Good Morning Brooklee!!

Each morning I put Brinley right by her sister to help speed the process of waking her up. So, here is the greeting Brooklee gets from Brinley. Slobbers and all!!!

5th Anniversary

Couple of weeks ago Nic and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We were able to spend two nights in Greer (alone!!) Thanks Mom and Dad for taking the girls for us. Nic and I had a blast. Ate some really good food and went on a sleigh ride. The sleigh ride was a first for both of us. The sleigh was pulled by two BIG Belgium horses named Pat and Jill. We were able to see a herd of elk while we were whisping through the snow. It was so romantic and such a fun relaxing weekend. Happy #5 Nic!! I love you more and more everyday!!!

Annual FHE's at Gma & Gpa Finch's

For the past couple of years Nic's mom and dad host our family and Aaron and Jane's family for family home evenings around Christmas time. This years theme was "No empty chairs at our eternal table." We were given gifts to open for 12 days of Christmas. Each gift being something that we can bring to our eternal table. Such as knowledge, friendship, togetherness, etc. Its been alot of fun going over there for these activities as well as opening up a present each day for the last 10 days. They put alot of time and energy into these gifts and we sure appreciate them and love them very much.

Also, every year Nic's mom makes the grandkids new Christmas outfits. This year me, my sister in law Jane decided we would like skirts that matched the girls'. Once again, Mom completely outdid herself!! She sewed mine in seconds! I swear. These dresses are beautiful. Brooklee, Brinley and Nellie looked so beautiful. Brodey and Jax had new Christmas sweaters. They looked handsome as well.

i LOVE food!!!!

Brinley as you can see loves food. She is quite the little chunk these days. Brooklee was snacking on some cereal one morning and Brinley decided she had to try some too.

SHOWDOWN BETWEEN THE TROJANS AND THE SUN DEVILS

(Nic with Joe McKnight)

(Nic with Allen Bradford)

(not by best pic!! I was so nervous.)

Nic and I were able to once again get tickets for a USC game this season. This year the Boys of Troy were playing at the Sun Devil Stadium. We had some amazing seats and some fun company (Jordan and Megan). We were behind the USC bench on the 20 yard line. FRONT ROW!!! Best $150 I have ever spent!!! The game was definetly a nail bitter. But nothing could top what happened to us after the game. We decided to stick around and wait for the Trojans to come out of the locker room. We waited for about an hour. AND IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT. Players started to come out and sign autographs and take pictures. The coaches started to come out. We were both so excited. But there was one person we both wanted to see. Mr. Pete Carroll himself. Nic had the chance to shake his hand last year at U of A but this year.. I wanted the chance. AND I GOT IT!!! Pete came out and shook both of our hands and then before he got on the bus he came back and took a picture with me and signed my shirt. Nic was able to have his picture taken with Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford (both are running backs for USC). We truly had a FABULOUS time. I can't wait for next year. Because its back to U of A to watch the boys again.

She just works so hard....

Nic and I were outside looking at something for a couple of minutes and when he came back inside.....THIS IS WHAT HE FOUND!!! She just works so hard. Doesn't she? Sweet baby.

First Halloween

This was Brinleys first trick or treat. Lets just say...she didn't enjoy it. Suprised anyone??? Brooklee picked out her costume. She was dead set on that particular outfit. Brinley is wearing what Brooklee wore for her first Halloween. They both looked cute. I just wish Brooklees hair was ALOT curlier. We had a bit of drama with the curling iron that night. So, after that...she had enough.

New Way of Transportation

What a hoot!!! Brinley had a scared look on her face the whole time. (I don't blame her!!)

Look Who's 28!!!

Today is Nic's birthday. The BIG 28!!!! I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday and tell him how MUCH I love him. He is such a superb daddy and a fabulous husband. I couldnt ask for a better person to be with. I hope you have an awesome birthday babe. You deserve it!!!

