Merry Christmas!

Because digital Christmas cards allow for last minute attempts, I had to forgo the tangible Christmas cards this year.  Our feelings are no less real however, and we wanted to be sure you knew we were thinking about you.  Merry Christmas to You!  We wish you all the best this season and throughout the coming year!

An ecard by Smilebox

Welcome Bailey

So as many of you know, BJ and the kids have wanted a puppy for years now and I am always the voice of reason. But recently I turned a corner with it and got puppy fever. More than that however, I knew I wanted my kids to grow up with dogs like I did.  Besides the lessons in responsibility and respect gained, there's just something about having a soft snout to nuzzle against you when the world goes topsy turvy.  And with four girls, it will be that way often. So we found a couple of breeders to take a look at and feel out so we could move ahead with getting a puppy next year.  That plan lasted until we walked in the door!  Bailey found us and plopped down on BJ's lap to stay.

Bailey 8 1/2 Weeks

With her favorite toy


Welcome Bailey!

             Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.  ~Roger Caras

First Haircut

Brynlee got her first hair cut on October 20th (the post was written, just forgot to publish it)!  It was straggly, uneven, and driving me crazy!  It looks so much better now.  She was such a good little patron and actually kept still!  

Before

During

After

Hooray for Brynlee!

Happy Halloween!

This year we went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and only Trick-or-Treated to our neighbors houses so we could introduce ourselves.  We had a blast on both occasions and BJ and I even dressed up this year!  Miraculous!

My Cute Little Clan of Goblins!

The Whole Gang

We have enough, let's dig in!

Cop and Robber (Guess whose idea this was?)

Hannah's Baptism

Hello everyone!  They've been long in coming, but here are some photos from Hannah's baptism on October 17th:

Happy Hannah!

The kiddos

All the Austin Cousins with recently returned
Uncle Scotty!  We all missed him so much,
 it is GREAT to have him back.

Brynlee Turns 2!

Brynlee had her 2nd birthday this past Sunday.  It is so hard to believe sometimes. Other times, it is painfully obvious I have a two-year old! Like when I am scrubbing ink off every wall and door in the house or cleaning up a mess only to find a new one around the next corner! 


Since our family was all here for Hannah's baptism (pictures to follow soon), we celebrated on Saturday and were able to sing to Aunt Cami as well.

Singing Happy Birthday

Trying to blow out the candle
(Her big sisters and Grandma ended up helping her along)

With Aunt Cami

Happy Birthday to two beautiful girls!  We love you!

 

A Little Romance Anyone?

Being married 10 years now, I thought I knew BJ's "game."  I realized last week that I was way off!  He and two buddies planned a whole day of pampering for their wives.  It began at 9am with a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a note that said, "Just because I love you!  Go look under the keyboard." As you can imagine I RAN to the keyboard and underneath I found an envelope with a clue instructing me to get ready for the best date ever. After a day of pampering, my two girlfriends and I found outside my home a large Hummer Limo with our sweet knights waiting for us.  There were ultimately six envelopes, each with its own clue which led to something fun and pampering. The last one told us to close our eyes and hold out our hands. As we did, a final envelope was placed there. Inside?  Tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert!  It was quite the adventure, but one I will remember and treasure forever.

BJ and I enjoying Rascal Flatts

Wyatt&Bobbi (after catching a shirt),
Lynnette, and Greg (apparently exhausted after planning for the big day--Sorry Greg, it had to be done!)

There they are!

What a great day boys!  Thanks for all your hard work.  BJ, you are truly the best! 

Gone Camping

BJ and I had big plans to take the girls camping for 3 days and make it a long week-end.  We took the girls out of school and headed north for cooler weather and relaxation.

 The girls Chillin' 

BJ taught the girls to shoot and I beat him at a shooting contest!

Got Dirt?

We all had a really great time...the first morning.  Then Janessa and I started coming down with colds that the others had already had and the girls found the dirt...as shown, they were covered!  We bathed them and headed back home that afternoon.  Our "roughing it" spirit was not with us this trip! Maybe next time!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Do my kids really have to grow up so fast?  Hannah is eight today!  As I watched her this month, I realized how big she really is.  She is quickly becoming a young woman....I'm not ready for that yet!  Where'd my baby go?  But 8 is so fun!  She is so sweet, helpful, caring and responsible.  I love her enthusiasm for EVERYTHING (well except for chores maybe)!

BJ ate lunch with her at school to day and later I went for her birthday celebration...a half-hour dedicated to celebrating Hannah.  I showed her class pictures of her at each year of age. Oh, that was amazing!  She is such an amazing girl! Her dinner choice was pizza and fruit, followed by presents and then ice cream and a chocolate cake decorated with horses (she is in love with them!).

                Happy Birthday Hannah!  We love you and are so glad you are a part of our family!

