Big Blog Update

Life has been busy, busy good!  I haven't updated since August so I have a lot to catch up on.

We found out that we have a budding soccer player in the family.  Irelyn was so excited to be on a team, not so excited about all of the running, but excited even more for snack time after the games.

Irelyn is 5 1/2, hilarious, beginning to read, picks on her sister and still loves all animals.  She has been a huge blessing and exactly what we needed to complete our family.  Goodness gracious I love this girl!

Halloween brought a kinda-scary mummy (which required A LOT of Ace bandages)

a beautiful Elsa princess.  Unfortunately Irelyn came down with a nasty ear infection and her trick-or-treating was cut short at 15 min.  She and I decided to head home and enjoy some yummy candy.

November brought the celebration of our amazing 7 year old.  Brooklynn Autumn has turned into an incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and funny young lady.  She loves gymnastics, books and chocolate chip pancakes.

Irelyn is really coming out of her shell and her Christmas sing-along was fantastic.  She practiced her songs at home for two weeks leading up to the performance and I was so impressed with how she shined.  

We try to fit in our favorite Christmas traditions and even on those cold nights we still manage to have lots of fun.  There is an amazing house in our town that goes all out for Christmas lights.  We visit this house every year and the girls are excited every year to see it.

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2014

Brooklynn loved her new sparkly dress and her time with Mr. Clause.  Irelyn even agreed to sit next to the big guy this year.  They are growing up so quickly.

Only 2 weeks after Christmas we boarded a plane (first time for Irelyn) and headed south to Florida.  I do think this should be a part of every winter.  The fun moments of our trip started as our plane took off and Irelyn shouted "I'm flying.  I'm really flying!" Needless to say the people around us were all giggling.

While in Orlando we rented a wonderful house within 3 miles of Disney World.  We chose to visit Disney World in January because it is the slowest time of the year for the world's most magical place.  Well to our amazement there were still A LOT of people at Disney World.  It was so much fun though and I'd do it again in a heart beat!

Jesse decided that we should take a day and drive down to Tampa to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  I do believe this was one of the highlights of the trip for the girls.  They loved being able to see Winter and Hope, the two dolphins from the movie Dolphin Tale.  They learned a lot about dolphins and the importance of preserving marine animals.

After we visited the aquarium we stopped at a beautiful beach to play.  The girls had so much fun even though it was a little chilly.

Only 4 months until I have two little girls in full-day school.  Irelyn will be a kindergartener, Brooklynn will be a 2nd grader and I will be lonely.  I try to remind myself that life is about seasons and the season of nap time and afternoon snuggles is over but soon to be replaced by field trips and sleepovers.  

Thanks for checking in on our happy, little family.