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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Summer Fun

  Our summer was very full of fun, laughter, and those we love! It could very well go down in history as the most awesome summer. Yet. Ever.

My super handsome brother and his super gorgeous wife came and visited us for a week from Hawaii! We all stayed together at my parents house so we saw them a lot! Kristen was especially sweet and helped me with the girls so much. I got a glimpse of how awesome it would be to have a cool sister-in-law living close to us. We got to check out the NEW and very much improved, Living Planet Aquarium! Brynlee wanted to touch EVERYTHING! :)









We had our annual Stubbs family BBQ where we all grub out and swim at my Uncle's house! Brenna was a fish and stayed in the water the whole time. Brynlee wasn't very into it but did end up liking her floatable car! :)







Daddy-Daughter Game Night at the Bee's Stadium! My dad took me (*awe*) and Joe took Brenna to the game! This was Brenna's first ballgame. And to our surprise we ran into a few princesses! Of course Joe had to go track them all down and make sure Brenna got to talk to them and take pictures. I'm bummed we didn't get any pictures of just me and my dad or joe and Brenna- oops! (Princess trances, I tell ya!)








<Utah State Fair>  
The State Fair never gets old for me. I have been going since I was a college gal, single and looking for a deal. And I enjoy it just as much and more because Brenna decided to be brave and try some new rides this year! Her face here was priceless... sheer shock and dismay! But then once she heard the giggles she enjoyed it. Her cousin Chance came with us this year to join the fun!








Brenna got to see her bestie, Morgan (right) when she was here this summer visiting her dad! It was such a fun time playing and being silly girls! Brenna misses Morgan so much that some days she cries. I love her tender heart! <3 



The Zoo. No summer is complete without a trip (or three) to the zoo! Brynlee got to enjoy it this year and her favorite part by far was the new splash pad. She is a splash-pad-baby. 







One of my favorite things to do each summer is go with my family to the lake! My parents have had their wave runners since I was in college and its been a blast sharing this experience with Brenna! She has loved it so much that she thinks that who ever is with us is the next person taking her out for a "ride"! This year our good friends Chris and Randy came! 




We had another spectacular family wedding this summer! Madi (my cousin) and Spencer wed at the beautiful Millenial Falls. Brenna was the flower girl, alongside her cousin Conner the ring bearer. It's one of the best parts watching those two walk down!









Umm, oh yeah, and we BOUGHT A HOUSE this summer! Woot! Woot! It was such a God-thing, I can't exclaim my joy enough! I was up L-A-T-E one night looking at homes for sale and I saw this one. I immediately wrote my realtor and she responded early the next morning. It had ALL my MUST-HAVES! We finally got to see it, put in an offer right then, and BAM, it was ours the next day. The crazy-cool part is that there was actually multiple offers on this house and for some reason (God<---) picked ours! We were not the high offer! It was such a miracle. We delight ourselves in this house every day!



Brenna started preschool again this summer! She switched schools to a new one called Foundations where she gets to learn alongside other Christian kids and study the Bible. They had their first field trip to Wheeler Farm.


Just another day at the park!

A favorite! Wearing moms sweater!

The saddest part of our summer was saying goodbye to other great friends of ours who moved to Minnesota. Anna has been one of my truest friends I've had in awhile. She watched my girls, I watched her girls, we hung out altogether, did last-minute park playdates, coffee dates, you name it. Her daughters, Jordana and Juliette are also some of Brenna's best girl friends. We miss them so much and it still feels empty here without them!




Monday, October 13, 2014

FOUR and Fabulous!

Brenna turned four this summer, August 14th! Here are some of her beautiful photos..









She wasn't really "feeling" the photo shoot this year at the beginning! But with promises of chocolate, who couldn't resist smiling. :)

And here's MORE!













