegas is definitely not a family friendly vacation spot but we did go to see the temple which is amazing. Brett worked so hard on his research and did a great job putting it all together, we are so proud! Halloween was a blast! We have a huge party at our house with six other families. Our family theme was as follows: Brett-King Teran, Steph-Queen Teran, Aidan-Sir Aidan Teran (a knight), and Liam-the ferocious family dragon! Brett took Aidan trick or treating in the village in the early evening and then we all took the kids at the beginning of our party. They had fun and got lots of candy (score for the moms and dads because we can't let them eat all of it right?) Aidan is still asking to go trick or treating and will most likely expect candy from the next house we go to! After T.O.T we came back and had a potluck dinner with "pumpkin pizzas" (pizzas decorated to look like pumpkins) and apple cider with shrunken heads (floating apples carved to look like faces). Then the kids did some Halloween crafts (decorating gourds and mini pumpkins and coloring wooden Halloween ornaments). We finished up with a caramel apple bar where you stick, dip, and top your own apple with whatever you want( the favorite was mini chocolate peanut butter cups as those are all gone!) We love having friends over and I am crazy about playing hostess so we had a great time and one family has promised to fly in for the party from South Carolina next year after they have moved so we will do our best not disappoint!!! We didn't get many pictures of Halloween though because our camera was out of batteries by that point but we put on a few. Well, I guess that is about it, goodness that was a ton but I guess that is what we get for not updating more often huh? We will try to post more often in the next busy months. We are so excited for the Holidays and want you to keep us updated on your lives. Thanks for all your love and support! Love- The Teran family

Not laboring on Labor Day. . .

Here are the latest pics and videos from our trip to Big Bear Lake on Labor Day and Aidan playing with his legos at home! We hope you enjoy them!
Time is flying by for us, summer is almost gone but we are ready for Fall! This is Stephani's favorite time of year even though we don't have much of a Fall down here in the heat of SoCal. Aidan is as busy as ever! He is one hard to please little guy, he always wants something! He'll say "Mommy, Daddy, you want watch Robin Hood?? Ok!!!" Liam is out to destroy everything he can get his hands on as he walks very well now and he is starting to copy a lot of what we say. We have made some recent breakthroughs in having them cooperate while playing and sleeping through the night together in the same room! Sleeping in though . . . now that's a different story but we are usually up anyways. We have come down recently with a cough/cold virus that is going around so we are resting and recovering right now.
We hope you are all well! Let us know how everyone is doing! (You can always post a comment on here or send an email!)

Stay Cool and Have a Fun Summer!

To All,
Here are pictures and video from the our summer so far! "From California to the New York Island . . . "( :) not really but you get the idea - feel free to sing the rest of the song!)
Actually the pics are from our trip to St. George in June, Steph and the boys' trip up to Utah in June, celebrating the 4th of July here in Claremont, Liam's 1st Birthday party, etc.
We are doing great and we hope all of you are well too!

Alive and still kickin'

