The year is dying...

We thought this year we would host a New Years Eve party and get 2016 started off right! We've been blessed with some fun friends who like to play games as much as we do and we get together often. The Unsworths, Eashs, Ekins, and Lopez's joined us this year and we had plenty of food to go around. With 8 adults and 19 kids running around it was a little crazy but mostly fun! 

At midnight we celebrated with sparkling cider, confetti and lots of CHEERS!

                                       

And over the next few days we took advantage of all the snow we've been getting and did some sledding as a family! Brielle laughed the whole way down and loved it. She would have gone all day if we could have kept carrying her up that huge hill!

 Carter was just flying down the hill on his snowboard. Every now and then he would grab his sled and do a run but then go right back to his board. He's a natural.

Mollie was a little more cautious after she did a complete front flip on one of her wrecks. But she got right back up and kept going!  Rylee was'nt much of a fan of the cold even though we tried bundling her up. We didn't last long but I'm glad a I got a few pictures of our fun that day.

Twas the night before Christmas....

The best part of christmas for sure is being a parent to small children! It really puts the magic back in christmas. It looks like Santa came! A kindle for Carter, A bike for Mollie, A trike for Brielle, and some wipes for Rylee!

 Mom and dad got gifts too....a drill for Chad and boots for mom! The calm before the storm!

 Their excitement is so contagious and fills me with true joy. Brielle was over the moon about her bike.

 I don't think Carter knew exactly what he got but he Loves it and can use it to do his homework and reading on.

 Chad was very excited about his drill. Santa got an incredible deal on it!

 Stocking treats!

 Rylee was clueless but loved her new toys to chew on while we opened gifts.

 Carter begged and begged for a snowboard and when we found this deal we couldn't turn it down. I was hesitant because I know how hard it is to learn to snowboard. But it took him all of 30 minutes to figure it out. I'm so glad we got it for him!

Before I even had time to start cleaning up the mess Mollie had her headphones on jamming out while she played shopkins go fish with her dad. I married a good man!

 Mollie's loot

 Brielles treasures! That lego set has been the best thing ever!

 Carters goodies

 Ry Ry's goodies! Poor thing really doesn't need much! So she got some necessities like baby food, snacks, clothes and wipes.  She looked happy with what she got!

We had a fun day of just lounging around, eating junk, sledding, (i napped with the babies while they sledded!) and just enjoyed being together. We are so truly blessed to have means to give our children a wonderful christmas. We had an opportunity to help 6 men in a nursing home who had no one to give them christmas and it feels my heart with joy and helps it feel more like christmas when we are able to give a little to someone in need. I'm grateful for Chads job that provides us with necessities and indulgences and for a hard working husband that puts his family first by being the best he can at work. I know we are truly blessed. I've felt my Saviors love so much this season. It took me a while to get into the spirit of it but when I quit looking for big things and noticed the small miracles all around me in every day life it helped get me in the christmas spirit. What a great example we have in our older brother who performed great miracles but also went about doing small acts of service and asked to remain unknown. I'm so grateful for Him and I hope to be more like him daily.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a seriously wonderful day. I spent the day with kids making gingerbread cookies and cutting out snowflakes. Once Chad got home from work we started preparations for our annual fondue party. The kids sure love this and it is really fun. 

After that we opened our new game that we get each year and this year we went with pictionary. It was still a little over their heads but we were able to play it a little bit. 

 Then it was time for Christmas jammies! Rylee got a sleep sack with snowflakes on it.

 Brielle picked out Elsa jammies and was jumping all over the place once she opened them because she was so excited.

 Carter and Mollie got two pairs of jammie pants with a t shirt. Mollie was really excited....Carter not so much. He wanted to open a real gift.

 Chad and I even got new jammies!

 Here they are all dressed for bed.

 We finished off the night a little different than normal. We listed to one of my favorite books on YouTube...The Tale of the Three Trees and then instead of reading the nativity story we watched the book of mormon story about it. We sang some songs and read a christmas story. The kids were pretty mellow for it being such an exciting night.

Gosh I love this little family we have created!