Brenna has flourished this past year! Especially academically! She had a few months of preschool in the spring and learned a lot. She can recognize all her capital letters and half of the lowercase, can count to 20, knows all her shapes, colors and can write her name very well! She is on track to starting Kindergarten next fall. Yay and :*( 

Brenna had a few birthday celebrations this year. The day of her birthday we had just moved into our new house a couple days prior. She woke up to a small mountain of pink presents and got to choose her favorite lunch spot. That night we invited all our family over to celebrate Frozen style. The kids played a game in the backyard and we all ate pizza and had Frozen cupcakes. 

A few days later, nine of Brenna's best pals came over for a special Princess surprise.. Princess Anna from Arendale came! She told them stories, played princess games, crowned Brenna 'Princess of the Day', face painting and took a special photo with each girl. It was a magical day! 

At Brenna's preschool, they also had her bring cupcakes to celebrate her birthday a few days after THAT, so we were all birthday-d out! I also got to come with her to school and tell the kids a little bit more about "Brenna". She probably had the "best birthday ever" this year... at least that's what I tell myself. :) 

Here are some of her 4-year-old birthday Q & A!

1. What is your favorite color? Pink (same as last year!)
2. What is your favorite toy? Frozen dolls
3. What is your favorite TV show? Paw Patrol
4. What is your favorite game? Hide-n-go-seek (Same as last year!)
5. What is your favorite sport? Swimming
6. What is your favorite snack? Peanuts
7. What is your favorite animal? Dolphin
8. What is your favorite song? Frozen songs (“Let it Go”)
9. What is your favorite book? Frozen books
10.       Who is your best friend? Morgan (Same as last year!)
11.        What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk (same as last year!)
12.       What do you want to be when you grow up?  A mommy (Same as last year!)
13.       What is your favorite movie? Frozen
14.       Where is your favorite place to go? Grandma Mary’s
15.       What is your favorite food? Chicken
16.       What is your favorite treat? Roasted marshmallows
17.       What’s your favorite thing to do with daddy? Go to movies
18.       What’s your favorite thing to do with mommy? Go to the library

Brenna is an incredible daughter. She is bright, helpful, kind, inquisitive, curious, communicative, strong-willed, a leader, playful, & loving.

Some cute & funny things-to-know about her:
  • -she has adapted "amn't" as a word. :) "No, I amn't!" 
  • -she finally quit telling women whose hair was in a bun to "take that out! I want your hair down!" 
  • -she wears her heart on her sleeve... No guessing! 
  • -she is REALLY getting into Barbies!.. My childhood dreams are coming true! ;) :)
  • -she is convinced she's married to "Kristoff" and has many children already
I don't know how time went so fast (again) but it doesn't seem to slow down! HAPPIEST OF HAPPY BIRTHDAYS, BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER!




Tuesday, September 16, 2014

30-B4-30 List Update #2

1. Bake bread
2. Drive Joe's truck
3. RUN a 5K 
4. Go on a hike with Joe
5. Learn to can (like, prepare canned fruit, etc.)
6. Make carmeled apples
7. MOVE OUT of my parents house!
8. Volunteer at a charity/organization
9. Read a book about marriage
10. Go to a live tour 
11. Take Brenna sledding (I hope it snows in October!)
12. Go on a family picnic
13. Learn how to pop a champagne cork
14. Read a classic novel
15. Plan and take a "girls only" trip

16. Make my own popsicles
17. Buy a strangers meal
18. Complete the 30-day "Squat Challenge" 
19. B-crew photoshoot (Couldn't do this with Bekah's work schedule) :(
20. Complete all 30 days of Jillian's 30-day Shred
21. Plan monthly date nights with hubby
22. Lose the baby fat!

23. Try new BlendTec recipes
24. Cook a turkey (never done it!)
25. Blog at least one time per month- EPIC FAIL... I already can't "complete" that with missing two months!
26. Write a message in a bottle
27. Try archery
28. Get my concealed weapons permit (hope I can rally someone to come with!)
29. Save for a huge down payment on our future house
30. ….. For Joe's eyes only! Hahaha, I knew he'd appreciate it.

So basically, I still have 13 more things to complete in the next two months! 
7 of them will be easy or are planned already and 6 of them will be a stretch! 
Wish me luck!!! :) :) :)