A Christmas Eve to Remember!

This Christmas Eve was simply the BEST. Ever.

My Dad, sisters, sister-in-law, and little niece were able to travel to Twin for a little visit. It was so great having them here, especially for the holidays!

Braylee and Leila loved each other. This age is so much fun, they just seem to explore each other ;)!

We had little Leila call her Soldier Daddy who she hadn't seen in months and this is what we caught...... Melt my heart! She is darling!

Braylee and Brody both loved their presents from Grandpa Paul, and spent the rest of the day playing with them :)

Then came the best part of Christmas Eve.... We got to drive up to Boise to welcome my brother home after 4 long tours in Iraq, the last being over a year. What a wonderful Christmas present! Brody came with me, while Braylee stayed home with Daddy. It was such a gut wrenching, tear jerking, once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! I love that sweet family with all my heart. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the justice....... ...........

 

I can't even write this post without tearing up.... :( I have the bravest brother in the world. I know it. I have the best sister in law in the world. What a cute, strong family they are, and such a good example to me. I can't wait for them to be closer!

The rest of Christmas Eve was filled with 3 favorite people:)

 Brody kept asking me all month long "when the party was", because apparently he assumed since there were presents, there had got to be a partay! Ha! Well he just made our new Christmas tradition. We celebrated Christ's birthday. We bought balloons on Christmas Eve, and planned on letting them go into the sky up to Heaven to Jesus on Christmas morning. It was a wonderful way to tie in the real meaning of Christmas to our sweet kids :)

 Brody and Braylee opening up their Christmas Eve Jammies. I was so nervous for what Brody would say. I was sure he might be a little weirded out that it wasn't a toy or something. Boy was I wrong, and a very proud mom. He opened them up and couldn't have been more excited! He shouted, "Oh Mommy! Thank you soooo much!" It was so cute, he was so thankful! and Bray was just along for the show:)

 After they open their Jammies, I had them open another gift specially made by mommy. I made them both their very own minky blankies. Again, Brody was so stoked! "AHHHH! Thank you MOMMY!"

Best Christmas Eve Yet.

The Christmas Season

I L-O-V-E the Christmas Season. It is such a wonderful time of year, and time to appreciate everything in life, especially family.

We took our annual trip up to the south hills to see the Christmas light display and feed the camel some carrots. Brody was super excited, especially for the camel, and Braylee stayed bundled while staring at all the lights.

I lost my camera for a while, so after I found it, I kinda went a little camera crazy running around snapping pictures every where ;)\

We made our first ever ginger bread house to kick of the season :) It turned out pretty cute if I do say so :)

Then we had our ward Christmas party, and I think the pictures fully explain how the kids felt about Santa......

We also got some time to go down to Salt Lake and visit Grandpa, and also travel to Nephi to see Derek's Brother Cade and his family. I love visiting family, and wish they were closer!

My pride and joys:

And the walking machine.....!!!

at 13 months and counting....LOOK at THIS girls HAIR!!! YIKES!

We've got a cruiser!!

Braylee Jade started walking at exactly 13 months. She was so different than Brody. When Brody started walking, it seemed like if he fell, he would get a little timid for a while. Not the little Ms. She would just get back up and go!!!

She never crawls now. She LOVES to walk... LOVES it. She is still pretty tiny, so when I let her down in the stores to roam, she has people gawking over her from all over saying how tiny she is :) She definitely doesn't look big enough to walk.. But has LOADs of hair, enough to be a 2 year old ;)

GO BRAYLEE, GO!!!

Date Night

A couple weeks ago, while Grandpa was in town, Brody and Daddy decided to take Mom on a much needed date night :) I couldnt imagine 2 more perfect boys to spend the evening with! <3

Some random little fun times I'd like to remember :)

This is Braylee's first ice cream cone by herself. SHE LOVED it and we thought it was adorable how she smashed it in her face :)

So this picture isnt very good at all, but worth remembering for sure! One night while I was gone, Brody and Derek wanted to watch the Boise State football game. Everytime they do, they have to get in their 'football' shorts, shirts, and shoes.... This time, they didnt wanna leave Braylee out, so she joined in, barrowing a few clothes from her brother ;)

Brody's favorite store is the "animal store", AKA Sportsman's Warehouse. He loves to go there, push around the kiddie karts and look at all the "Boy & Daddy stuff." So we go quite often and never leave without trying on these hats ;)

Little Braylee has turned into quite the mischevious little thing lately. She'll dump, pull out, and intentional spill anything in her sight :)

She also LOVES to be outside. Loves bikes, and anything dirty :/...... I dont know how I got that kinda girl, but I did!