It's the little things...

We took MaKenzie and Titan bowling last week. Titan had not tried bowling yet, but this time we thought he should give it a try. He was excited when MaKenzie put on her shoes, and wanted some of his own.. so we thought why not? They have a six pound ball that Kenzie lifts just fine, so we thought Titan shouldn't have a problem. Sure enough he carried it like it was nothing. They have a ramp for kids to help them bowl. The kids took turns back and forth bowling. They had a blast. It was fun for us to watch them. They are both getting so big. They are the best of friends and really love doing things together. It is crazy how time flies, but this is such a fun age for them both. For Arek and I to teach them new things, watch them explore, what them learn. It's priceless!! We get so much joy out of watching them laugh and smile and just be kids!!

First day of fall!

Is it really close to the end of September? I can't believe how fast this year is going by. The weather here is looking beautiful. I am enjoying fall so much already. The leaves are changing colors, the breeze is nice and we are starting to drop back down to the sixties. I am going to miss this season when we are in Arizona!! It has become my favorite season. Winter is right around the corner! I can't wait for the snow. I am going to miss that when we are in Arizona too. Speaking of which.. we are moving in less than two months. I can't believe it. We are getting excited and anxious. We are leaving here on November 16th. We are driving straight to Arizona to sign in for housing. Then coming to Vegas to visit! We should be spending Thanksgiving in Vegas, which will be nice.. we have missed a lot of the holidays with our extended families! Can't wait to see everyone!

Titan is turning two next month. I feel like I just had him!! He is becoming such a big boy and definitely a toddler now. Although, he has hit the terrible twos stage which isn't as fun! haha. He can be all happy and playful, then one thing will tick him off and HELLO TANTRUMS! Yeah, not very fun, but it happens right? Just a stage!! Him and MaKenzie are doing great. They are both getting excited for Halloween, we are already seeing so many decorations and looking at costumes for the kids. It should be a fun year with both of them walking and saying trick or treat!! MaKenzie had the queen size bed in her room, but we decided she would be happier with a bed more her size. So we bought her a pink toddler bed and she loves it. She does great with sleeping in her own bed. She is getting anxious for our move to Arizona. She knows she will be starting school down there and she can't wait. One of the kids favorite things to do is go swimming. We take them to the indoor pool weekly.. they love it. Titan loves playing in the kiddy pool. He also loves the big pool as long as his life jacket is on. MaKenzie suddenly starting doing great with swimming. We are teaching her in the little pool how to kick and swim underwater. She is doing great. Soon we will be putting her in the big pool without her life jacket to teach her there. She loves it and will be swimming in no time!

Arek was gone for a week at the Warfighter Competition in Fort Leonard Wood. Him, Hunter, & Brennan were a team going against thirty three other teams. Their competition was three days long. On the first day alone, seven of the teams fell out. They finished every event and did amazing. I recieved many phone calls from Stevens Wife (their trainer) saying how amazing they were doing, how Arek keeps the team motivation up and was the beast of the team that just kept going no matter what! They ended up placing 11th. I couldn't be more proud of him for even being chosen for the team, competing and placing instead of falling out. They did amazing and have a lot to be proud of. From what I heard the things they had to go through were outrageously tough. I can only imagine! I could never ruck with 75lbs on my back for 68 miles!!

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Now that Arek is home and done with the warfighter competition we are focusing on our move, and him starting to clear next month! We are just staying busy with the kids and are enjoying our last fall, then winter here in New York, we will definitely miss it!! Although we are definitely looking forward to the summers in Arizona!

We hope everyone else is doing good!!

I have posted a lot of pictures:

((newest on the last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR FAMiLY

I have also posted new videos:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,

The Brock Family ♥

August has flown by!

I can't believe that summer is almost over. We hit a couple weeks of high 80's low 90's and it was beautiful. I am excited for fall though. The weather is dropping back down and we are in the 70's again. Fall here is so beautiful, and the leaves changing is so neat. I hope we get to see some more snow before we head out to Arizona too. I am going to miss the seasons in New York!!

It has been a busy month for us. The time has flown by. Earlier in this month we got a new kitten. He was abandoned at only a few weeks old. There were two, Marian took one and we took one. We have kept them together and had to feed them out of a bottle for a while. Finally they are eating soft foods and milk on their own. MaKenzie and Titan absolutely love them. We are thinking the kittens are boys and we have named ours Simba, Marian and Kevin named theirs Gizmo. Lola and Kera both play with the kittens and take care of them by licking them clean. Simba is so playful and pounces on Kera and Kera is so gentle with him! Lola takes the mommy role and watches over them. We also got a fish tank from one of Arek's friends. So we bought a few fish. I feel like we have our very own zoo :). It's fun though. The kids absolutely love animals!!

