Christmas Eve

Opening the traditional pajama's for the entire family before reading stories and going to bed.  Peyton was very excited about her dad's really soft shorts.  What a quirky kid.  She rearranged the ornaments on the Christmas tree, so there is a big blank spot in all the pics!  The girl's went to bed without a problem...  I think they were worn out from all the fun with cousin's.

Decor and Traditions

 We finally put our tree up and began decorating the house Dec. 9th.  I was feeling a little Bah! Humbug! this year.  Postpartum depression has kicked my butt.  Our kids had a blast decorating the tree.  Chad did not enjoy putting new strings on the ornaments, but he did it for his sweet little girls.

 I started a tradition last year with our kids.  Each night in December they open a Christmas book to read before bed.  We have a fun collection of cute and religious stories.  We always end with a story about baby Jesus and his birth on Christmas Eve.

 Adorable happy girl!

The girls looked forward to each night, and sometimes morning if the night before was a little hectic!

Hair

 I came home from Utah and found that Brynlyn and Peyton had been wonderful for their dad.  So good that he bought them both pet fish!  We have yet to take a picture of the fish.

So, about twenty minutes before I got home... the girls found my sewing scissors and played hair salon.  Big sister Brynlyn decided to trim most of little sister Peyton's hair in the front and left side.

I was so sad, I love Peyton's cute curls.  Then we realized Brynlyn had given herself a small haircut of a few random pieces up to her chin throughout her head.

 So we had Chad's cousin Rachel chop it all off!  And she layered Peyton's so it wasn't such an obvious chopped look.  Brynlyn loves her new hair, and bounces around the house to make it fly.

This sweet little angel was the perfect travel buddy.  She slept the entire time and never asked "are we there yet?"  I am so thankful for my husband and his willingness to solo parent his oldest daughters for a few days.  I know it was good for him! ;)

Quick Utah visit

The week after Thanksgiving I made a quick trip to Utah for a funeral.  It was just me and Miyah.  Chad had the oldest girls at home.  We were able to party with my brother's family for his oldest son's birthday!  He is such a cute kid, his personality is hilarious!  It was great fun to be part of my family's celebrations.  It seems like I don't get home to visit as often as I would like now that my oldest is in school.  It's also tricky for me to travel with three munchkins by myself, but very worth it.

down time

 After the busy funeral weekend, we took time to just be... with family and loved ones.  My mom set up cookie decorating for the kids.

 They took turns playing Brynlyn's leapster and showing Grandma how awesome it is.

Miyah really enjoyed being at my parents.  Someone was always holding her!

Grandma's Funeral

During the Thanksgiving Holiday we had my Grandma Blackburn's funeral. It was a very beautiful service, so many people participated making it a special but very emotional day. All of her grandson's were the pallbearers.

 The flowers and photo's looked very nice.

 It was a little chilly but not terrible outside.  It was very nice to have the entire family together for the Holiday and to celebrate my grandma's life.  We miss her like crazy.



Thanksgiving!

Chad took a picture of his girl's!  I think they are pretty adorable.  Well not myself, but our daughters are pretty amazing!  It's very surreal to have 3 cute girls.  We are so blessed!

Last month on the 50th day of school, Brynlyn dressed up for 50's day!  We had fun making her a poodle skirt.  She tested it for "twirliness" and decided it was perfect.  Peyton loves to pose with big sister. She had some awesome bed head that day!

Shoot

Brynlyn had so much fun with her Grandpa and Dad.  They took her to shoot some of their guns.  Chad said "She actually hit a couple apples....of course who couldn't with a dialed in red dot."  She felt very special and excited to be a big girl and hang out with the guys.  It was cool for me to let her go, because it reminds me of all the times I spent shooting guns with my dad.

Night in

A fun night at home coloring and playing together.

Grandma Blackburn

I really enjoyed going through photos of my wonderful Grandma.  It was very emotional to look through and remember moments and wonder about others.  What an amazing full life Marjorie had.  My Grandma's funeral services were beautiful.  All six of my Aunts spoke and did a great job.  Miss you so much Grandma!

My Memories

When someone you love becomes a memory...  The memory becomes a Treasure!

