Happy Birthday Kaylie and Alyssa!

The twins also had a birthday this week! They turned 7!! I somehow see them stuck at age 5, so it's always funny to see them growing up! Danny had to work but the kids and I headed down to the Springs for the Hip Hop Dance party! Bronwyn of course loves it! At first the girls were all getting into a little dress up fun. the twins helped to get Bronwyn all dressed up. Would you beleive that my camera was lost and I was left with no pictures to take?!?! Shannon sent me over this picture of Bronwyn with the girls.












The party was at a dance studio and there was an instructor who was teaching the girls some moves. Bronwyn stills like to dance to her own beat, but was having lots of fun and trying to join in the lessons! Cake as always was her favorite part! That is one little girl who won't waste her peice!

Reindeer Romp!

Our friends Barb, Brandon, Kaitlin and Zoey invited us to something they found at the library. It was called the Reindeer Romp. they were going to have little crafts for the kids and a real reindeer there! So of course, we headed out to join them! It was really cute! There were lots of people working each little "station". Bronwyn made reindeer feed to leave out christmas eve, a little reindeer on a stick, and a reindeer out of her handprint. She also played bingo and do a bean bag toss. There really was alot to do being that it was free. We also got to see the reindeer! One of Santa's helpers had him outside. The reindeer actually started moving alot and scared Bronwyn a little. Of course Hayden was there too, but he's just so good it's like I forget about him! We always get the stroller picture though!

Merry Christmas!

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We're having lots of Christmas fun... are you?!?!

Pictures from My Brother's Trip Out!

While my brother was in town we went to dinner at Casa Bonita. Can't say that the food is the reson to go, but the entertainment is always fun. The kids really like the shows that wereput on while we ate. Bronwyn wanted to go in Bad Bart's Cave over and over again! I thought for sure she would be scared. Whenever they are in town there is so much food! My mom always cooks big dinners or we go out to eat. And there are always desserts! I love having them in town. I love that Bronwyn really remembers them now. She acually blesses them almost every night when she says her prayers. ♥

Just when you thought you knew what to be thankful for...

Our Thanksgiving started out like past years, a lunch at Danny's Dad and Evelyn's house. Lots of food and family! Evelyn's son Normando and his wife Jamie, and her daughter Suyzel and her family are always there. It's great to get together. Everyone goes around the table and says what they are thankful for. Bronwyn said that she was thankful for her brother and her mommy and daddy. Then she added in that she was thankful for Grandpa and Abuela. I am thankful that I can feel like so much a part of Danny's family. Jim and Evelyn always make me feel welcome. They always are happy to see us and enjoy spending time with the kids. I am also of course thankful for the family that Danny and I have created. Bronwyn is truly our little princess. Having Hayden this year makes me so happy! Last year I thankful for a successful pregnancy. But to have him in our lives this year is a feeling much more than I can describe. Here are a few pictures from our lunch with them!

Then we head over to my parents house for our Thanksgiving Dinner! This year my brother Roger, Dolly, Peyton, and Hunter came out to visit. I love having them in town and getting to spend time with them. this is the part of the night where things get crazy. Just as were finishing up dinner Hayden suddenly vomits all over the high chair!!! He had been running a fever for going on 24 hours but he seems to do that every time he has a new tooth coming in. So we were watching it, but really thought that that was all it was. But after that reaction, and having not really eaten anyway, I called our pediatricians on call service. Thankfully our doctor was on call for the night. He had another patient coming in the office so he said we could come down and meet him too. Because we love our doctor and are not willing to switch, we had a 1/2 hour drive to his office. So Bronwyn stayed with my family for dessert and off we went with Hayden. Turns out he had an ear infection!!! So back home we headed with a prescription for an antibiotic. Can you guess how many pharmacies are open around 8:00pm on Thanksgiving night??? ONE!!! And it was another 20 minure drive in the opposite direction!!! Obviously all worth it to make sure Hayden could feel better as fast as possible. So we had ALOT to be thankful for this year, especially a doctor who made time for us when we were pretty frightened about what was going on with our precious little boy.
Here are just a couple pictures I took before the night came to an end! You can see just how terrible Hayden was feeling. (Well, actually the night did not end there... Evelyn, Suyzel and I met back up for our new midnight madness shopping tradition. We were out till 5am or something! I was SO tires after all this day brought!)

Hayden is 8 months Old!

