My christmas miracle!!

I have been blessed with a Christmas miracle!! Porter has slept all night long the last two nights, and for the last week he has been sleeping in until at least 9 am!!!! I get up and shower and get the girls fed and dressed all before he wakes up- hallelujah!!! (Can you hear the Angels singing? I can!!) I know I probably just jinxed myself and he will be awake all night tonight and wake up at 5 am, but oh well I have enjoyed it, and I figure I got a shower today I am good for at least a week :)
It's not everyday you get a picture of an actual miracle, but I did! This was taken at 9:08 AM!!!!

Winter Wonderland!

THE VIEW FROM MY FRONT PORCH!!

Be careful of what you pray for, you just might get it! And we got my snow YEAH!!!! The last time I wrote about the snow we only had an inch or so. But, Tuesday morning we woke up to a lot more and it snowed all day off and on! Aspen had to go out and play in it as soon as she got home from preschool, so, we got everyone bundled up and headed out, Porter even liked it! Then when Brian got home from work we jumped in the car, grabbed something to eat and stopped by wal-mart to buy a sled, came home and hooked it up behind the four-wheeler and pulled the kids around the neighborhood and all around our yard!! We don't get our neghborhood roads plowed because we live in the country, but that makes them great for pulling the sled, and because our yard is so big we can go around the backyard - - it was perfect!! They all had a great time until Emerald tried to steal Aspen's snow hat off her head and ended up pulling her off the sled:( She was covered in snow especially her face and head! After much crying (from Aspen -Brian and I were laughing) and being mad at Emerald, we got her a new dry hat and warmed up a little and went out for some more! I didn't get very many pictures because we were having too much fun and didn't want to stop for pictures!!

Porter is crying because we stopped - - not because he hated it, he just didn't want to stop!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY PORTER!

I can't believe it!! My baby is ONE!! This year has flown by!! I still remember right after Porter was born and they laid him on my chest, all I could say was "His hands are HUGE!" He was a big baby 9 lbs. 7 oz.! He is the happiest baby, if you can't tell by the pictures! Well, we didn't do much to celebrate tonight we had two of our friends and their families over for dinner. And after they all left we put a candle in a little debbie snack cake (I know, I know, not exactly the best first birthday cake, but Porter still loved it!) we sang Happy Birthday and let him attack the cake! These December birthday's are hard, it is just to close to Christmas. Maybe when he gets older we will have to celebrate earlier or something! Today is also my Dad and sister Kristin's birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL!!

YUMMY!!

Christmas Lights!

This isn't the best picture, but this is our house at night! And this is our redneck Christmas decoration! Brian's brother has the hunting snowman and Brian loved it and had to get his own. So here is our hunting reindeer! Yes, we are hicks!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, it finally happened! SNOW!! I have been praying for snow- I really want one of those white, snowy, country Christmases! And so far nothing, but last night after we left the ward party it was raining hard, and the wind woke us up in the middle of the night, and we woke up to snow-not enough for me, but the girls were thrilled! They were playing in it before breakfast! Aspen was bummed she couldn't make a Snowman. So they had to play on the swing set instead! Hopefully this will not be the end of the snow!

SANTA!!

Last night was our ward party and we all had a good time! They served PRIME RIB, spiral cut ham, homemade rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, and corn. It all tasted wonderful, the activities comitee did a wonderful job. After dessert and the program Santa made his appearance! Brylee was all up for sitting on his lap and talking to him, but Aspen was a little more nervous! In fact, she was crying because she did NOT want to see him, but we convinced her to sit on his lap (sort of) and get her picture taken! Porter took one look at him and was out of there!

HAIR EVERYWHERE!

Because we do not live close to my mom I had to learn how to cut Porter's hair and I did an ok job. Of course, it would not be possible without candy! If you can't tell he enjoyed that part very much! And as I am sure you can imagine the hair sticks to all the sticky candy slobber!! YUCK!

This is a picture of Aspen right after I got done blow drying her hair! It is getting so long when she wears it down she looks so old!! My baby is growing up!

GINGERBREAD HOUSE!

Last night we made a gingerbread house with the kids. They had a lot of fun, but now all I hear is when can we eat it?? Making gingerbread houses is kind of like a cruel torter for kids, you get out all of this candy and cookies and frosting and put it all together then display it BUT they are not allowed to eat any of it!! Porter was a huge pain while we were trying to make it, he just wanted to touch and eat EVERYTHING- so I had Brian take him in the other room to keep him entertained, so it was just me and the girls. I think we did a pretty good job!

This is Porter's hand trying to grab it! He's persistant!

My little Brylee Jean!

I still remember the day she was born-she came out screaming immediately--This should have been a sign!! My other kids needed some help to get them to cry, not Brylee! She was 7lbs 1 oz. By far the smallest baby we've had, and then due to some pretty major jaundice and dehydration she went down to 6 lbs 4 oz. (Tiny to us!) After the first six weeks of almost constant crying and little to no sleep we found out she had a dairy protein allergy, luckily after changing my diet drastically we all became much happier! She has always been a goer, she stopped taking naps way too soon for me! And to this day she will not fall asleep during the day no matter how hard I try, but when it is bed time she it out COLD, and doesn't move until morning most of the time I have to wake her up! She is our runt- she is so small all of her pants fall off her bum! But, what she is lacking in size she makes up for in personality!! She cracks us up evryday-on Sunday we were in the foyar waiting for Brian when two older men were talking to Brylee and of course she was telling them about her birthday, and they asked if she got her cowgirl boots for her birthday-she said no- they said "Well those are some pretty nice boots!" to which Brylee replied "Yeah, they are for kicking bums!!" as she kicked the wall to demonstrate! They thought that was hilarious-I on the other hand was completely embarassed!And told them "She must of got that from her dad!" She is also very much the princess, she loves to dress up, and put her "lips"(lipstick) on. She will be our girly girl- but even with that she is fearless and nothing scares her (I am not sure this is a good thing!) And this girl is as independent as they come-Holy Cow! I can not help her with anything--"I CAN DO IT!!" We are very lucky to be her parents and to have her as part of our family! We love you Brylee Jean!

Brylee's 3!!!

Brylee turned 3 on December 1st!! She was so excited to have her birthday, that is all she would talk about. While in Salt lake for Thanksgiving we celebrated with my family-celebrating birthdays for Brylee, and then also for Porter, Kristin and my Dad all of their birthday's are December 14th! When we came home we had a birthday party for Brylee's friends, she wanted a Cinderella cake, so we had the lady at Brian's hospital make her one (I am glad we have her it saves me time and stress trying to make cute cakes!) At her party we made door nob hangers and decorated them with foam stickers, then we played pin the crown on the princess, and of course ate cake and ice cream and the kids played and had a great time! Brylee got a lot of fun presents that have kept the girls entertained. I think with all the celebrating she thinks her birthday is this whole month- she tells anyone she comes in cintact with about her birthday. The other night we were reading a book about christmas and how we celebrate because it is Jesus' birthday. And Brylee said "Yep it is mine and Jesus' birthday!" So, now I am trying to switch the focus from her birthday to Christmas.

Cinderella party bags and plates-It's all about princesses for Brylee!!