I have many wonderful moments to reflect on with my Grandma.  My heart aches with sadness, but I feel content and peaceful at the same time.  Knowing that my Grandma Blackburn is in a better place helps me to feel happy for her!

I love that I have an abundance of photo's to help me remember the wonderful times I've had with my grandma.  She was a huge part of my life in many ways.  We spent hours together doing photo albums, scrapbooks and writing her life stories.  She was such an amazing woman.

 In 2006 I decided to have a Four Generation picture taken.  My first daughter was just a few months old!  I am so thankful to have this picture and the fun memories from that day.  Grandma wanted to watch baby Brynlyn rather than the photographer.  We kept reminding her to smile at the camera, rather than adore her great grandchild.  My heart aches for hugs from my grandma!  The pain will lessen each day.

The littlest princess

 Our chubby little girl is now 5 months old.  She is weighing in over 15 lbs and growing fast.  What a sweet calm blessing she is in our lives.  Miyah loves her daddy and smiles for him the moment he walks in the door.  She can get very upset when she is hungry, crying fiercely!

 We decided to introduce rice cereal a few nights ago.  Miyah was very unsure about the new texture.

 But, she quickly warmed up to it.  She was spitting, laughing and gurgling with both her big sisters watching and laughing.  They thought it was the coolest thing to see her eat or drool most of the cereal everywhere!

Hopefully she continues to eat well and enjoy her food!  We have so much fun with our little princesses.  I am still in awe that we have 3 beautiful daughters.  At the moment we are all fighting colds and feeling yucky.  But we look forward to feeling better and the Holiday's are almost here!  WaHOO!

Halloween

 After dinner we did some trick or treating at Uncle Larry and Aunt Kathy's.  Astrid loves to hold baby Miyah, and the girl's were spoiled with yummy candy.

 Peyton and Brynlyn with cousin Heather's magic dancing broom!

The night is over, and the kids are worn out!

Pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Peyton was not happy that she had to take off her Minnie PJ's to run errands this morning!  Brynlyn however picked out her outfit with care and dug through the dress up box to find her mask I had made.  Miyah just looked cute and looked around!  Can't wait to dress up the sweeties and snap more pictures.

Brynlyn has been asking and asking "when can we carve pumpkins"?  Finally we carve them, well Chad did most of the work.  Brynlyn was grossed out and wouldn't willingly help.  She did specify that her pumpkin needed to be missing two bottom teeth just like her.  Peyton had no interest and it felt like a bust this year!  Blah. 

They did enjoy going outside to light up the pumpkins in the dark!

Two front teeth

 Brynlyn is very excited about her missing two (bottom) front teeth!

Sometimes my sweet daughter's are kind to each other!  I had to stop what I was doing and quickly take a picture.  This kind of behavior is not common at our house!  Made my heart melt!

Tooth Fairy

Brynlyn had two loose teeth for almost a month.  Chad tried to convince her to pull them out, but she liked wiggling them.  And decided to keep them as long as possible.

One afternoon Brynlyn stepped off the school bus with a huge smile and squealed.  "I lost my tooth at school and got to walk to the nurses office with Nicholas, it only bleed a little and it was SO COOL.  Look at my tooth NECKLACE and my tooth is in it, IT REALLY IS!  I was sitting on the square rug with my class, pushing my loose tooth with my top teeth and it JUST POPPED onto my tongue!  I raised my hand and teacher was excited for me."

 That very morning I had pulled a new book from our gift box.  It just happened to be "Dear Tooth Fairy"  We read it a couple times before school.  My wonderful visiting teacher gave Brynlyn this adorable custom tooth fairy pillow for her 5th birthday.

 The tooth fairy came to our house and left Brynlyn a whole dollar, a sucker, and a pink note in a pink envelope!  It was so exciting.  We think the tooth fairy will return very soon!

Bus

My sweet little girl now rides the school bus home!  She was so excited for this new adventure, while I was extremely nervous.  I'm very proud of her for being so brave.  She loves riding the bus with friends and especially likes not having a seat belt.  A bonus for me, now I don't have to wake the little girls from nap time as early to get her from school.