Thanksgiving in New Mexico

We spent Thanksgiving this year at Uncle Shawn and Aunt Cami's house in warm NM with their two adorable kiddos. We had so much fun playing, eating, talking and even more eating. Nana and Papa came too so the whole Austin clan was there; even Scott pariticipated via letter! It was a great time and the girls loved playing with their cousins and the extra attention they all recieved. There were six adults and six children, good odds for all!

Papa helping prepare "the bird". Who knew turkeys could be so light of foot?!

The infamous "Kid's Table"

Puzzle Time with Papa

Nana was a monster for at least 3hours that day...and apparently a very scary one!




Thanks Shawn and Cami! It was a blast! By the way, would you mind sending me a copy of Papa and the Dancing Turkey? I need that one for sure!

Baby Blessings

Our extended family has been blessed to welcome two babies within three months of each other. Baby Caleb, the family's first boy in 3 years, is the object of my girls' adoration, and was born this July. On November 2nd, it was wonderful to be able to witness BJ bless Brynlee and Caleb. It was a day of celebration and spiritual reassurance. There were so many people in attnendance to show love for these two precious babies. There was an overwhleming feeling of love for these perfect beings and our family is so blessed to have them here to enrich our lives.

Proud parents and precious babies

Can these two ever say they aren't loved? I think not!

Beautiful Baby Brynlee

Fall Celebration

Our neighborhood celebrates fall with a big party. There's face painting, scarecrow building, pumkin chuckin' contests, kettle corn, free pumpkins (we ended up with 6), a petting zoo, and our favorite, carriage rides! We went with some good friends this year and Grandma came too! We made a large crew but a fun time was had by all and it was so wonderful to get out and enjoy the incredible fall weather!

Half of our crew...
The other half

(How'd Grandma end up with all the kids?!)

Who's adorable 2 year old is that?!

Morgan and Hannah, the cutest 7 and 6 year olds in the world!

She's the cutest 4 year old ever! And I don't mean the sheep!

Happy Fall Everyone!

Happy Halloween (Just a little late)!

Our ward's Trunk-or-Treat was on Halloween this year and we decided to attend with some friends and put a kabosh on the neighborhood door-to-door adventures! At a trunk-or-treat the trunks are close together and the candy just as plentiful! It was a fun year as all the girls were into dressing up and carving pumpkins with Daddy!The girls were all excited to put on their costumes, but dressing Brynlee in an adorable Pumpkin outfit (thank you Nana) took the cake! All the girls had to help and make sure it looked just right and then made sure Mommy took a picture of her! It is a new adventure having three mini-moms around!

Enthusiastic Pumpkin carvers


Meet Boofus...Hannah picked him out!


Little Brynlee dressed and positioned by her big sisters


We were still all smiles after a busy, fun-filled evening (I think it was the sugar rush)!

Welcome Baby Brynlee!

She is finally here! Little Brynlee JoAnn was born on October 17th, at 9:08 am. She weighed 6 lbs, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. She has a small amount of auburn hair and is beautiful! Her sisters were very excited to meet her; Hannah and Janessa held her as much as they could, but Addie was in a bit of denial. She kept calling Brynlee "Baby Caleb," her cousin. When I pointed out my tummy was gone and that "Baby Brynlee" was right here, she said, "No baby, no baby." So we let her be and since we have been home she has come to accept, and even enjoy, being a big sister. Needless to say, we have a lot of help! The house is constantly strewn with diapers, wipes and baby dolls. It is a common sight to see at least one, if not three, little girls with their shirts up "feeding" their babies along with Mom! The girls are all so proud of their baby sister and love to show her off to everyone they meet. Our favorite thing to watch is their loving cuddles and huge smiles as they hold her. Brynlee is such a blessing to us and fills our days and lives with joy to overflowing! We are so grateful to have another healthy, perfect, beautiful girl in our lives.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Hannah turned 6 on the 20th and chose to go to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. Mom was really glad to be off the hook and Hannah was in heaven. She enjoyed her free kid's meal, birthday sundae, and a lively version of "Happy Birthday" from the staff accompanied by hearty applause from the onlookers.

The next day was our family party for Hannah and Nana! The prize guest was Hannah's 1st grade teacher! She took time away from her out-of-town parents just to have cake with Hannah. It made her day! Teachers are angels!













The birthday girls...



Happy Birthday Hannah! We love you!

Hummingbirds

Anybody curious about Hummingbirds? We've had a family return to our backyard Maple tree for the past two years. This year I was careful to document the stages. They grow and develop so quickly!

This is Mommy-to -be hummingbird in mid-June...














These are her two jellybean eggs at the same time...














These are her two babies July 9th...














This is them on July 23rd...














They flew away on their own a couple days later! The girls checked on "our" hummingbirds every morning after their breakfast and we took pictures almost as often at their request. It was so amazing to all of us to watch them grow so quickly. Momma hummingbird was perfectly patient with our onlooking, though she did get slightly annoyed when we'd stick our noses into her nest to see the babies. She'd buzz around our heads to scare us off. But all in all we cohabited the backyard together well!