Christmas Eve

Santa came to Grandma and Grandpa Belka's house and the kids got to tell him what they wanted him to bring that night.

Family pic with Santa

Then the kids acted out the nativity while Grandpa read from the scriptures.

Briggs was Joseph, Brynn was Mary, and Bryten was one of the sheep.

After we left the Belka's we then went to my parents for the Condie Christmas party. My dad shared a Christmas message, we ate AGAIN, and then the kids opened up pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa. We put on music for them to have a fashion show. The kids loved it.

We absolutely loved being with our families. We sang, played games, ate great food, but most importantly got to spend time together.

Merry Christmas 2008

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Brynn lost both teeth within a couple weeks of each other. Just three days before Christmas she had lost the other. She loved saying Merry Christmas and hearing how it sounded without her teeth.

Christmas parties

Briggs at the Mills Christmas party.

All the kids on stage waiting for Santa. This party is a big tradition that our family does every year!

Brynn at our Condie Christmas party. She is on a launching parachute. The kids all took turns and loved it. Even some adults did it!

My aunts then had a pinata for all the kids. They went to so much effort to make this party a hit and it WAS!

Here are all the kids singing songs at our program. Then later that night we headed up to Tiff and Rich's house and hung out with them and had a great time.

Christmas lights

Bryten at Temple Square

Byron and Briggs riding on the Trax. Briggs is fascinated with trains right now and so of course was loving being on one.

We headed to Salt Lake to check on Grandma Belka after her knee surgery and decided to make it a trip to see the lights as well. We first stopped over at Winder Dairy and got our hot chocolate and scones and then headed down town to see the lights. Then we got to meet up with Brock and see where he works their at temple square. We had a great time and decided to make this a tradition!

Christmas Fun

Get together at the Belka's when Jake and Natalie came home for Christmas Break!

Brynn playing Christmas music at a nursing home.

Bryten and Kyson at their Christmas program for preschool.

Brynn's first recital

This is Brynn at her first solo recital. She was excited and nervous. The week before she had a trail run at our ward's talent show. It is scary to get up infront of people and have all eyes on YOU! I was so proud of her and she did a great job at both. Right now she is learning some Christmas songs and we are learning a duet together which will be fun.

Tree skirt for Christmas

Two years ago for Christmas Byron got me a sewing machine and until a month ago there it sat in its box and had never been opened. I wanted a project to get me started on sewing so I signed up for a class that was told was for beginners. Well the only beginner in the room was ME! I thought perfect, I'll sign up for the tree skirt class so it will be a project I will be motivated to finish. Well the class was overwhelming to me. The sweet instructor sat down the last hour and helped me step by step. I left the class with two out of eight stars sewn. So I was happy to go home with something. But how was I ever going to finish this? Then my mom suggested that my Aunt Carolyn help me. So we took it over to my aunt's house and she fixed my mistakes and pretty much took over and taught me how the correct way was. We had a system down and she flew through the stars and had it ready for me to sew together. She found someone to quilt it for me and Aunt Carolyn did the binding. When she found out I was sick, she stayed up late and hurried and finished it to suprise me. Now I get to enjoy this all month long. Everytime I look at it I think of her and all that she did for me. I am so thankful for her and all her hard work and the time I got to spend with her. My kids love her and love being with her in her home just as much as I do.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving with the Belkas! The kids couldn't wait to see their cousins that were all going to be here for Thanksgiving. They were ecstatic to find out that they were going to Grandma and Grandpa Belka's house two days earlier than we were planning. After almost a month of being sick and not getting better on one antibiotic, the doctor took an x-ray and found pneumonia and so put me on another one. So I was so thankful that Natalie stopped and picked up the kids and took them home to Mom and Dad's house to help me get some rest. Everyone took such great care of them and they had a blast watching movies, painting their nails, going on the four wheeler with Grandpa, coloring, and getting out every toy that was in the house! I was so glad that they were having such a wonderful time too because it helped me relax and knew that they were in good hands. So on Thanksgiving I was ready to get up to Salt Lake and be with my family. I was missing them so badly. The house was way too quiet. We had a great time and had a wonderful dinner. I just wish I could have tasted it though. The Belka women wouldn't let me do anything. In fact, they even gave me a massage! What did I ever do to deserve such great sisters. The kids played and played! Byron and the men folk went and played their annual turkey bowl and we enjoyed just being together.

