Veterans Day at the Zoo

For Veterans Day we decided to go to the Zoo-- us and everyone else in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area! It was very crowded and we had to park about a mile away but we still had a great time.

Brynlie & Kohler outside the new Koala exhibit. They were really cute, they looked like stuffed animals.

Looking at the Wallabies.

Climbing trees.

I love this picture!

Sweet Lauren.

Resting in the stroller.

The Zoo has a carousel and every time we go, the kids want to ride it. So this time I FINALLY let them.

Kohler

Brynlie. She wasn't sure about the ride. As soon as it started, she said, "Down."

Alyssa.

Lauren was so happy! She's so cute.

It was a tiring but fun day out with the kids.

Brynlie is 2!!

This month starts our crazy holiday season where we celebrate three birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all within two months!

This past week was Brynlie's birthday! She's the baby of the family and I can't believe she's already 2! When she was born I thought, "When she's 2, Hanna will be 12, Kamary will be 10 and Alyssa will be getting ready to be baptized, Kohler will be in school and Lauren will be 4!" I couldn't imagine it...and now here we are. It's crazy how fast time flies and how quickly they grow up. We love Brynlie and enjoy her fun personality every day!

She finally has the present unwrapping thing down. She didn't need any help from siblings this year and she let them know it!

Grandma & Grandpa Wheeler gave her a stuffed monkey. She really loved it. She calls every mammal a monkey. She has started calling the dog "pooch-monkey". It's really cute.

Cuddling with the monkey.

Opening more presents.

Siblings kept trying to help and Brynlie told them "Mine," all day. I don't know where she learned it, I think it's an inherent two year old thing because she had never said it until her birthday.

Hanna worked really hard painting this picture for Brynlie. We're going to hang it on her wall.

Brynlie got a pull dog toy for her birthday. She really likes it.

Brynlie's favorite song is "Lollipop". Every time we're in the car she wants me to play it, so naturally, we made her a lollipop cake!

I think she approves.

Yummy cake.

She also got a baby stroller for her birthday. She's waiting for Dad to put it all together.

Here's our sweet Brynlie. Such a big girl. Of course, she wouldn't be two without throwing a tantrum and she rose to the task, several times, actually.

With the stroller done, she zoomed around the house.

Here she is with her stroller, bear and new birthday princess jammies.

She got this bear from Grandma & Grandpa Smith. She loved it!

Mommy in training.

Against my better judgement, she also got bubbles for her birthday.

Here is a cute video of Brynlie blowing out the candles!

Spotlight

Favorite Song: Lollipop

Favorite Movie: Baby Einstein (especially the animal ones)

Favorite Story: Little Lamb

Favorite Food: Bananas (if I let her, she'd eat them all day)

Favorite Activity: She loves to sing and dance. She loves listening to music, playing with her big sisters and she loves to get "pretty"--painting nails and dressing up.

Favorite Color: Pink

Funny Sayings: She's talking so much now. She says no, which means yes. Says Mom for both Mom & Dad, calls every mammal a monkey, she can sing Hannah Montana, High School Musical and more. When we're in the car and listening to music she says, "Turn it up."

Nicknames: Binnie, Brynners, B

Other fun things: She loves to go out. She'll get her shoes on and wants to "go". She loves going to the store and being outside. She loves to say her prayers, playing with Dad, and she loves to jump, jump, jump. She is such a fun little girl and we all love her to pieces. We're so glad she's part of our family.

Happy Halloween!

I'm a lover of holidays. They add some excitement to the droll of every day life and it gives a great excuse to spend time together and create family traditions.

Halloween was on a Sunday this year and I'm glad because we actually spread out our festivities over the entire weekend. It was nice, because sometimes it's a lot to pack into one day.

Usually I'm lazy and just make sliced apples and caramel dip, but this year we made real caramel apples with nuts, drizzled chocolate and sprinkles. As you can tell by this picture-- it was very yummy.

Carving pumpkins. This year I got one for each kid (the younger ones got the small pie pumpkins). That worked out great because they could all be creative and there was no fighting! :) I'll be doing that every year.

Here is Lauren's hair. She was Cinderella this year and so we made her hair so "pretty". She loved it!

From the back.

Here she is in her costume.

And another back shot.

Kohler wanted to be a skeleton.

He thought it was cool that we painted his face white.

Alyssa was a Musketeer this year.

A very cute Musketeer.

We always call Brynlie, "B". So it's only fitting that she is a "B"for Halloween. :)

I was going to make black antennas to put on her headband, but I put two piggies in her hair and thought it looked so cute, I just left it that way.

Kamary is a funny girl. She has made an alter ego for herself. She is Kamary Smith, but also Gaine (pronounced Jane) Smith-- rock star (kind of like Hannah Montana vs. Miley Cyrus). So this year, she dressed up as Gaine Smith. She's even written a song called "We Will Survive". It actually is catchy and I find myself singing it during the day. Lauren sings it all the time. She's Gaine Smith's first and biggest fan!

A close up.

I haven't dressed up in years and decided that this year I would be Jane Austen's, Emma. It was a lot of fun.

Another back shot.

Jason did Hanna's makeup.

He did a GREAT job! Hanna went as Darth Maul this year. They made her lightsaber out of PVC pipe. She was pretty excited about it.


Close up. Some people had a hard time recognizing her.


All my cute kiddos together.

In the car, after the trunk or treat party.

On Halloween we have a tradition of eating Taco Soup out of a pumpkin. Yummy!

Here's our spooky Jack-o-lanterns.

We made Mummy cupcakes for dessert (out of devils food cake, of course).

Here are our spider web decorations. The kids look forward to Halloween each year and this year we really had a great time!!