The Birthday Girl...

She's 4

...but she'll tell you she's 3 until she eats her cake.

i. love. her.

I love...

how sweet she is

how "grownup" she thinks she is

how she signs "I love you and I like you" all the time

her little giggle at the end of her sentences when she's being silly

how she is always up for a cuddle and back scratch

how she sings along with me to my songs in the car

her ability to become friends with everyone in a room in a matter of minutes

how she says "A-name" at the end of her prayers

her obsession with gum and lipstick

how she is my little helper

her sassy little attitude

how quick she catches on to things

her smile

***

What do you love?

***

Happy Birthday Smooch

We sure love you!

Christmas 09

We started the festivities off with Christmas Eve dinner at our house with Matt & Steph's family.

My favorite part of Christmas Eve is having the kids act out the nativity. Little Morgan got to be a very oversized Jesus

We had our yummy traditional Christmas Eve ham dinner



sang Christmas carols


decorated cookies for Santa and visited the night away

We ended the night with the opening of new PJ's and hopping in the car to see some Christmas lights.

Once we got home the kids were no joke begging to go to bed, so after they set out cookies & milk for Santa they hopped into bed and Paul and I stayed up to make sure everything was just perfect for

Santa

The morning was a hit!!

Santa did not disappoint
and Raegan made sure to remind us that we were celebrating

"Jesus Birthday"...

so nice to know they actually do listen to us now and again

Brig loved this "pooping reindeer" that "SANTA" brought me...nice Santa!

Morgan slept through most of the chaos...but did wake up for a little bit to try out her new toys

The kids made eachother Christmas presents and were so excited for eachother to open them. For days before Christmas they were playing the guessing game and I even heard Raegan say once "I didn't make you a shark Brigham!"

Another day she told Paul "today we got you a movie"

when Brig looked at her with wide eyes because she had broken a secret, she quickly said

"I mean we got you a smoothie"

Nice attempt at a save Raegan...but I like the quick thinkin'

Morgan trying out her new ride from Nana & Pa

We had a GREAT Christmas

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas too!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

I am still in denial that Christmas is in 2 days! We are all ready, but it still feels like it cant possibly be time (probably because its been so warm the last week).

But it is time, and I'm excited!

We have had so much fun squeezing all the Christmas traditions in the past few weeks, I just love this time of year even though it was insanely busy and crazy and I am seriously sleep deprived, it's been fun.

We had a great year and feel so blessed!

Have a Merry Christmas!

A Trip to the Big Guy...

We made our annual trip to see Mr. Claus, with our friends Dallas and Laura, and the kids asked for...

a hulk mask

and

a pink wallet

hmmm...I think Santa has something else in mind, but I was takin' notes ;)

Ahoy Matey!!

Aargh!

Capt'n Brig celebrated his 6th Birthday with a Pirate Party!

2 of his cousins and his friends got to come ...and we geared up for an afternoon in the life of a Pirate!

The Pirate Ship Cake was so much fun to make...Cap'n Brig even helped with the finishing touches

Captain Jack Sparrow made a special appearance...

and man was he hilarious swaggering all around and talking the pirate lingo.

The Pirate Crew after their wild Treasure Hunt to find the hidden loot

A pirate party wouldn't be a pirate party without a little game of

Pin the Eyepatch on the Pirate

...now this Pirate is off to get some rest!

"This is the First Day I've Been 6!"

I cannot believe that my little boy is 6!!

This morning as I rushed in from my run to wish him a Happy Birthday, he greeted me with the hugest smile and "This is the First Day I've Been 6!!" Thats right and the great part is you get 364 more days of being 6 buddy. Enjoy them all!

Raegan was adamant that he isnt 6 until he eats his cake! :)

My Favorite things about Brig:

His dimple-I loved it from the moment he was born

His sense of humor

When he was little he said "I loge you" for I love you, and still says it back when I say it to him

He has the greatest imagination

His baby talk when he loves on Morgan

How he plays with Raegan like she's one of his buddies

He give the best "snuggers"

How when he watches a show he gets out all of the right toys and acts it out

He still isnt too cool to kiss me g'bye when I drop him off at school

How much he LOVES animals

How he wants to be just like his Dad

How he has complete control over his eyes-its insanely cool, he can do whatever he wants with them--really ask him sometime

His tender heart

His love for life

He makes our home a better place. I love him.

What do you love about Brig?

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Rally for Rafe

My awesome friend, Jeannie called me awhile back to tell me about a neighbor and friend of hers who is battling with cancer. He has 3 boys who are her boys best friends, and they are facing very large medical bills, as you can imagine. My heart just aches for this young family.

She is so great and came up with the fabulous idea to start an online auction and have ALL the proceeds go to help this family. So many people have pulled together and donated some AWESOME stuff...from handcrafts, signed memorobilia to local services for you Utahns like babysitting, photography, snow shovel removal and so so much more.

To see all the fun donations, Check out the auction blog:

http://www.rallyforrafe.blogspot.com

The auctioning starts Mon, Dec 7th and ends Mon Dec 14th.

Here are some fun Christmas-ish hairclips and a headband that I made for the auction:

Item #46 & 47

My awesome parents donated this GPS:

Item #41

And one of my favorite LDS authors, Gerald Lund, is a friend of my parents and was "delighted" to sign his newest released book "The Undaunted" for the auction. Item #48

SO head on over to the auction blog and check out all of the goods up for bidding starting in the morning!!

It's for a good cause..and if you see something that you love you could come out of it with something for you or even a great Christmas gift!

And it begins...

With Thanksgiving come and gone the Christmas season has officially begun...

We had Thanksgiving Day at Matt & Stephanie's house...and it did not dissapoint.

YUM!

The Cousins

Thanksgiving weekend was topped off with Black Friday Shopping bright and early, Christmas decorating, a 1ok race on Saturday as an attempt to burn off some of those Thanksgiving Calories, and of course the Big Utah BYU game.

Yep...Brig is still holding strong as a BYU fan---Go Cougars.

The rest of us decked out in RED baby---Go Utes!

My cute friend Jamie moved to Phx and had a ornament exchange party so Jenny and I headed up for the part-ay!

And a part-ay it was.

Jamie never disappoints! It was fun to catch up with her and Mary and meet her new buddies and even squeeze in a "Jamie haircut".

...and so it begins, CHRISTMAS SEASON!

I love it!

I love the smells, I love the music, I love the decorations, I love the light in my kids eye, I love the Christmas movies, I love the yummy treats, I love the fun, and

I love the spirit Christmas brings to my home.