Baby Shower Love.....

Last Thursday night, Troy's mom and my sisters-in-law on Troy's side of the family threw me a pre-baby party/shower. Tawny was so nice to host the party at her house and we had so much fun! No kids, just all of us girls...and Troy! He was so funny, when he heard about this party, he wanted to come and hang out with his sisters and mom too....and I was glad he did. We had a fabulous dinner of pistachio salad, breadsticks, Diet Coke and a yummy eclair dessert! I did get "showered" with a ton of cute clothes and warm, soft blankets for the baby - thanks to everyone for putting together a fun night and for all of the fun gifts!

Troy and I often talk about how grateful we are for our families and how nice it is to have a built-in support system - we wouldn't trade it for anything. We know our lives and our kids lives are blessed because of this!

10 days and counting until the big day......

Christmas Eve 2009

This past Christmas Eve was full of fun and traditions! We spent the first part of the evening at my parents house where we had a nice dinner, yummy chocolate fountain, the nativity story put on by all of the grandkids, a special story about giving told by Grandma and a gift exchange followed by family prayer. It is a fun night that I have always looked forward to. It is really important to Troy and I that we try to take some time on Christmas Eve to focus on "true meaning" of Christmas that isn't filled with presents and things of monetary value; rather, we try to take a few minutes to talk to our kids about the things we are thankful for (with egg-nog toasts) and also take a few minutes to reflect on the birth of our Brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. We hope that somehow, somewhere, our actions will have a positive impact on our kids and that they will look for opportunities to serve other people and not solely focus on what materialistic things they have.....but to focus on the fact that giving is so much better than receiving. As our kids get older, we hope to make sure they are exposed to the wonderful world of service and to be able to experience firsthand the joy that service brings into our lives.

One of the traditions we have is for the kids to open Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. Well this year, we did just that and (I have to blame this on the pregancy), BECAUSE this year they all had matching GIRL jammies! Yes, you will notice Carson sporting the jammies with the bow at the top and the reindeer with rosy little cheeks! I didn't notice this until a couple of days before Christmas when there was no time to try and fix this mess.....so Carson, when you read this and realize what your poor mom did to you when you were 3 years old the only thing I can say is that I am sorry.....but you were the cutest 3 year-old reindeer gal that mom and dad have ever seen!!! If this is the worst thing that your mom does to you during your childhood consider yourself lucky! Here are some pic's from our night:

Happy Birthday 6th Birthday Grace!

I can't believe that Grace turned 6 years old December 19th, 2009! I feel like it was yesterday that I was anticipating her arrival, wishing I had a zipper on my stomache so I could peak and see what my precious Grace looked like! The day she was born is a day I will never forget.....it is the day I took on the much anticipated role of a mother! I had wanted to be a mom for so long and swore I would do everything right and be the "perfect mom".....well looking back, I did a lot of things right, but did so many things "wrong" and have learned so many things by practice and experience. I am grateful for Grace and what a thoughtful, loving, fun daughter she is! She is a great big sister to Carson and Chloe and is a great example to them. She is so excited to welcome Sawyer to our family and is constantly making sure he is included in any discussion that involves the kids :) Grace also loves kindergarten! She loves her teacher, Mrs. Hanna and I can't believe how her reading has taken off! She is starting to read chapter books and everywhere we go she tells me what every sign says.....it brings Troy and I so much happiness to see her growing and developing - we also have to come up with a new way of "code talking" since spelling words out is no longer an option. Grace also loves gymnastics and friends! Grace has a lot of friends, but she still makes sure Carson is included whenever she has a friend over....I love that she does this - hopefully Carson will learn from her example and make sure Chloe is included as friends become more important to him. This year, we had a friend/cousin birthday party for Grace - 22 friends and cousins her age to be exact! Grace loves Hannah Montana and so we did our best to put together a "Hannah Montana Party" and we had a great day! Here are some pic's of her big day:

