Christmas Decorating

This year I had a harder time getting excited about putting Thanksgiving decorations away and getting out all of the Christmas ones. I kind of feel like a scrooge this year, I didn't go crazy on the decorations like I usually do. I knew that if I didn't feel like getting Christmas out I would be even more pregnant when I would have to put it all away. So Toby and the girls were in charge of decorating this year. I pretty much just sat on the floor handing them ornaments for the Christmas tree. They did a great job and I was happy and content not doing much.:) Toby was awesome and helped me out a lot, he is the best.

We only had one tree this year and didn't go out and get a real one. I'm going to have to make up for this next year but for now I am pretty happy with our simple Christmas:).

Toby's Birthday

2 day's after Thanksgiving was Toby's 34th birthday. My parents had to leave before hand but they were so sweet and got him a really nice birthday gift! For his birthday breakfast I made pumpkin waffles, eggs and bacon. We spoiled him rotten all day and then we went on a double date that night with Andrew and Denae to Giletto's, one of our favorite restaurants. The next day was Sunday and we invited some friends over to have cake and Ice cream (and left over pie). Everyone was super nice and came way late because Toby was on call and was stuck in a surgery longer then we thought. We are grateful for such great friends!!

I love my husband so much and feel lucky everyday that I snagged him before someone else did. He is the best thing that ever happened to me and I freaking can't get enough of his sexy self.

Picnic

The last day that my parents were here we decided to head to the park for a picnic with all our yummy leftovers from Thanksgiving. The weather was beautiful when we decided that we'd go but the second we got in the car and got all packed up it got really dark, cold and windy. We had a yummy lunch but didn't stay quite as long as we had hoped because it was freezing cold. The kids of course had fun anyways. The funny thing was about 30 minutes after we left the weather got nice again. Funny how that happens!

We are so lucky to have such awesome family that will drive all the way out here to see us. We appreciate it so much and always look forward to these kind of visits!

Thanksgiving

It was so great having family here for Thanksgiving! My brother Andrew and his wife Denae drove out with their two kids Ander and Hadley from Utah to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had such a nice relaxing time and it was great having lots of help preparing the feast! Toby made is amazing turkey and it was so yummy! I was so happy that even though Toby was on call he didn't have anything come up and was able to hang out with us the whole day. That was huge and I am so grateful for that!
I really love this time of year and feel so blessed. The monday before Thanksgiving we made our thankful list for family home evening and we wrote down "from the ceiling to the floor these are things we are grateful for" It was so fun to think about all the things that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. We have a truly blessed home with so many loved ones. We are healthy and happy and feel at peace with our lives. The girls came up with some really cute things they were thankful for like, Brooklyn really loves coloring and drawing so she said she was grateful for all of her crayons and markers. Nikell loves her pillow (without the pillow case) she said that she was very grateful for her pillow. It was fun to see and hear the things that were most important to them. My mom mentioned she was grateful for genealogy which is one I don't think many of us think of often but I think it is a big one! My dad said he was grateful for his bike and Toby was working but if he would have been there I'm sure he would have said he was grateful for his awesome wife;). I loved sharing this holiday with my family and am so grateful to all of them for coming out to stay with us!!

Grandma and Grandpa

The girls were so excited to have their Grandma and Grandpa Branch come stay for a week. I teach Brooklyn's primary class at church and before I start the lesson every week I ask the kids what fun and exciting thing they did that week. Brooklyn told us that Gma and Gpa were coming and it was so fun to see the excitement in her eyes!!

The day Troy and Jodi left my parents arrived. We love, love having visitors and were so happy that we had a whole two weeks with family here.

Grandpa was amazing as always and took the girls for a bike ride every day. He played games with them and entertained them even when I'm sure he was ready for a big long nap. My mom was so great and helped me so much with cleaning and cooking. I love my parents and only wish we could see them more!! I was so grateful to them for helping me out so much. They even took my girls to dance one day so I could go take pictures of a high school senior. I think I owe them big time for that one because not only did they have the girls for like 3 hours but they also got locked out of our house. Because no one was around to let them in they took the girls to pizza. They are awesome!!

On the girls preschool day's they each had a Thanksgiving feast. Miss Shirley told me that Brooklyn loved it so much that she ate to helpings of everything. They both counted m&m's and they both got to 100. Proud of them:). Granda came with me to pick up Brooklyn and Grandma came with me to pick up Nikell. They were so excited about that!!

Gotta love family!

The week before Thanksgiving and the week of Thanksgiving were awesome! We had lots of family out to visit and had a ton of fun.

First we had Troy and Jodi come out with their two cute kids Noah and Emery Lou (the girls call her Lou Lou). They went to Disneyland for a few day's and then stopped here for a few day's before heading home. The kids had so much fun and it was so nice to hang out with Troy and Jodi! One night we got Brittney to babysit and went to a nice restaurant to eat. It was a nice break from the kids and we had a great time! Also, while they were here I took a few pictures of Lou for a product shoot that I needed pictures for. Lou was my little model and did such a great job. She really is one of the cutest little girls in the world! My girls always say to me "mom, Lou Lou has the cutest face ever" lol they love her!

The turkey hats were what they made at preschool a week before Thanksgiving. They also made popery (not sure if I spelled that right:))