The second week of August was Arek's company family day. We all went to Remington Lodge. They had lots of food, activities for the kids, tug of war for the platoons and a pie auction for some of the higher ups! It was a fun day. The kids loved playing in the park and jumper. Arek love the tug of war competition, and the best part was watching the higher ups get pie in their face & Arek getting to put pie in some of their faces :). It was a lot of fun.

We celebrated our five year dating Anniversary on August 12. It is amazing how far we have come in five years and I never would have imagined this is where we would be, but it has been the best five years of my life. I couldn't be more proud of Arek and everything he does for our family. We couldn't be more blessed with the two most beautiful, smart, healthy children, and of course each other!! We have got to experience so much in our lives since Arek has joined the Army. Our kids are seeing all kinds of new places and we experience so many new things! It was the best decision Arek could have made for our Family! We celebrated at home with a nice dinner & that was the night we got the kitten, so it was our present to each other and the munchkins!!

We are all four doing good. Arek is getting ready for his competition on September 15th. We are not looking forward to him being gone for a week, but we are proud of him and know he will do great at the competition. If his team places 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The army will be flying us out there to attend a ball with him to celebrate. His team has been training hard and I know they will do awesome!! We are getting excited for our big move to Arizona. We will be leaving here on November 23rd. We will be driving to Arizona to sign in to housing and then we will be off to Las Vegas to visit while we wait for our house! All four of us are excited about it!!

We hope everyone else is doing good. We have posted lots of new pictures!

((newest pictures on the last pages!!))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love to all,
The Brock Family ♥

Happy Birthday Arek ♥

It has been a little while since I updated, but it has been a busy couple weeks! We had Chad, Lexi, Brock & Alyvia visiting us for a week. MaKenzie & Brock were so excited to see each other. It was great watching them play together all week and get to hang out. Titan and Alyvia had a love hate relationship. They both liked to pick on each other! They were still adorable together! On Arek's days off we took everyone to Alexandria Bay to show them around and check out Boldt Castle. That night we also went to the county fair which was neat! On Sunday we went to Westcott Beach. All four of the kids loved the water. It was fun watching them all play and splash around. We had a good week hanging out at the park, showing them base, off base, and some of the other towns. We were happy to be able to have them visit and hang out.

MaKenzie & Titan are doing good. They are both getting so big and amaze us each and every day. We look at them and just smile. It is an amazing thing to be able to see each other in two beautiful little kiddos. MaKenzie is very into helping getting Titan to use his words more. She likes going up to him, pointing to things and telling them how to say it. He is doing a great job and already has started talking so much more. Still learning new words everyday, and finally getting more clear to hear what he is saying. He still could care less about going to the bathroom on the potty. He thinks he should go potty in his diaper, then try to run to the bathroom and take his diaper off! haha. We aren't in a rush yet, he is still only 21 months old! We have been working on teaching Kenzie how to write out her alphabet and numbers & teaching Titan to use his words along with new words!

I had a surprise birthday party for Arek on Sunday. Kevin took him out fishing for a couple of hours so we could set up for the party. ( They caught 9 fish within a couple of hours! ) Marian and I decorated the house, made cupcakes, and got everything ready. Then Kevin showed up with him and as soon as he walked in the door we all yelled surprise and you should have seen his face. His smile was priceless :). He was so happy and thankfully really surprised!! We had a great afternoon hanging out with friends bbqing. Then we decided it was so hot that we should go to Westcott Beach. We went and hung out there for a couple of hours and had a blast. The water felt so nice. We swam for a while, buried the guys in the sand, and let the kids play at the park. We had a great Sunday!! Arek really enjoyed his surprise :).

Arek and I have been doing good. Arek has been keeping busy with work & warfighter. I have been babysitting randomly to keep me busy. It has been fun. I love babies!! We have officially found out when we will be moving. Our request to leave early was denied. So our date to report to Fort Huachuca is December 10th. We will be taking our pcs leave and will be heading out of here around the 15th of November. We were disappointed it wasn't approved, but are excited we finally know for sure and can start planning our big move to Arizona!! Other than that, we have been loving the warm weather and just hanging out!! We hope everyone else is doing good!!

Of course I have posted lots of new pictures since my last update:
((newest pictures on last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?start=0

Also some new videos:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/ViDEOS/

Love to all,
The Brock Family

Climate changes of New York.

Rainy, cloudy, sunny, thunderstorms, windy, humidity & hail.. All in one day here in New York. It is amazing to experiecing a different climate than Las Vegas! Even though the rain comes suddenly and often ruins plans because it comes out of no where. It is neat!! I love the rain. It is officially impossible to tell what the weather will do from week to week!!

