Brielle's 4th Birthday!

Dec 10 is always a happy day! I especially love celebrating kids birthdays when they are little because I don't think they really know what is coming or what it means. So everything is so exciting and a big surprise! This year she woke up to a new ourfit and 1 gift to open in the morning. 

 I love her expressions and her happiness in her face. G&G Reed made it down for the party so that was fun.

 She was so pleased with her Moana set! That was also the theme of her birthday party.

 Here she is getting ready for her first friend party!

 The girls were all good about helping!

 When her friends arrived we started out with some dancing!

 Bingo and pin the necklace on Moana were next.  4 year olds weren't QUITE ready for this structured of a game but they all did pretty well.

 Next up....PRESENTS!

 Alayna, Mollie, Zayne, Brielle, Charlie, Annabelle, and Rylee (Milo was also there but wasn't interested in taking pictures.)

 cupcakes!

 Adam and Brittney also came down for the party and to go see temple lights later.

 We ended the party by watching Moana. All the kids were really good and I think Bri had a good time!

 After friends, it was time for family gifts!

 Here are a few favorites! I love how much she loves supergirl and how she is always talking about being strong and tough and saying "I can do this!" or "Be strong!"

 After gifts, we took off to have dinner at City Creek and see the temple lights. Here's a massive tree in city creek.

 It was incredible at how fast we got our food at Chick-fil-A! It was packed and we had our food just as quick as if no one was there! Great job!

 We love seeing the pretty sights at the temple but REALLY hate the crowds and cold. I think this year might be our last for a while. But it sure is pretty and I'm glad we are close enough that we can go whenever we want!

 To finish off the birthday festivities we stopped at Leatherbys on the way home for icecream and fries! YUM! Bri was sure pleased with her own little cup of superman ice cream.

My little Brielle is such a special little girl. She loves life and is almost always happy. She loves to laugh and create and learn. Her happy disposition has brought joy to my life more times than I can count. It has been amazing to watch her learn this last year in preschool and I am so proud of her! She is kind to everyone and loves being a friend. So many people who meet her tell me they just love her and how sweet she is. I'm so glad you came to our family Miss Bri! We love you more than you'll ever know and I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending me exactly what I needed in a little girl. You are so special to me and your dad. Love you little lady!

Friends, Dentist and sweat

 Rylee did incredible at the first time at the dentist. They were able to do xrays and everything on her. She was so cute and loving all the swag.

 Every now and then we do friend lunches! I sure love this group of kiddos and glad we make an effort to still get together even when the kids almost quadruple us!

 Twinners!

 Every so often I get to watch these sweet boys! I can't imagine even what my friend, Steffani's, life is like. So busy, so blessed! I had them both out within a few minutes of babysitting them. Its so fun to have babies around again!

 We got a new neighbor girl with the family who moved in across the street from us. Her name is Bailey and she is so sweet! Our kids get along so great. She also has a strange resemblance of Mollies hair and makeup doll she got for christmas!

And just in case you ever wondered what i look like after teaching step here's as close as I can give you although it doesn't do it quite justice. Totally drenched on the back of my shirt as well as the front. Gross...but awesome! I love my step class and the girls who support me! 

Merry Grinch-mas!

This year instead of gifts, G&G Hymas wanted to give the gift of time. They set a date with us to have a grinch party! They did all the cooking, planning, treats, everything and it was so fun and something I don't think the kids will ever forget. We woke up the first morning to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and bacon and fruit. 

 We were told to wear green so we all had our green grinch shirts on and Grandpa out did himself with the grinch costume! We started right after breakfast crafting ornaments for our grinch tree.

 As you can imagine, my kids were in heaven cutting, gluing and bedazzling!

We took a break to go to the Santa parade and sadly this is the only picture I took.

 We headed back for lunch and then got back to making ornaments. Here's a cute grinch one me and Ry did together.

 We took another break because we heard the Grinch himself was in town! I don't think he knew what to do with Grandpas outfit. He was hilarious.

 Here we are in our grinch shirts.

 We even got a photo op with him and he was pretty funny to be around.

 We thought grandma was going to get a kiss!!

 The rest of the day was filled with more crafts, treats,

 and gift bags!

 We then popped in the Grinch movie and snuggled up in blankets to finish off our night.

 And here is our lovely completed tree! What a special memory this will be for years to come!

#makeUrMARC

The day after Thanksgiving while we were still in Idaho, we got some awful news. A family friend had passed away unexpectedly from a heart condition. He was assigned to our ward as the high councilman. He became a good friend to Chad and was the one who set him apart when he was put into Elders Quorum. He helped me get the stake fitness classes going and was a friend I joked around with at church often. We were shocked and saddened. But one of my favorite things about this Tooele community is that when tragedy happens, EVERYONE rallies to help the families. Fun runs were put together, t-shirts were made, many miracles happened. He was the kind of guy who left his mark on anyone he met, for the better. This hashtag was born to honor him and to remember to leave our marks on the world. 

 I attended the massive funeral and was so pleased when i pulled up to see that the scouts (whom he had served many years with) had lined the whole church with flags. What a neat tribute! I attended the viewing and almost wished I didn't. It was hard to see him NOT smiling because I don't think I ever saw him not smiling and that is how I wished to remember him.

This is what I wrote on facebook the day we learned.

Oh Marc Taylor! Our hearts are broken! You touched so many lives in your 48 years. Thank you for your care and concern and friendship. I'll never forget when you cornered me in the hall and told me you were grateful for our friendship and said you were glad you could joke around with me. You helped me get the stake fitness classes off the ground and supported us so much. I heard you give several inspired blessings and I know you always strived to serve others. You claimed our 8th ward as your own even though you belonged to canyon creek and you came every week as our high councilman! My husband grew to love you too and you are someone we both looked up to and you inspired him as a runner and a spiritual adviser. Hopefully you are running miles around the pearly gates and making beautiful music with that big contagious smile. Our lives have been made better for knowing you.

We will miss you Marc!

Christmas Prep and sickies

Our darn tree. It's huge and its "pre-lit." Not. This year we decided to tackle the HUGE job of de-lighting our 9 ft. tree. UGH it was not fun. After about 4 hours of just Chad and I working on it we got it done!

 Chad did a lovely job on the lights as always. We always get lots of compliments from it.

 We bought some new LED lights and Chad went to work fixing up the tree. And the next day I got to decorate it!

 Amid all of this fun, Carter caught the f'lu and Mollie got strep. On this particular visit we were there for Mollies checkup. Carter then puked all over the floor of the doctor office and I quickly cleaned it up. When Dr Rich came back in I explained what had happened. He asked if he had been tested for the flu....no, i didn't even know that was a thing. Sure enough! Full blown positive test, FLU! UGH!

 Which later had me like this.....

 And then I NEEDED to get out of that house! So me and my girls took a night off to go to the Festival of Trees. Such a great way to kick off the season!

 All trees I thought My kiddos would like.

 Here's the crew! Love these wonderful ladies!

 And a little better shot of all of us! Annette, Emily, Lola, Billie, Nannette, Alex and Me!

 Thanks girls for the fabulous fun night! It was much needed!