Thanksgiving Trip 2012

Back track to Thanksgiving...My dad, mom, Brooke, Bryn and I road-tripped to Utah for Turkey day. We left late afternoon on Wednesday and got there sometime early morning (or super late..depends how you look at it.) Either way, it was a tiring start to the vacay. And where was Curt you ask? He stayed home so that instead of our trip lasting 3 days, we could stay down there for 5 days, which when each way is 12 hours, was much needed. He also had lots of studying to do so he was busy (albeit boring busy). We had fun staying at the James' beautiful new home!

 We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday, like we had planned on, but our actual Thanksgiving day dinner was kinda funny. We lounged around, then headed to Golden Corral for dinner in the early afternoon. Didn't want to wait over an hour so we went to check out Chuck-o-rama..same story. All fast food restaurants were closed so last resort, we went to the grocery store, bought a couple rotisserie chickens and went to Troy's apartment and had chicken and rice, green beans, orange rolls and pop..a Thanksgiving meal to remember for sure! We started our shopping on Thanksgiving and the boys continued it that night. This was my favorite Black Friday yet! The boys went out and did all the waiting in line and craziness, and came back with everything I wanted. Score! I did venture out at midnight with my sis to help her pick up some boots for a steal. A walk by Best Buy to get to Shoe Carnival reminded me why I avoid stores like that. It was insane.

So Black Friday behind us, we spent Saturday prepping dinner and enjoying a delicious dinner with the fam. Then we topped off the night with pie (of course) and a BYU basketball game. Made me miss my days at the Y. Those were good times! Sunday was church, a little "hike", and Christmas Lights at Temple Square. Santa was even on Temple Square and handed out candy canes. Kinda weird but fun! Monday..went to campus, hot dogs in Spencer's office, creamery ice cream and decorated gingerbread cookies for FHE (Brooke affectionately named hers "my old lady.") The kids had so much fun together and we wish we could have stayed longer! We had to head back Tuesday and other than the last torturous hour of the drive (2 screaming children) all was well! I'm sure we will be keeping the road hot now that the cousins are within a {somewhat} manageable drive. Thanks James' for such a fun trip and great place to stay. Can't wait until next time. Brooke is always begging me to go see CooperSadie in Utah!

Crazy bathtime, Moooovies and Naps!

Temple Square Lights and Bedtime Books

Thanksgiving and Hike up the Canyon

BYU and Gingerbread Decorating

Annual Pie Night

We had been debating whether or not to do Pie night since we are leaving town and we usually do it the night before Thanksgiving. But on Wednesday, we decided to go for it! So we planned it for Monday night and it was a hit! We had almost 40 people and nearly 20 pies..Needless to say, no one went home with an empty stomach! My mom and I may have gotten a little out of control..We made 10 pies between the 2 of us, but we were on a roll and just couldn't stop. We had fun visiting and celebrating the season of Thanksgiving with lots of friends and delicious pies!

Love doing fun things my mom! We're a good team. The only thing that would make us better would be Alyssa..and we are going to see her tomorrow!

Brynlee snoozed with our cute neighbor and Brooke had the time of her life with her friend Jessica. A good time was had by all!

"Princess on Disney Ice"

We had been hyping Brooke up for Disney Princesses on Ice for awhile and she didn't let us down! I got to tag along while Grandpa and Grandma took Brooke to the show and it was so fun! I think we spent more time watching her face than we did watching the show. She had so much fun at what she calls "Princess on Disney Ice" and was thrilled that Minnie and Mickey were there! That was like a dream come true for this girl who is slightly OBSESSED with them. She wasn't a fan of Tiana (the Frog Princess..she's never seen it), but she loved Cinderella and Rapunzel! Grandma and Brooke had movie night each night the week before to watch the princess movies. When a song came on that she remembered from the movies, she would get the biggest smile on her face and say, "I know this song! It's my favorite!"..she said this like every time :) It was a fun night, complete with milkshakes afterwards and a late bedtime (although that's pretty common around here!) We will definitely have to go again!

Fun with Grandma..Tea Party and Santa

The girls are lucky to have such a great babysitter when I work. My mom was watching the girls on Saturday and my mom made an impulse decision, after having a tea party with Brooke, to take the girls to the mall to see Santa fly in on a helicopter. She made a mad dash to get the girls ready and they got there in time! She went with my sis-in-law, Ashley, and her four kids. Although Brooklyn was afraid of Santa (despite our many efforts to prepare her for sitting on his lap but she got closer to him than she would have if her cousins weren't there with her. 