Addie's First Day of Pre-K

Addie started preschool two weeks ago!  Two and half weeks before that, from 7 am until 8pm Addie had been asking me, "Mommy, is it time to go to preschool NOW?"  Finally I told her, "You have at least 14 sleeps until preschool starts."  Her little expectant face fell and I wished I could tell her it was time to go.  But the day finally came and every hour until noon was torture for her (and mommy too, to be perfectly honest).  But it was finally time to go.  Surprisingly she agreed to a picture with no protest.  After the second picture however, she said, "Mom, that was the last picture, right? Can I go to preschool now?"  As I dropped her off, she walked in the house, never looking back.  I guess she has no problems with independence!

When I picked her up, she was dripping with sweat (Miss Amy has a jump house as a reward for hard work) and beaming!  She talked about her day and her enthusiasm made me smile.  When we got home she asked, "Mom, how long until I get to go back to preschool?"... Well, at least she likes it!  Way to go Addie!

First Day of School

Monday was the first day of school for Hannah and Janessa.  They both expressed some bad feelings about going back to school, but after their first day they were so glad they went. When I asked Hannah how her day was, she replied, "Great!" How could it be said any better than that, especially with their giant grins to back up the comment? 

Happy Birthday Addie!

Happy 4th Birthday Addie!  Because she is SO big now, Addie asked for cupcakes instead of a cake.  We did her favorite thing and went swimming on her birthday.  Addie loves to help Momma cook and is on the counter constantly asking if she can watch.  Besides swimming she loves to play with her big sisters and be in charge of Brynlee.  She is most excited to be four because she gets to go to preschool!

She scored a lot of neat gifts and had a great birthday.  Thanks to Grandma, Nana and Papa for your thoughtful gifts. She loves them...obviously!

Graduation...Finally!

 On August 5th, BJ FINALLY graduated from POST.  Hallelujah! It's been a long 10 months, but well worth it. Congratulations babe!

BJ's big brother Travis and his family came down for the ceremony and we were able to play quite a bit during their stay. We feel so lucky to have had family here for the big occasion!

BJ's Mom was able to come with her friend as well! It is always awesome to see Grandma!

                          Our proud family...the girls were so proud of their Daddy.

Too Cute Not to Mention

These pics speak for themselves...

I Love to See the Temple!

On July 2nd,  BJ and I flew out to Denver for the day so we could go to the temple with BJ's Dad for his first time through.  It was such an amazing experience.  There were at least 15 people from Burt's ward there to support him and the feeling of love we had from them was overwhelming.  Afterward we met up with my sister-in-law and her hubby and my parents for dinner. It was so good to see everyone even if it was short.

 It was such a wonderful day; one we will remember forever!  Thanks to Jennie for watching all SEVEN of our girls the entire day and night on her vacation!  She is an angel and truly performed a miracle (you can be sainted now)!

June

Happy 6th Birthday Janessa! June is her month!   We had our own quiet family party  and then the next weekend we celebrated with some of Janessa's  friends...the move didn't phase her! 

The Giddyup and Go Pony Santa wasn't able to bring her last Christmas...Go Mom and Dad!

Janessa's birthday crew with their plaster masterpieces

We had to plan it a month in advance, but we actually got to go on a short camping trip this summer.  We had a lot of fun and the girls learned to play baseball and become expert fishergirls!

She waited for this one for 30 minutes and reeled him in herself!

S'mores were a must as well and we loved sitting around the campfire, telling scary stories...and then stories to counteract the scary stories!

Addie proudly shows off her chocolate goatee!

Brynlee enjoyed her soccer ball, the dirt and throwing rocks up in the air...What goes up, must come down...at times on her head!

 

ADORABLE!  So's Janessa...

May

May was filled with the end of the school year wrap ups.  Part of that was celebrating any summer birthdays, so we got to go into Janessa's classroom and bring treats and then she got put in the spotlight.  She held a globe in her hand and walked around "the sun" once per year she has been alive.  At each year I had a picture to show her class and told them what she was like at that age.  It was so adorable and the kids were so respectful and interested.  It really made Janessa feel special! Thank you Ms. Debbie!  It made such a positive impact on Addie, I had to pick her up and carry her out of the classroom kicking and screaming!  She'll have to wait for Kindergarten another year!

Can you guess what these eggs are? Quail eggs.  They are really quite beautiful and each one is different.  These eggs were abandoned and didn't make it (especially after Addie and her little friend carried them all over the back yard....I think they got dropped a few times too!).  But BJ and I found another nest, this one with a momma carefully guarding her eggs. Hopefully we'll be seeing the adorable marching line of baby quail and their parents soon.

Our old next door neighbors and dear friends moved to Wisconsin at the end of May, but not before we were able to go ice skating and swimming together...all in the same day!  It was a great day, full of fun memories to keep forever.  Julia, we miss you!

At the end of April, BJ's Dad and Mom came out and we celebrated his Dad's birthday.  The kids taught Grandpa to play the Wii...it required a lot of patience on his part!  But he got quite good at it, even with Hannah  correcting his every move!

The adults even got away for an evening out.  It was a blast! I don't think we've laughed or heard such great stories in quite a while.  It was an evening never to be forgotten.

Grandpa and His Girls