My little Hayden is 8 months old! And what a sweetie! He's on the go! He's a slow crawler but he does get around. He's really funny when he gets all tangled up in his own legs! He also is working on his 6th tooth! He is super sweet of course and it just would not be the same without him in our lives! Here's a little clip of one of his latest meals! Don't ask me what this was about. Maybe just not the taste he was hoping for!


Hayden's latest favorites include:
* bathtime with Bronwyn
* making monster noises
* his new carseat
* playing in Bronwyn's room
* getting Sadie to lick his hands (YUCK!)

Our Trip to the North Pole!

For the last couple years we have been taking a trip to the North Pole (right here in Colorado) for Danny's Moms birthday. This year our trip had to get a little rescheduled, but we still wanted to get there being as Hayden didn't get the chance to be the youngest in the family picture. We usually go in the summer, but when we finally found the time, we were just heading into Christmas! So it was fun for Bronwyn to get to see Santa and tell him what she wanted! (Last year she was screaming to get off his lap!) She was very brave and sat right up on Santa's lap and asked for a "dolly house". She did so good! Once our picture was taken care of, we stopped at some of the rides. There is not too much that she can actually go on, but we found everything that was "Bronwyn Sized"! Hayden spent the trip in the stroller (as usual) but still had a fun time! Check out some of our pictures!

Girls Night!

We have some of the best friends out there! We are lucky enough to live really close to two of my earliest friends from when I first moved to Colorado. I have been friends with Lisa and Barb for 20 years now! And it's pretty neat that we each have girls right around the same age! We love getting together with our friends or having them over to our house. Bronwyn always talks about Kaitlin, Zoey, and Hailey. They all get along pretty well... or at least as well as you can expect for little girls under the age of 5!!! I do need someone else to have another boy now, but wither way, we are thankful for such great friends!

Happy Birthday Grandma Jones!!!

Danny's Grandmother had to be moved into a nursing home earlier this year. We've celebrated her bigger birthdays, like her 80th and 85th, but she was turning 87 this year I felt like we should really all get together to celebrate her! Evelyn and I worked together to put together a surprise party at a room in the nursing home. We decided to theme it around Thanksgiving. Unfortunally due to a big snow storm that started the night before, Danny's borthers were not able to make the drive. But the rest of us went on with the celebration! Grandma Jones seemed really happy to see us all there. She was so surprised that everything had been taken care of and that she was just suppose to relax and enjoy. We had LOTS of food, delicious cake, and then she was able to open a few gifts.
"A garden of love grows in a grandmother's heart." -Author Unknown

(and thanks Jim & Evelyn, I needed your pictures so I stole them!)

Cheese Please!

A fun easy way to get Bronwyn to eat a more nutritious snack... cookie cutters and slices of cheese! She thought it was so much fun! It's amazes me I do to create a little fun! ♥

Happy Birthday Evelyn/Abuela!

Evelyn was not doing anything special to celebrate her birthday this year so we decided to take a surprise trip to her office! Bronwyn and I made her a giant cupcake because we believe everyone needs at least one! So with much effort, I made it to her building and into her office with both kids and a slightly slid-around cake! (oops!) Evelyn was happy to see us and spend a few minutes with the kids. Bronwyn was a little sad to have to leave the cake behind... that little girl LOVES her sweets!

A night with Drew!

My nephew Drew came over for a night to play while my brother Danny and Rachael were busy. He's alot of fun to have around. I love that Bronwyn, Hayden and Drew are all growing up together!

"No, I can do it!"

That is something we hear alot around here. Bronwyn wants to do EVERYTHING herself. Here's a video clip of what it takes to get out of her clothes! I even missed the start to it... lots of wiggling and turning in circles. And then, you apparently have to change places alot in order to get it to work!

Always Snow at Halloween...

Something in the Colorado air always calls for snow at Halloween. This year it happened just days before and brought crazy amounts of snow to our streets. Luckily alot had melted in time for our trick-or-treating, but Bronwyn and I got to get out for a little play! We built her 1st snowman with our Snowman Kit we got from Danny's mom last year. It was lots of fun getting it done and letting Bronwyn put the pieces on. She checked on it every morning until there was nothing left of it!

Let's begin back with Halloween!