I am so THANKFUL for family and that we are all so close to both of our families. I am thankful for the many wonderful examples they are to me and are not only family members but are our closest friends too. I am thankful to be married to such a wonderful husband and be the mother to Brynn, Bryten, and Briggs. They are my life and I love them so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today.... the actual Birthday

Brynn had been counting down for days until her birthday. A couple of nights she would come out while I thought she was sleeping and would ask me questions like..are you going to decorate the kitchen?, do I get breakfast in bed?, and can I have the candle with the number 6 on it? She had been so excited it was obvious it was something on her mind a lot. So last night we decorated with balloons and streamers so when she came out of her room she would see them. We made her the breakfast of her choice which was pancakes and eggs which she ate in bed. We then watched her video and opened presents. We went to church and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Condies house for more fun.

The first Sunday of every month, my family all tries to get together and have dinner/family night together. This time it happened to fall right on her birthday so she was especially excited to see her cousins and Grandparents on her birthday. We had a great time together.

Happy Birthday BRYNN

Grandma and Grandpa Belka were watching Bryten and Briggs while we took Brynn out. When we got back they were gone and within just a minute they came up the street on the four wheeler with Grandma with big grins on their face. They had been at the park having a great time.

Happy Birthday Brynn!

We saw these statues outside the restraunt and decided to pose like them.

We wanted to give Brynn a little one on one time. So first I took Brynn to get her nails painted which she thought was the neatest thing ever. She was just beaming the whole time, then Byron and I took her out to lunch. She wanted to eat Lasagna so I helped make the decision to take her to the Olive Garden. Afterwards we took the trax to go to temple square. We had a great time together and loved it just as much as she did.

Halloween night we went trick or treating to Aunt Carolyn's house and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Arlene's house and then went to our ward's trunk or treat. The kids had a great time and got tons of candy that I have now hidden :)

This is Brynn in her class room before her parade and carnival. I got to go help in her class that day and take a group of girls around to all of the different games they had around the school. Brynn loved it and had so much fun. I loved being there with Brynn and also being able to see her in the classroom. She has such a wonderful teacher...Ms. Parkins and I was so impressed at how she runs the classroom and how she is with the children. No wonder why Brynn loves it so much.

Brynn and Mrs. George who is another Kindergarten teacher at the school. Her husband plays on the team so I thought it would be fun to get a picture of Brynn with her.

This is Bryten and Kyson's preschool class. They had a parade in front of the school and then had a party. Bryten is posing and stayed like that for all the pictures. She got pretty hot in her costume and had taken it off by the time I picked her up.

Halloween

This Halloween was a lot of fun for the kids. It started on Thursday for us with Bryten's party and parade. Brynn had a violin lesson and Sadie was watching the kids and when I came back she had Bryten dressed up in her pink poodle dog costume and lipstick on. She loved it so much she wouldn't move her lips because she didn't want it to come off. Sadie had Briggs in a cute Halloween sweatshirt and his hair all done so we took some fun pictures on their porch. Not only are Kyson and Bryten cousins they are great friends and get to be in the same preschool class together.

I finally did it!

I have been debating whether or not to start a blog for some time now.
Since I am not the best at writing in my journal or scrapbooking, I thought this would be a great way to help me in two very important areas that I have been lacking for some time now! This year has been full of fun and new exciting events and I don't want another moment to pass by without keeping record of it! So I am excited to start this very new adventure ...thanks to my sweet husband Byron for setting it up for me :)