Temple Square - Christmas Lights 2009

Every year, we try to go to Temple Square and see all of the beautiful Christmas Lights. Our kids look forward to this every year and so do Troy and I. This year, we drove and parked at the Gateway - ate a GOURMET(McDonald's) dinner at the lovely food court and then took Trax from the Energy Solutions Center to Temple Square (one whole stop so our kids could have the "Trax experience"). We had a great time, except it was soooo COLD! About 1/2 way through, Chloe started to cry and we couldn't figure out why......until we felt her little hands....they were like icicles! She is at that age where she won't keep mittens on and won't stay covered up with a blanket, and as a result.....she was FREEZING! So we walked around as fast as we could and then Chloe and Troy took off and ran all the way from Temple Square to the Gateway Parking Garage. Me being almost 8 month's pregnant, tried to keep up a good pace with Grace and Carson....but we were not setting any records.......So this year's trip was fun, but short! (Note to self: Next year leave new baby at home with sitter in warm comfy house and duct tape mittens on Chloe).

Brown Cousin Christmas Party 2009

Again...better late than never......On December 12, 2009 we had our annual Brown Cousin Christmas Party! This year it was at our church and we had all of the cousins there (except for Zach, Claire and Jackson who we all love and miss) and we had a great time! It was extra special this year because Grandpa and Grandma were back from serving as mission president's, and we are so glad to have them back! Each year we draw names so the cousin's can exchange gifts, and we split into groups and play fun games and then we sing christmas songs together as a family. We always have lots of treats to share and have fun talking, laughing and creating memories together! Here are some pic's from this year's party.....We misplaced our camera for most of the party....so sorry the pic's are a little sparse....

Grace's Gymnastics Performance - December 2009

Better late than never.....right?! On Monday, December 14, 2009 Grace had her gymnastics performance at Hillcrest High School. The auditorium was completely filled, and I was nervous for Grace and all of the 300+ performers....BUT they all did awesome! Grace was AMAZING - in fact, she is the only one in her class with her side aerial so she got to do this fun trick and we were all so proud of her. Her performance song was Santa Claus is coming to town....here are some pic's from her big night!

It's been a while....

It HAS definitely been a while since I have done a post. For the past couple of month's I have been really good at "blog stalking", but have really neglected our little blog. So for 2010, I am going to try and be better at blogging and capturing the sweet little moments in life.

We have had a few changes in our lives this past couple of months - the biggest one for me, is that I quit my job! For those of you that know me, know that this is a HUGE thing for me....I will be 36 in March and I have had some sort of a job (or two) since I was 13 years old! I think work is something that I have used to define who I am....so I am on day #5 without a job and to be honest, it is a little wierd! I do feel like something is missing, but I know it definitely isn't! I know I am doing exactly what I need to be doing right now with soon to be 4 kids under the age of 6 (3 under the age of 3). I found out today that baby boy #4 (Sawyer) will be arriving by inducement January 28th, 2010......unless he decides to make a sooner entrance!!! We are so excited for his arrival and are counting the days. For any of you pregnant mom's out there, I found out today that when I deliver the baby, children under the age of 12 are NOT ALLOWED to visit you in the hospital due to the H1N1 restrictions that most hospitals have in place. When I heard this I got tears in my eyes, because for me, part of the fun of having a new baby is watching your other kids react to seeing them for the first time. I guess this little introduction party will only be delayed by a couple of days....but I was still disappointed when I got this news. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this news "positive" for my kids, send them my way....because right now, I only see tears and sadness when I deliver the news.

Troy and the kids and doing great! Grace turned 6 the week before Christmas and we had a fun birthday party for her! 22 little friends and cousins her age came over and we partied it up! She is really into Hannah Montana right now, so she wanted to have a "Hannah Montana" themed party....which we tried our best to put together. Christmas and New Year's were also fun and maybe I will do a post about them now that I am back to blogland ;)

Sorry no pic's with this post, I just switched to a new computer, so I need to get all my pic's organized and on this computer (yes, this is also on my list for 2010).... so it will happen hopefully sooner than later.....I also changed our header and background for 2010, and am going to try and beautify my blog to be more like your blog's that I enjoy reading/stalking :)