December 2015

Another year will be coming to a close soon and I will be sad to see it go.  I am so very sentimental, I love my moments and the moments of having small children in the house have come to a close.  It is true that each new phase with children is very fun but I still miss the first steps, first words, rocking to sleep and first "I love you's".

Jesse and I have had the good fortune to travel together and spend quality time reminding ourselves why we fell in love 12 years ago!  For our 10 year wedding anniversary we decided to head to Las Vegas for a little adventure.  We were able to find a 5 lb Hershey bar (pretty close to heaven for me) at Hershey World, eat lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, visit the Hoover Dam (he made me walk ALL THE WAY TO THE MIDDLE ON A 95* DAY), take in O! a Circue de Soleil show and The Blue Man Group (we weren't impressed).

I volunteered to accompany Irelyn's kindergarten class on a field trip to the corn maze.  Little did I know that Mr. Schaefer was going to put me in charge of getting 5 of those crazy 5 year olds through the maze.  Well I went in with 5 kids and came out with 4.  Thankfully Mr. Schaefer reassured me that "80% ain't too bad!".

We then made it back to the maze with Aunt Julie and Noah about a week later.  The girls get so excited to spend time with their cousins and wish it could happen more often.

Brooklynn has been interested in Star Wars for a few months now so it was no surprise that she decided to be Darth Vader for Halloween.  It also wasn't a surprise that our Queen Manipulator was able to convince her little sister to be a Storm Trooper.  Nope, we weren't shocked :)

I decided to leave Princess Erin at home and head out as The Wicked Witch.  Jesse said I didn't have to stretch too far to play the part.  Brooklynn and Irelyn love it when I dress up.  We'll see if they still think I'm as cool in about 7 or 8 years!

Brooklynn's 8th birthday was held at the indoor water pool and had a theme of.... Star Wars!
She had a lot of fun swimming with a few of her closest friends and even invited A BOY!
I wanted to add another picture of me after that crazy witch picture above :)

This girl is something special.  She is so very loving, thoughtful and intelligent.  She is definitely her own person with her own opinions and insightful ideas.  I am so proud of the 8 year old young lady she has grown into!

Irelyn lost her first tooth and has since lost her second tooth.  She looks so cute and once again, this short little phase will soon be gone but I'm loving it while it lasts.

Every few years I like to splurge and get our family pictures taken.  These pictures are priceless to me as I look back and see how we have all changed over a few short years.

Fall 2008

Fall 2010

Fall 2012

Fall 2015

Merry Christmas from our family.  May 2016 bring you much happiness!