Well, we finally had a minute to update the blog! We have had to put it off for some time because the computer has been busy helping Brett study for final exams! Brett is officially a third year medical student! He finished on Thursday and now it is on to studying for board exams, no more class time! He has worked so hard this year and passed all his exams. His first round of board exams are the first week in June and he has to really focus on those now. After boards he starts rotations in hospitals and clinics all over LA. He is excited to get hands on experience. Brett has made us all so proud and I am amazed at his diligence and perseverance. Way to go Brett!
I am keeping really busy but I am happy to be busy! I absolutely love my church calling as the young women's first counselor. The girls are wonderful and it has been so fun to be around the youth. We have been busy in church lately, Brett and I spoke in sacrament two Sundays ago and I sang a few weeks before that. Brett is also the course 15 Sunday school teacher, so between the two of us, we have lots of lessons to prepare. We are both learning and growing so much. I am in a ballet class that I love and it provides me with an outlet that is much needed! I am just trying to keep the home and family in one piece amidst the craziness. For those of you who know me well you know I am a book worm and I love to talk about books. I try to read a lot so that my brain doesn't turn to mush. If anyone is interested, I am reading a really neat book right now called: "The Chemistry of Essential Oils, Gods Love Manifest in Molecules", by David Stewart PhD. It sounds crazy but I recommend it to anyone even if your forte is not chemistry (which mine is not!)
Aidan is very two. He amazes us every day with his brilliant noggin! He can count to twenty by himself, knows all his letters and knows the sounds and can sound out a lot of words. He knows his colors, shapes, sounds, feelings, and can name just about anything around him. He loves books and tries to read already by saying the letter and then making the sound of the letters and trying to connect them! He blows us away! He loves to dance and make up songs. His favorite things physically are jumping ("jump to da sky!") and throwing balls (especially at the blinds because it makes a loud crash!) He says lots of funny things, here are a few: he calls Liam his "fluff" because mommy calls Liam that. He says "bye bye cars" when you get off an exit ramp from the freeway and "weeee" down any hill. He says "great song!" after every song at church and "great story!" after stories. He also greets most people by saying "hi sweetie!". We are trying to get him out of his binky habit and asks us in the most concerned voice, "mommy/daddy, where'd binky go? I need him!" He is so polite and says "thank you" and "welcome", and "bless you" all the time! He does have many moments where he throws some dandy tantrums and is known to hit and chuck stuff at us, but hey, he's two.
Liam is a bundle of joy and energy! He is healthy now and wild! The boys love to wrestle and so I spend most of my day feeling like a referee in a wrestling match! Liam is trying to stand on his own and gets around faster and faster every day! He loves to sing and clap his chubby little hands! He just loves anything brother is doing and they can't get enough of each other! Liam is definitely a mama's boy! He wants to wrestle and snuggle me all day. He is still such a flirt and smiles and coos at anyone who looks at him. He has all the girls fighting over who gets to hold him on Sundays! He likes to dance too, even to the dishwasher noises!
I know this is a long one but it has been a long while! We are happy and healthy and what more can we ask for? We miss our family in Utah and think of you often. I will be up there with the boys from June 2-9 while Brett takes his exams so I hope to see as many of you as I can. Love-The Terans

Sick of being sick

We have had sickness in our family for the longest time now and so there hasn't been much to post. We are still getting over colds but hopefully we have put the worst behind us. Here are some great pictures that we took at the park before we all got sick. We will definitely post something a lot more often now. Hope everyone is doing well and not sick like us!

Aidan can count like a pro now, he loves to count everything and points out all the numbers he sees while in the car. He does the same thing with letters so he gets a ton of practice because we usually have his toy letters all over the house - on the fridge, in the bathtub and then his puzzle letters. Aidan loves going outside, he's like a caged animal! He loves to ride his "cycle" and absolutely loves the slide and swings at the park near our house.

Liam is crawling! He is so determined to get around and explore, he does not want to stay put! The video is of him starting to get the hang of it but he has since crawled all over the room when we put him down. He is such a loud, vocal kid! Being sick has been rough on him but despite his coughing and inability to sleep, he is still a happy, smiley kid and you would never tell that he feels bad a lot of the time! We love our boys!

It was Brett's birthday on Tuesday so we got a sitter for the boys because they were feeling better while we went out to dinner. They were great! Aidan loves showing off all he knows to someone besides his mom and dad. We definitely don't get an opportunity like that often if at all.

Back from Holiday Break

We hope everyone had a great time over their holiday break! We had a great time in Utah. We definitely had a White Christmas with all the snow there. The skiing was awesome! Aidan could not stop saying "snow" wherever we went. He got to play in it a little and he thought that was pretty cool.

We now have a little 2 year old as of the 29th! We had a birthday party for Aidan with our family and his favorite train, Thomas! He loved opening his birthday presents and eating his Thomas cake! He got double the toys with his birthday and Christmas. He learned and said all of our family's names while we were there and he still says them. He has started saying complete sentences and talks a lot!
Liam is also doing well! Aidan is starting to interact with his little brother more and more. Liam loves to play with anything near him and he is always smiling. We love our little boys!

We also included some pictures of the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We braved the single digit temperatures to go downtown and show Aidan and Liam the lights there, Aidan thought it was pretty cool as he would tell us what color the lights were. It was fun for all of us to see all the family and Aidan actually knew about Christmas this time around so it was more fun for him.