They both said they couldn't sleep but passed out within minutes of hitting the pillow. Only a few hours passed when Carter was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 3:00 AM! We have never had to worry about the kids waking up that early so next year we are going to set some rules for sure! Luckily we got Mollie back to sleep and Carter hung out in his room until 4 when he came up again but got him to wait a little longer until 6. Crazy kid!! Stay tuned for Christmas morning!

Ry is 6 months old!

HALF A YEAR! I can not believe it. She is growing up so much and getting out of the baby stage too quickly, which I love and miss! She loves sitting up in her bumbo and sucking on her fingers. Her hair stands straight up and appears to be turning blonde! Her eyes are a pretty blue and I hope they stay that way! We get so many compliments on what a good baby she is. She loves to smile at anyone who will look at her and she REALLY loves to be held. If she is being held she is always happy. But she is content too rolling on the floor and stretching to reach new toys. 

 All the kids love her and Brielle especially loves to give her hugs and bring her toys. (not hers of course) I hope they will become best little buddies as they grow. Brielle calls her Wy-Wy. Its so cute.

 She got her first taste of rice cereal and she was super crazy about it. I think we are going to have another good eater on our hands!

 Her big eyes and long lashes get lots of compliments as well. I'm glad my kids all have big beautiful eyes. They are their best features I think. And the standing up hair and cute headbands just make her look even sweeter. No teeth yet, but she sure likes to chomp on those fingers or her blanket or whatever she can get up to her mouth. She's working on sitting up and this coming week we are finally going to move her to her own bed. YES! It is long over due.

Sometimes I can't believe I have 4 kids and I feel like a circus show when we all go somewhere together sometimes but I can't imagine life without a single one of them. I'm so glad they are all healthy and happy and we have the means to provide for them. They are my world and bring me the greatest joy.

Brielley Bean is TWO!

Oh this little girl is a little ball of fun and energy! She is hilarious and silly and keeps me so so busy every day. She rules the roost and knows how to get exactly what she wants. We surprised her on her birthday with a little mini trampoline! She loved it and jumped all day and then took a 3 hour nap. It was glorious for all of us!

She then got to put on her new outfit from Grandma Hymas which she kept saying "cute!"

 She repeated us all day when we would tell her HAPPY BIRTHDAY which sounded more like "pee irtday!"

 The two older kids had school so it was so nice to just get some time to play with her on her special day. Rylee was sleeping so we did puzzles (which are her new favorite thing!) and colored and played all morning. She is always pulling me to her room to "come play!"

 Since her party with family wasn't until the weekend we invited a few friends to meet us at bounce town and play for the afternoon. More friends showed up than I anticipated and it was a blast! We are lucky to have such good friends that love Brielle so much. She's quite the hot item with the tween girls in our ward.

 Later we did pizza and cupcakes as a family. She loves anything with sugar so was of course in heaven!

 Finally saturday arrived and we had an Inside Out themed party. She loves bingbong and is always walking around singing bingbong-bingbong!

It was fun and a bit challenging to come up with finger foods in each color of the characters but I found a few things and it made for a good time!
She loves food and I think she was happy with it! The picture above is just before she fell backward into the cupcakes! Too bad I didnt get a picture of that!

 The it was present time! The Eash family came over to help us celebrate.

 BingBong!

 A pony (which was a big hit!) and a new baby from the Eash family.

 I looked and looked for a cute chair that I could afford and I never found one I really liked. But G&G Reed came through and had ordered a little wooden rocking chair for her. I was so happy and so was she. She immediately grabbed her baby and started rocking her. She really loves that little chair and won't let anyone else sit in it!

We sure love her and love everything that she is. She is so busy and makes the funniest faces. She will let you know if she is mad at you or if you're doing something she doesn't like. She loves to gives kisses and hugs and sometimes she is a little too loving especially on her little sister. She loves to have fun and laugh and tries her best to keep up with the big kids. Her vocabulary is expanding daily and we think she is going to be quite a little chatter box. She is very particular in picking her outfits and shoes and will let you know it if she doesn't want to wear it!  Today at the doctor she weighed 30 pounds and is in the 84th% for weight and 50th for height. Sure love you baby girl! I'm so grateful for the relationship we have. You make me so happy every day. I can't wait to watch you grow and see all that you accomplish! Love you baby girl!