Our Growing Girls

Today we took both girls to the doctor for checkups and shots. Three shots for the little one and one shot for the big sister. What a day! Both girls are growing healthy and strong. Brooklee is weighing in at 38 lbs and is 40 1/8 inches tall and Brinley is weighing in at 14 lbs 6 oz and is 23 1/2 inches long. We need to get Brooklee in to an eye dr for an exam. Hopefully that appointment will be a good one. Other than this, everything went fabulous. Thank goodness.

Party for a Princess

Brooklee had a wonderful birthday. (So I think!) She got to eat lunch with her best friend Sariah at Speedy B's and then have a yummy dinner with family and friends. She had alot of fun and enjoyed all the goodies everyone brought her. It seriously looked like Santa came and not the birthday fairy.

Happy 4th B-day Brooklee!!

Four years ago, this sweet little girl came into our lives and I can't believe how fast she grown up. She has a heart of gold. Anytime anyone comes to our house to visit she runs into her room and makes them something with her papers, crayons and stickers. Always thinking of others. She is once again doing dance this year and we anxiously are waiting for her first performance. She has turned into being a FABULOUS big sister. She is always right on top of getting me anything Brinley needs. We are truly blessed to have her in our home. She brightens the room everytime she enters it. We love you sis. You are the apple of both your mommy and daddys eye. We can't wait for what this next year of your life will bring.

Prepardness

Who would have thought that I would have turned out to become a domestic housewife? NOT ME! Honestly I have thoroughly enjoyed learning how to can and now I am completely addicted. Nic and I have been super busy the last few days canning some veggies and fruits. I thought we could toot our own horn for a bit and tell everyone everything that we have either canned or that we have freezed.

52 pints of strawberry freezer jam
13 pints of tomatoe sauce (from our garden & from the Decker Familys garden in Snowflake)
23 pints of pasta sauce
14 quarts of chicken
8 quarts size bags of sugary peaches
4 quarts of carrots (from our garden)
1 quart size bag of dehydrated onions
10 quart size bags of corn (from G & G Deckers garden in Snowflake) Thanks again!!!
7 quart size bags of summer squash
26 quarts of apple pie filling

What a satisfaction it is to know we have food in our storage if we ever need it. We still have some more items in the future to can or freeze, but for the most part we are done for now.

Two Months Old..where has the time gone.

I can't believe our baby is two months old already. It seems like yesterday she came into our family. As you can see she is pretty chunky. She loves her food. When we take the bottle out of her mouth...she gets real upset. We tell her when she burps she can have more! Doesn't matter to her though...she wants her food and she wants her food NOW! Brooklee loves reading to her, talking to her, feeding her and just touching her. She is such a sweetheart and we love this chunky monkey very very much.

Golfing in Gods Country

Brinley stayed very warm and very asleep (except when I took this pic) while we were golfing.


She wanted to drive this bad ride the whole time. Poor Brook!!! She did have fun with Grandma looking for golfballs along the fairways. By the way Grandma found 15 golfballs while we were there!!! She rocks!



Not much of a golfer (i think i will stick to softball) but I had awesome coaches. Thanks Nic and Dad!!

Breathtaking. The whole course. Elk poop and all.

Golfing isn't the same without some snacks!!!

This past Saturday we packed up the girls and went up to Alpine with Nics mom, dad and brother Ammon. We had a blast. Besides Nic and I being awful parents and leaving Brinleys diaper bag in St. Johns. Its not cheap buying baby stuff in Alpine at their country store. I will tell ya that. I have never been to the golf course up in Alpine. Oh my goodness. BEAUTIFUL! The weather was perfect. A little chilly. But well well worth it. It was a blast and I hope we can do it more often.

Onions Anyone???

I was awful at taking pictures of the garden we planted this year. This is honestly the only one I have. Oops!! Nic said we planted over 200 onions this year. Crazy huh? I honestly had no idea. We decided to start harvesting our garden recently and once we started to pull these babies out...there was no stopping. Brooklee enjoyed spraying the dirt off them before they were allowed to come into the house. (Don't look to close to her outfit. She is in the stage of dressing herself!) The garden definetly would not have been possible this year without Nic. He is an awesome gardener. He truly loves it and is so good at it. Thanks babe.