4th of July wasn't the same for us this year. We are use to BBQ'ing and doing a bunch of fireworks, but it rained all day here and fireworks are so illegal in New York they are impossible to find, even sparklers. So we didn't get to celebrate it like we usually do, but we still had a great day. We took the kids to the pottery store. We picked out two dog bowls and made them for Kera. They turned out great and the kids loved it. We also took them to Alexandria Bay on the 5th when the weather clearned up to go on an hour boat tour of the 1000 Islands. It was a lot of fun. They both loved the boat.

So we have all been good. Kenzie & Titan grow like weeds! They both seem to be getting so tall and mature in the blink of an eye. MaKenzie is so motherly lately and loves taking care of her brother and any of the younger babies that come over to play. She likes helping out and being the mommy of the bunch. It is adorable. Titan and her have to be the cutest together lately. Watching them play together is hilarious. They love making each other laugh and do the silliest things. Titan is FINALLY using his words more. He says new words all the time, but when it comes to using them on a regular basis he has been holding back. Finally, we have got him to start using them more and now he picks up all kinds of new words from MaKenzie. Before we know it he will be speaking in full sentences and having conversations with us. His new word that MaKenzie taught him is "snack" & he has no problem using that word ALL THE TIME! haha, but he sweetly follows it with a "thank you" :). They are both doing great!

Arek & I are doing good. He went to the doctor for his knee and they told him he had a severe sprain and that he basically couldn't do anything on it for 4 weeks or he would only make it worse. So we were happy that it was not a torn ACL or meniscus so we didn't have the chance of surgery. He just has to do physical therapy for 4 weeks and wear a brace. Thank god! Since his knee is hurt he can't go to WLC. Of course I am happy about that :). He will get to be home with us for his birthday!!!!!! He couldn't be more happy!! Other than that we are staying busy with the munchkins!

We were excited to find out last week that Chad, Lexi, Brock & Alyvia will be coming to visit us tomorrow night. We all are so excited. MaKenzie jumps up and down talking about it and has been marking down the days all week. She was so excited today to say that tomorrow her cousin will be coming to see her!! She tells Titan and he jumps up and down, and runs in circles screaming! haha. They are so excited. We can't wait to see everyone and see how big Brock & Alyvia are now! It will be neat to see Kenzie & Brock spotting each other for the first time, and it will be fun to watch Titan & Alyvia play and interact more! Arek & I are excited for Chad & Lexi to see the base! It will be a lot fun!!

I uploaded new pictures!!

(( guest password is: brocksguest ))

newest pictures start on page 17!!

http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love to all,

The Brock Family ♥

Loved family visiting!

What a great week! We loved having my Grandma, Aunt Dot & Sister visiting us. They arrived here on the morning of the 25th. Arek was at work and we were waiting for them outside. Kenzie ran right to them and gave big hugs, Titan went right to them also. We hung out and showed them around the house. Watched the kids play and just relaxed! Arek got home for a little break to say hi to them. Then he had to go back to work & we went to show them a little bit of base. Marian and I took them to the commisary & px. Then we went over to Remington Park to feed the ducks, but they were MIA so we decided to go swimming at the indoor pool! We had a blast there. Then we headed back home to meet up with Arek and relax all night. On Friday morning we went out and about in Watertown to show them around. We walked along the Square and then we went to Westcott Beach. My Aunt, My sisters and I ended up going far out in the water and had such a great time, we laughed our butts off the whole time!! Then we went back to our house since Arek was getting off work, changed and went to Alexandria Bay! We had a great time looking around Boldt Castle & Shopping in Alexandria Bay. On Saturday, EARLY morning we headed out to North Adams, Ma. We stayed the night there and visited some of my Grandma's side of the family and got to see where she grew up! On Sunday we shopped a little and had to say our goodbyes, then headed back to New York! On Monday we were out and about all day looking around Watertown & Alexandria Bay. Then Arek got off work and we went to feed the ducks at Remington Park. Sadly, they had to go to the Airport super early Tuesday morning. We loved having them visit and had a great time with them!! ((thank you guys for coming out :) !!))

Kenzie and Titan are doing good. They loved having Harley here ALL month, and having Gma, Aunt Dot & Porsche here to visit!! Kenzie especially misses them bunches. She was sad when they were all gone on Tuesday. The night before she kept telling them they couldn't leave, but then said " Fine, you can leave when I wake up, but when I wake up again, again & again will you be here?" She is precious :). Titan of course misses them too! MaKenzie is becoming such a young girl and not a baby girl. She is always looking out for her brother and takes such good care of him. She loves having the pool in our backyard! She just jumps right in and swims like a little fish. She has become brave enough to take her floaties off and go under. I know by the end of the summer she will be swimming. She would swim all day if I didn't make her get out! Titan is doing great with the pool too! He has been brave enough to put his floaties on and swim alone now! He use to have to be in my arms with a bear hug around me to be happy :), but he goes off on his own now and it is too cute!! They love playing together and have been doing so good with sharing! Titan still learns new words everyday. We love hearing him say new words and can't wait until he finally stops being stubborn and uses them on a regular basis!