Tea Party with Grammy. Wish there was one of Grandma and her together but someone had to take the picture I suppose. They had hot chocolate and toast. Brooke is now obsessed with tea parties. So fun!

Santa came out of the helicopter and of course Brooke cried.  But overall she had fun and is lucky to have such a fun grandma! Brynlee enjoyed it by sleeping the entire time!

"I Voted"

In the {now} infamous state of Washington, we don't actually get an "I Voted" sticker. Everyone votes by absentee ballot, which is actually quite lame and a bit anti-climactic. Since the voting was in and of itself not super exciting (especially knowing nothing we wanted was going to go our way anyways in WA), we decided to have a fun Election themed dinner. Oh how we love our themed dinner parties around here!

So we wore our red, white and blue while we prepared our patriotic dinner and listened to Fox News reporting on the election results. The dinner was a success! Unfortunately, the more serious issues we were hoping for were not, which did put a bit of a damper on our dinner/dessert. Darn it. But we will move forward and hope and pray for the best.

Infants are so much easier to take pictures of!! Toddlers=Impossible! But we tried several times as you can see..At least you can tell we have American Pride!

 If you look closely at our Election Ballot you will see my most favorite detail of the dinner :)

 Brynlee joined us at the dinner table..She looks like she's longing for the days when she can actually eat with us

Don't let this picture fool you..Brooke is our little {almost} vegetarian. She pretty much only eats highly processed meats such as hot dogs and lunch meats..ya know, the kind that are really good for you..ha!)

This cake is so fun!! We are going to have to make it again with different colors for different holidays.

Our little strawberry lover just like her grandma! She downed this in no time!

Happy Halloween!

We had lots of fun Halloween festivities around here! Dinner in a pumpkin, carving pumpkins, Trunk or Treating, Trick or Treating at the high school, Jack-o-lantern pizza and Trick or treating Halloween night. Halloween is so much more fun with kids!!

 The most adorable sunflower and Minnie Mouse

 Grandma and the girlies

 Our traditional Halloween night jack-o-lantern pizza

 Nerdy grampy and Brooke

Potty Training

Brooke has been showing signs of readiness for a couple months, but I kept putting off potty training due to a sense of dread evoked upon me by talking to many other moms. I said I would do it, then didn't, and so on. Finally last Monday (a week ago), I decided to just get it over with. The weather was crappy, we didn't have anything important to do, so we went for it! 

I read that it could be done in 3 days so I figured even if it totally sucked, it would only be for 3 days. The first day she went through almost all the 15 pair of underwear we had, I cleaned up several accidents (mostly on the wood floor thankfully), and asked her "Do you need to go potty?" until I was blue in the face. It wasn't too bad. 2nd day was great! I think she had one accident. But still, I was taking her frequently, she wasn't telling me when she needed to go. Wednesday was okay..a few accidents and I was going a bit stir crazy being inside for 3 days, and I was just grumpy (the opposite of the patience needed for potty training). Thursday we ventured out to lunch with some friends from the ward. This is when I realized why automatic flush toilets are no bueno! It flushed while Brooke was on it, and so she pretty much refused to go after that. So at the end of lunch, it all came out and it was time to go home :). That night we went to a BYU vs. Gonzaga volleyball game and she did great, no accidents. So pretty much, it really did take 3 days. She hasn't had any problems since I think Friday, and she tells us when she needs to go, and all that dread that I've had for so long is over! (At least this time around...) We are still doing diapers at night because I'm not willing to give up more sleep than already necessary with a newborn, but she has woken up dry from her 1.5-2 hour naps everyday but the very first day.

 

I wanted to document that it wasn't as bad as I had built it up to be. Although I realize she is very smart and it probably won't be this easy next time. As in, I have had tons of help from my parents, and from Curt with his sweet internship hours, which was a HUGE blessing! Thanks mom and dad for all the trips to the potty! We think she is adorable in underwear and is even more grown up :( I want her to stay just like she is forever! (Even with her attitude and bossypants :)

Brynlee's Blessing

Sweet Brynlee Ann was blessed by her daddy, along with Grandpa Murphey and Papa Barnes on Sunday, October 14th. It was a beautiful blessing, and Curt stayed composed through her screaming during the entire thing (darn feeding timing just didn't work out!). Nana made her blessing dress and it could not have been any more gorgeous! LOVE it. We were able to celebrate the special day with grandma and grandpa Murphey, Nana and Papa Barnes, Alyssa, Cooper, Sadie and Parker, Ashley, Kylee and Chase and my aunts, Barbara and Sue. We went up to dinner at the Richardson's house afterwards. Barb, Ernie and Sue made a delicious dinner and it was so nice of them to do that so the day was much less stressful!

