The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We have had SO much fun the past few days! Wednesday Todd took the girls sledding, and Ty and I watched from the warm van. :) There was barely enough snow, but the girls loved it! And let's be honest, so did Todd. Such a great dad!

CHRISTMAS EVE:
Quite possibly the best night of the year!

Can you believe how big my girls' mouths are?! They were quite the performers, singing many of their songs from their preschool program. Bronwyn did such a great job. She has come so far this last year, it's hard to believe she used to have stage fright!

For the first time, the family did a nativity program.
It was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend the evening.
Magdalen was an angel, and she was oh so beautiful in her wings from "Auntie Emily".

Bronwyn wanted to be the star, like she was at school.

She loved holding her little tea light, so that she could sparkle like a real star.

My Wise Man.

Looks pretty great, huh?

Carrots and cookies for Santa and Rudolph.

CHRISTMAS MORNING
Playing with our new bug puppets.

Just what she wanted!

The girls did a great job waiting their turn, and loved all their gifts!

Look who can stand up all by himself! I'm in trouble!

The oldest and youngest members of our family.
Grandma Gigi: 103 years. Ty: 9 1/2 months.

We had a wonderful Christmas season this year!

Just what I wanted....

There have been a few Christmases in my life when I have gotten exactly what I wanted. When I was 5 I got a stuffed parrot that recorded what I said, and repeated it back to me. A real dream come true. Several years later, Santa brought me a glow in the dark poster of all the constellations that I am certain would still be on my ceiling if my parents still lived in the house I grew up in. The last few years have sadly been filled with disappointment. As a new mom, I have dreamed of giving my children the greatest Christmas imaginable. But for some reason my kids always end up crying and throwing fits during most of the day. Now, I don't know how my kids will be this year, but here we are, several days before Christmas, and I have already gotten everything single thing I wanted this year.

Hand made ornaments and gifts from my girls.

Time with wonderful friends.

ROCKBAND!
This year Todd and I decided to forgo giving eachother gifts, and got ourselves Rockband. It has been SO much fun! Todd is really good about finding the perfect gift for me, and I usually end up with something sparkly underneath the tree. But for this year, it really worked out wonderfully.

A sweet school program.

Both of the girls did great in their Christmas program at preschool. I was nervous because Bronwyn typically does not enjoy performing, but she really exceeded my expectations, and totally made me cry. (videos at the bottom of the post)

Magsy typically loves to perform, and she did a great job too.
Both girls also sang in Sacrament meeting with Todd and I. I seriously am in shock that Bronwyn has been doing so much performing!

Two wonderful Grandmas!

Fun pictures will all 5 of us.

Homemade cookies!

A day at the ice rink.

And a night at the lights.

An evening of service.
We dressed up as Snow Princesses, and delivered gifts to needy families.
The girls had a blast, and it was just all around awesome.

Puzzles!

Time with family.
Sure, it sounds cheesy, but time with the ones you love really is the best present.

5 years, and counting...

I was on my music therapy internship, in Orem, when I found out I was pregnant with Bronwyn. Todd and I were only together on weekends, so I sent him this picture on our cell phones to show him the positive pregnancy test. I was supposed to wait until Friday to take a test (the next time we would be together.) But I only made it until Tuesday!

Bronwyn was due on Dec. 19th, but surprised us when my water broke right after I had gone to bed on December 7th. Here I am holding her a few hours after she was born, on Dec. 8th. When I had her, I really had NO IDEA what I had gotten myself into! Looking back over the past 5 years I see that we have really had quite the journey together. I have found myself getting quite nostalgic today, and even holding back a few tears here and there. How can my baby already be 5 years old?

Named after my dad, Bron; Bronwyn is the only grandchild my dad ever met. She was only 10 months old when he died, and taking care of her really helped through it all. I will always treasure the few months I got to see my dad be a grandpa.

Being the oldest, Bronwyn surely experiences the worst parenting out of all of our kids. By the time Magdalen hits the phase Bronwyn has just grown out of, we are much more capable of handling the situation. But so far, I don't think we have done too much emotional damage. :) Also being the oldest makes me feel like she is my bud, too. I can talk to and reason with her the most. I can also count on her to help me out. She loves helping me take care of Ty, and is pretty good about helping me around the house. She is old enough that she and I can have secrets too. Our favorite is telling Magsy that Bronwyn is going to nap (which she hasn't done in MONTHS), just so Magsy will take a nap. Once Magsy is asleep Bronwyn comes out of the office and hangs with me while the other two kids nap. She will spend hours at the kitchen counter coloring or painting, talking to me all the while. I love it!

Uma took her to Build a Bear tonight, and she made a TinkerBell Unicorn. Too cute! Bronwyn loves ALL things TinkerBell. Tonight she even told me that she thinks TinkerBell is bringing her more presents tomorrow. Hmm... Hope she isn't too disappointed!

We ended the day with a trip to the Cheesecake Factory. The girls really liked going there. They were looking all around saying, "WOW, this is a cool restaurant!". We slipped the waitor a TinkerBell ornament to bring out with Bronwyn's dessert, and she was THRILLED! The look on her face was priceless. She says she is going to keep it on her dresser forever.