Arek and I are doing good. Today he had to go to Urgent Care for his knee. They were doing combatives and he hurt it pretty bad. He is in a brace and cruches. We are waiting for his Xrays to be reviewed and we will be finding out more on Monday morning when he goes to a specialist. We hope it is nothing too serious! It could be a torn ACL or torn meniscus. Either way, we are just hoping that he won't need surgery and it will be an easy, quick recovery! Other than that, we have been great. We loved having everyone visit! We are getting ready for him to go to WLC on July 14th, although he may not be able to go.. depending on his knee. Arek went to the Soldier of the month board on Thursday. He did a great job and came in second. He will be going to promotion board next to become "promotable". We don't know when he is going yet, but I am proud of him :).

We have lots of new pictures!!
Photobucket guest pw: brocksguest

New pictures: (( new pictures on last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/?sort=ascending

Our trip to Ma:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/TRiPS/ROAD%20TRIP%20TO%20MA%20062709%20TO%20062809/?sort=ascending

We love everyone & hope everyone is doing good!

Love to all,
The Brock Family ♥

Loving summer time ♥

Arek finally had a four day weekend after his crazy 13 days of working straight, and it was a GREAT four day weekend. We were busy all four days but we had a lot of fun.We went fishing a couple of times. Arek and his friend Hunter caught two fish each. It was a lot of fun just sitting out there watching Arek fishing and MaKenzie & Titan try to fish and play in the water. Harley and I tried fishing too. All we caught was some sea weed, but it was still a lot of fun. We also went out to Westcott Beach. It was our first time going there. We had been waiting for the weather to warm up to go and it was well worth the wait. Westcott Beach is Lake Ontario and we could hardley believe it was a Lake since the water was so beautiful. We took Kera out with us and that was one of the best things about it. She was so cute to watch play in the water. When we first got there she was nervous to touch the water but I walked about 10 feet away from her and said "Kera come get me!" and she ran right out there to me. She is such a good dog! She stayed right by us to make sure we were okay. I went far enough out to where she couldn't reach so she had to doggie paddle, but she wouldn't leave my side. As far as I went she was going to be right there making sure I was okay! She is an amazing dog!! Arek had a blast playing with Kera in the water too. MaKenzie & Titan loved it as well. Kenzie was brave enough to walk out there after 5 minutes of contemplating it.. then we couldn't get here to come back in. Titan was more about staying within a foot from the shore! haha but he did great. He sat there throwing rocks the whole time. Harley loved it of course and was out there riding the waves and swimming around. We all had a fun time and are definitely planning on going back before Harley goes back to Vegas! We also took the kids to Velocity. They had a lot of fun there. It's has a huge bouncing area, then an obstacle sliding area, then an arcade, pizza & lazer tag. It was fun! Arek and I enjoyed the bouncy area as much as the kids and harley did :). Arek and I also played lazer tag together, which was a lot of fun! We had a great four day weekend!!

MaKenzie & Titan are doing good. They love the nice weather and playing outside too! We bought them a big pool for the backyard over the weekend, which they are in love with. We didn't realize how big it was until we put it in the backyard. It is perfect though. The weather is finally nice enough to enjoy it too! Titan is getting smarter every day. He is quite the handful though. He has become such a daddy's boy and loves to be in daddy's arms. While we think it is precious.. he throws tantrums when he doesn't get held on command! MaKenzie is still little Miss Independent, and also knows what she wants! She is fiesty :). They are both doing good and are very active and so much fun to watch from day to day!! They are both so smart and amaze us each and every day!!

Arek and I are doing good. We are very excited that my Grandma, Aunt Dot & Porsche are flying in tomorrow morning. We can't wait to see them! We will be sad when everyone has to go back to Las Vegas on the 30th. We are also realizing how close it is until he goes to WLC. Hopefully they will give him a few days off before hand so we will be able to enjoy our time with him before he is gone for two weeks. It is definitely going to be hard! Of course we will get through it :). We are just getting ready for everyone to get here in the morning & are excited about driving to massachusettes to see my Grandma's family and where she grew up!

We hope everyone is doing good and send our love to all :)

New Pictures: ((password: brocksguest))
((newest on the last pages))
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e380/shelbyandarek12/0UR%20FAMiLY/

Love,
The Brock Family ♥