I've decided that for as many years as they will let me, I will choose what my kids can be for Halloween. It's really fun to come with a neat idea. This year Bronwyn and Hayden made their appearance as Little Miss Muffet and the Spider! Bronwyn was really excited for the "unveiling" of her costume. (Hayden of course just had to go along with it.) James and Sarah came up with Alex and Logan and we went out trick-or-treating together. First we headed down to my parents house for goods and some pictures. Just a few houses into it and Hayden was out!!! After that we walked to Danny's dad and Evelyn's house. There we met up with Suyzel, Isela, and T.J. and did a little more trick-or-treating. Bronwyn seemed to really have fun with it and get the idea of the steps: ring the doorbell, get candy, say thank you. Then we headed home in time to pass out candy to some neighborhood kids of our own. Bronwyn loved filling their bags!




The next day I decided we would dress them up again and head out to Boo at the Zoo with our friends Barb and Kaitlin. It was fun, but I think Bronwyn had just had enough! It was hot and she was tired so we actually didn't come home with too much more candy. But we always love getting together with friends!

A Blog for Bronwyn

I feel that I should take a minute and give Bronwyn some credit for all her efforts in potty training. I would say we are about 99.8% potty trained. A few months back my Aunt Marie told my mom what her daughter had done with one of hers boys and to try it. It seemed simple enough, so we tried it. One day when I went to change Bronwyn I went to grab a diaper only to find that *UT-OH*... we were out!!! I told her that we had some big girl panties but there were no more diapers! And it sort of worked. Of course there was stress... accidents... and countless numbers of panties used in the beginning, but then it began to stick. We started with treats, like m&m's and other small candy. I even let her pick change out of my wallet for her "ice cream man" fund. Now she just goes "bribe free"! (Unless of course she just wants some candy, she too smart and goes potty just so she can ask for some!) She knows when she needs to go and actually seems to feel bad if she does have an accident. She evens holds her tummy and says "my tummy hurts" when she feels like she has to go! She's been doing great! I'm able to take her out in public accident free now. (Well, most of the time!) But we're done with diapers! And that is fabulous! We put her in pull-ups for bedtime and usually for naps. But she stays dry overnight! I'm happy to have stuck with the trying. Two in diapers was going to break my bank!!!

Mommy Graphics

Hayden is 7 months old!!!

I know, I know, I can't believe it either! But 7 months has passed since this little sweetie entered our world! Hayden just got his 3rd tooth in! And not where you would expect to see it, his bottom two are both in and the next was on the bottom also. He's kinda like a little jack-o-lantern now! Although he is not crawling yet, I had to set up the pack-in-play to be able to "corral' him a little when I'm trying to get things done. He was super excited to get to sit in it for the 1st time. Him... and of course Bronwyn! Danny tried telling her that she gets the whole house, can't he just have this little space to himself?!?! Nope! She can get in and out of it herself so there is just no stopping her! Here's a fun clip of them together. We had the Wizard of Oz on and Bronwyn likes to get her drum and pretend that she is in a marching band when the munchkins are on! Hayden was getting into the groove too! Almost ready for take off!!!

Hayden's New Favorites Include:
* being able to hold himslef up on his arms, especially in the crib to look out over the bumper
* sitting up for long periods of time... but once he topples he can't get back up!
* smiling for mommy's camera!
* being tickled
* eating anything you'll get him get close enough to!

Annual trip to Anderson's Farms!

After having to postpone our trip to the pumpkin farm last weekend due to the weather, we tried going to again this weekend. It was an absolute perfect day. The temperature actually got up in the 80's! We always meet for breakfast and then head out to Anderson Farms. I love getting there and seeing everything going on! With the weather being so nice it was so much busier this year. There were a few things we just were not able to do or didn't have time for. But there is always so much going on that it didn't matter. Bronwyn loved going through everything. She was excited to run through the mazes the most! My favorite part is of course the ride out to the pumpkin patch. We get to feed some cows and then the ride begins! There were so many perfect pumkins this year! We picked up two small ones, one Bronwyn sized and one Hayden sized! I love being there! Regaurdless of the weather or how many people are able to join us, we always have fun. When I asked Bronwyn if she had fun she said yes and asked if we could go back! That's enough for me to know she had memorable time!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Loving the Leaves!

