Very Sad Day

Friday was one of the saddest day's I think many of us on this earth have and ever will encounter. It was a day that will be remembered and thought of with very, very heavy hearts. In a small town in Connecticut an elementary school had a nightmare happen. A man entered the school and shot and killed 26 people including very young children from the ages of 5-10 years old. Also killing 6 adults. This horrific thing is something that made every parent in the world grateful to have there little ones safe and I think made every single person realize how precious and fragile our lives are. Whatever turmoil is going in on in our own lives suddenly these things seem small in comparison to what this town and those families are going through. On Friday, I was a mess, crying at every thought of it and very sullen and depressed. I just don't understand why the innocent need to die in such a horrible way. It breaks my heart for those parents who lost a loved one and for those other children who witnessed this horror and have to live with the memories that they don't quite understand. As I went to the school to pick up Brooklyn I was not ok. As she ran to me and jumped in my arms my eyes filled with tears and I began to weep. As I walked to my car I worried that someone may see how I had completely lost it but then immediately didn't care as I kissed my little girl's cheeks all over! A week ago, Brooklyn's school was on lock down for a suspicious noise in the area. It was quickly over and ended up being nothing to worry about but when we returned home Brooklyn told me how they huddled in a corner and how she was really scared. To think about what that would have been like if it were the real thing is unthinkable. Those poor, sweet, children! I pray every second of the day that Heavenly Father is reaching out his arms and wrapping them around those families and all of those who are in pain, giving them comfort. I pray that those people can come to know the plan of salvation and that they can know that they will be reunited with their little ones sooner then they realize. My heart is broken for these people and for this terrible tragedy. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the gospel and to know that our savior died for us so that we may live forever as an Eternal Family.

Brooklyns 6 Year Pictures

There are so many things I love about this little girl! She is getting so smart and has so many talents. I love the energy that she has for life, she loves experiencing new things and she gets so excited being out and about and around anyone and everyone. She seems to be such an extravert at this time in her life. She gets energy when she is around people and she is the happiest when she has something to do or somewhere to go. Brooklyn's favorite thing to do is to draw. She loves to color and draw and she could sit for hours at the table creating new pictures for all of her family and friends. One of my favorite things about Brooklyn is her laugh. She has the cutest laugh in the world and that mixed with her cute little voice makes me want to kiss her cheeks off. I love Brooklyn so much and am so glad she was my first baby, she is such an amazing big sister!

Brittney

For Brooklyn's 6 year old pictures I asked Brittney to help us out a little. I wanted to take her pictures with a pony and because Brittney knows a lot of people who own horses I asked her if she knew anyone that had a pony. Her friend Sara works at a place that has a pony so Brittney went with us over there one night to take Brooklyn's pictures. I don't know if I have wrote much about Brittney lately but things for her lately have not been great. about 6 or 7 months ago after our she came with us to Disneyland I could tell that she was struggling with something. She was becoming more distant and when she was around she didn't seem the same, she looked sad and I got a feeling like she wasn't in a good place. About 2 months ago she finally came to me and told me what was going on. She is pregnant. This news was not easy news to take and I have had a really hard time with it. I love Brittney like she was my own sister and I want more for her. I am so sad that she made this decision in her life. She has decided to keep the baby and she is not sure if she is going to stay with her boyfriend or not. She is very confused right now and she seems to be very lost. I hope and pray she makes wise decisions from here on out. I love her and am going to support her as much as I can. But I definitely don't stand back and watch her do these things without voicing my opinion. She knows that I am never going to give up on her. She has now moved out of our house and moved in with her mom and dad. We don't see her as often so when we do the girls get very excited. Brittney still makes an effort to see us and babysit the girls when we have needed her. She is awesome and I will never find another Brittney. I love her so much! We all do! Now that things might change a lot I don't ever want to forget these past 5 years when Brittney has been such an amazing person in my life and my girls life. She loves my kids like they were her own and she has been there for them and made us all so happy. I love the way she is with my girls and I love the way they have loved her. I will never forget all she has done for us she is amazing!

Best Friends

Every night before I go to bed I go upstairs and check in on the girls.  I love watching them sleep they are just so peaceful!  The other night I went upstairs to check on them and right when I walked in Brooklyn and Nikell's room I looked at Nikell's bed and she was no where to be seen.  I looked in there bathroom and she wasn't there so I kind of started to panic a little.  I ran into my room and she wasn't there and she wasn't in my bathroom either.  I ran back to her room and climbed up the ladder and low and behold Nikell was fast asleep in Brooklyn's bed with her.  This has never happened before so I was beyond surprised to see this.  They looked so dang cute cuddled up together so I had to get the camera. The next day I asked Nikell why she slept in Brooklyn's bed and she told me it was because Brooklyn was scared so she wanted to help her.  So cute!

No training wheels!

So we haven't been the best at teaching Brooklyn to ride her bike without training wheels.  Toby has gone out with her a couple of times and she has been getting a little closer to doing it on her own.  She had done it a few times but still wasn't super comfortable.  When my dad was here he worked with her a little bit and she was a champ.  She is now riding her bike so awesome and she seems to love it!  My dad is the greatest and every time he comes out here he takes the girls on numerouse bike rides everyday.   They love it so much and love their Grandpa so much too!!

Pumpkin Patch round 2

My parents came into town with my sister and her kids, Abby and Isaac.  They stayed for a week and it was seriously the best week ever.  We had such a blast!  I love my family and appreciate so much when they take the time out of their crazy busy lives to come visit us!
We heated our pool and it was so worth it.  The kids swam every day almost all day long.  They had the best time and it was so much fun watching them have so much fun.  One of the first day's they were here we went to the pumpkin patch.  We went earlier in the day and it was great because it wasn't busy at all.  One of the highlights was racing the bikes. My dad won of course, which is no surprise.:)
We did the corn maze and the train.  It was a lot of fun!
We also did some other fun things.  We celebrated Isaac's birthday, we headed up to Sanora for the day and went to columbia and had a picnic then walked around up there.  It was actually really differnt then other times we had been up there because they were celebrating something and had a bunch of vendors there lining the dirt road.  The kids LOVED panning for gold.  Nikell and I actually found a tiny piece.
Afterwards we went to feed the ducks and then drove home.  Later that night Toby took me and Shannon out on a date to Dewz, our favorite restaurant.  I think he secretly loved having two pretty ladies on his arm for the evening.  I love Shannon so much and wish so much I could be closer to her.  I miss her and the fun times we have together when we get the time.