We have certainly had our ups and downs, but being Bronwyn's mom is awesome. I have loved watching her grow up and develop into who she is today over the past 5 years. I look forward to the see what the next 5 years have in store for us. And to finish the post, I am going to list the top 5 words that I think describe my little bug.

1- Musical: Not so much for public performing, but in the privacy of our own home Bronwyn can almost always be found singing and dancing. She makes up her own songs all the time, sings to her babies, and is memorizing Christmas songs like crazy.

2- Crafty: Scissors, glue, tape, paint, stickers you name it-she loves it all! Bronwyn loves creating. Sidenote, she totally drew a picture of me and drew "bumps" on it. Bumps is the word my girls use for boobs. Hmmm.. wonder what they'll say when I'm done nursing and the bumps disappear.... :) LOL!

3- Loving: Bronwyn is constantly telling us that she loves us, and I makes my day. She also shows concern and compassion towards Magsy and Ty when they are upset. She likes pretending with her dolls, and seems to have a true desire to take care of people.

4- Crazy: The world is her jungle gym. Bronwyn can be found on any countertop, behind any couch, under any table.... She loves to scream and run and be out of control!

Expressive: Hopefully she will learn not to let her emotions rule her when she is older, but for now, you never have to wonder what she is feeling. It's not always bad though. Her facial expressions and storytelling eyes bring lots of animation and entertainment to our home.

Love you Bronny!

A Life Well Lived

This is the last picture I have of my grandpa and myself together. It was taken just a few weeks before he passed away. Knowing that the end was near, Hilary, my mom, and I packed up the kids and drove out to spend a couple days with him. It was a wonderful trip that came at the perfect time. Grandpa was walking and talking, and we were able to really enjoy some time together. Memories I will always treasure.

My kids were in heaven in the huge backyard, equipped with motorized cars and a kids' cabin.

We enjoyed a hot dog roast in the backyard, complete with campfire songs. I felt just like a kid again! My grandpa had a love for melody and lyrics, and I was lucky enough to inherit it too!


My grandparents were the first in our blood line to join the church. Grandpa even had to quit smoking. I am so grateful that they raised their family in the gospel. What a gift to us all.


Here I am with my cousin Trudy and her son Beau. Our boys are just a few weeks apart in age, and looked so cute in their onesies with ties!

Hilary and I at the funeral. A beautiful tribute to an exceptional man. Norman Ingoldsy, you are loved and missed. Thanks for your legacy.

Happy Birthday, Uma!

Happy birthday mom! While you and Hil are living the life of luxury and travel, the girls and I made some birthday videos for you. The one of Magsy is her telling the story of when she was sick and throwing up at the hotel. It is so funny. She tells it all the time. She even prays that she "won't get any more of Uma's germs at the black hotel." Hilarious!

It sounds to me like you had a great birthday, even without me. :) You deserve it! You have and always will be a wonderful mom. I appreciate all that you do for me, and for my family. I love seeing you with my girls, and seeing how much they love and admire you. I love you!

Happy Birthday!

Lunch and Laughter.

The girls' personalities are really blossoming lately. They are starting to figure out humor, and are often hiding behind the couch and jumping up and yelling "BOO!" to startle me. Bronwyn also loves to come up behind me, tap me on the shoulder, and run away. She really cracks herself up! But the most humorous moments are still the unplanned ones. Lunchtime today was especially delightful. We were singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children", (meals take FOREVER at our house, as my children obviously can't zero in on just eating!). After we finished singing, Magsy looks at me, and with all the innocence in the world asks: "Does Heavenly Father love teenagers, too?" It took ALOT of willpower to not laugh at her question!

There was a time when I wondered if Bronwyn would ever learn how to get along with other kids. I avoided playgroup for almost a year because she would hit and kick all the kids. So seeing her at preschool with all of her friends brings me so much joy. She sure has changed! Here she is with her best friend from school at their Halloween party. Bronwyn is a great big sister to Ty, and really loves babies, and talks all the time about becoming a mommy someday. Also at lunch today Bronwyn tells me: "Mom, I'm going to be the greatest mom because I'm going to have cuter names." I will try not to take offense to this one since I couldn't be happier with the names we have chosen! She also talks about having 20,000 babies, and says she is going to go live in outer space when her kids are grown. Where does she come up with it all?

Also today, while I was preparing lunch, and not really paying attention to all the jibber jabber coming from the girls, Bronwyn says to me "Mom, why do you keep forgetting that I'm growing up?". Hmmm... wonder what I responded to incorrectly...

Since I am posting, I will do a short Halloween summary. This year I hosted the cousin party, and we had a lot of fun. Here are all the cousins about to hit the neighborhood. It is SO fun to see all the girls dressed up every year. I love living close to family, and hope that I am making at least a small contribution to my neices' childhoods.



Our ward also had a Harvest (but really Halloween) party, and there was Karaoke singing. Magsy really wanted to sing, so she went up and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" a capella. She was So adorable and did a great job. I think she is definitely taking after her mother!