Practically overnight it seemed our yard was covered in leaves from our two trees out front. We took some time to rake them up while Bronwyn took some time to play, and jump, and lay in them! Even Hayden had to get in the action a little! He quickly got a fistful of crunched leaves that he really wanted to taste... I had to step in before that happened!

my little best friends

I seem to post pictures and little captions saying that Bronwyn and Hayden are best friends. But I do believe that they truly are! Bronwyn absolutly adores Hayden. I love watching her wake up in the morning and go on her "Hayden Hunt"! She has to find him, grab his little had and give him kisses! She's always sweet around him. And he really gets a kick out of her too. He's always laughing at her and watching everything she does! He'll be sitting in his jumper and she'll be just running around and it's like he waits for her to come notice him. And Bronwyn is very helpful with Hayden too. He usualyl wants to eat while I am making dinner so between spoonfulls, she helps out by feeding him his puffs! I hope they grow up to be the best of friends. To know that they can always depend on each other and know they will always be there for one another! ♥

Bronwyn loves to bake!

This little girl cannot get enough out of helping in the kitchen. She loves getting to help shake, mix, and pour when it comes to making dinner. In the morning she helps Danny to make his coffee. I bought some of the "break and bake" style cooking for her to make again this year! Then I thought I would go through last year blog and see the difference between the pictures. How crazy how she's changed in the last year. She was so much more babyish... now she's a big girl!!! Hopefully, I can still say that for a few more years!
Here's her last years picture!













And this year!!! She's too cute and had so much fun! Especially gettting to eat them! I'm sure that will be her favorite part every year!

Super Market Sweeties!

I needed a desperate trip to the grocery store this week. That or we were going to go hungry... so after our fun for the day we headed off for our chores! It was the 1st time that Hayden rode in the front of the cart. In the past I have had to put his carseat carrier in the back on the basket, as it doesn't latch onto the front. That left Bronwyn to sit in the front until I had too much stuff packed around her and Hayden and she would have to get out and walk. Now that Hayden is able to sit upright better I decided it was day to try him sans-carrier! He was having too much fun getting to look around and watch everything from this new view. The back of the cart was filling up and Bronwyn got out so she could walk with me. Which turned into her being sleepy and needing to be carried. Before I knew it Hayden was asleep. Bronwyn squeezed her skinny self in next to him in the seat and, after using Hayden as a pillow, fell asleep too.
They were the talk of the entire store as we made our way to the checkout! Every woman was asking how old they each were. Some were offering to let me go ahead of them in line! The associates were all watching them and calling one another over to see them as well. It was fun! Then... silly people... were saying, "too bad you can't get a picture of that"! Silly... I already had!!! A good mommy NEVER leaves the house without her camera!!!

Hayden is 6 Months Old!

Hard to believe, I know, but our little man is now 6 months old! We took him in for some 6 month pictures and he was such a ham for the camera! I brought Bronwyn along for a sibling shot, but the girl is just too sweet and I ended up buying more packages of just her too! When the pictures are perfect I cannot pass them up!

Hayden's newest favorites include:
*grabbing anything in site (especially mommy and Bronwyn's hair, mommy's necklace and various facial features)
*chewing on ANYTHING he can gets his hands on!
*sleeping from 9pm to 6am (thank you!!!)
*eating soft mushy foods
*eating little puffs! He cannot seem to get enough!
*learning to use his sippy cup for juice!

Our Grandparents Day Visits!

We decided to spend the day visiting with all of the Grandparents around town! We made them each a little print of pictures of them with Bronwyn and Hayden. Bronwyn loved being the deliveree! First we met up with Grandpa and Abuela at their house and Bronwyn brought her surprise to the door. We headed out with them to visit Great-Grandma Jones at the nursing home where she lives. Aunt Mary was also there so it was great to spend the time with everyone.


Next we headed over to visit with Grandma Deb and Grandpa Scotty. We got to catch up for a bit while Brownyn found some fun to get into and Hayden showed off his new tricks!
We ended the back at home having my parents over for dinner. "Pa-pa" and "Gammy" came over and ate with us and hung out for awhile. We had a fun day visiting with everyone and sharing the day with some of the most special people in our lives!

Happy Grandparents Day!

To all the grandparents in our lives and in our hearts, we love you! ♥

Zoey's 1st Birthday party!!!

This weekend our favorite little friend turned 1!!! Zoey celebrated in style with a carnival themed party her mommy worked all kinds of crazy hard on! And I got to help with the setup, which was really fun! I made Zoey the much loved giant cupcake for her party. Bronwyn had lots of fun at the Carnival playing games, winning tickets, and cashing them in for prizes and treats! Hayden seemed to enjoy all the action around him!
Of course... lots of photo fun!!! Enjoy!