Brynlee was blessed with many wonderful things. Health and strength, to be a righteous example to others, to be a peacemaker and that she will choose righteousness and be married in the temple someday. She will lift others, be a strength and an example of virtue, and live a worthy life and return to Heavenly Father someday. We are grateful to have this beautiful daughter of Heavenly Father in our family and are blessed by her sweet disposition and content manner each day!

My monthly update

Since my last post was technically written in September, we'll call this my monthly update! And it has been quite the fun month, so far!

Curt is loving his internship with the Central Valley School District, and I LOVE his hours! He is only gone from 8-3:30..sweet! I had to go back to work the middle of September, but since it is only every Friday and Saturday, it's a pretty good set-up, and pays the bills :-)

Brooklyn is our entertainment, as always. She is 2 1/2 and acts like it :) She is spunky, sweet, knows what she wants, and is addicted to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (like seriously, she might need therapy for her addiction!) She talks ALL THE TIME and is very smart. She loves to read. The other night Curt went downstairs and Brooke was looking at a book and she said to Curt, "Look daddy, I reading a book," while she said the words she memorized. She has an amazing memory and knows if we skip a page or miss words in the books we read fairly regularly. She loves songs and I love hearing her sing! She loves singing the "Clean-up song" and is actually pretty good at cleaning up while singing it. She can sing lots of songs and it is so sweet! She loves taking her clothes off (must to my dismay :). She is a little girly girl, loves getting her nails painted and her hair done, and has to have flowers in her hair. If I tell her we are going to do something in the morning when I'm putting her to bed at night, she holds me to it! Can't pull a fast one on her. She has so much energy and is fun-loving. I want her to stay like this forever! She is the best big sister, and continues to amaze me with how much she loves Brynlee. She gets me diapers for her, puts her binky in and loves to make her smile. She loves when "Brynee talking to me," and cannot wait until she is big enough to play with her. We love our little Brookie!

Brynlee is as sweet as can be! She has been a wonderful addition to our family. She has been an awesome napper since day one (taking several 2 hour naps a day), and falls asleep on her own after being down only a couple minutes. She was really good at nights for awhile at around 6 weeks old, sleeping at least a 6 hour stretch every night. But she has regressed a bit and now eats at usually twice during the night. Not the best, not the worst. She has always gone right back to sleep after eating and that makes the nights totally do-able, since we are only up for about 15 minutes with each feeding. She pretty much only eats 6-8 times a day and  She is so happy and content, loves to smile and giggle and brightens the day! She has crazy hair that is difficult to tame, continues to have a clogged tear duct with a goopy eye (that we hope goes away soon), and loves bath time! She loves to look around, and has beautiful big eyes. The verdict is still out on if they will be blue or brown, but my guess is they will be brown like her sisters, and Curt is holding out for blue. She is gaining weight and growing up too fast! This is such a fun age with her. She loves her binky and loves sucking on her hands. We just got the Bumbo out yesterday and she seems to love sitting up like a big girl looking around. She still sleeps in a pack n' play right next to our bed and I actually have come to love having her right next to me. At first she kept me up a lot with her moans and groans, but either I have learned to sleep through it or she sleeps more quietly. She only cries when she needs to burp, needs swaddled to take a nap, or is hungry. She loves being swaddled..it's the best invention ever! We love our sweet Bryn and couldn't have asked for a sweeter little baby! 

The month of October has been fun so far! My sister and her kids came to visit to kill some time before they move into their new home the beginning of November. I might be a little jealous that they own a beautiful home, but mostly I'm really happy for them and can't wait to see it! We had so much fun having all the cousins together, and we had a long to-do list that we checked off. We picked apples at Greenbluff, painted pumpkins, made caramel apples, played at McDonald's and visited grandpa at work, made candy haunted houses, rode the carousel downtown, made my grandma's potato donuts, played dress-up, lots of walks to the park and wagon rides, made and decorated sugar cookies, went ghosting, had baths with grandpa, lots of books, TV, movies and toys, toys, toys! We were busy busy with them and loved having them! Can't wait to see them at their new house for Thanksgiving. 

Summer was...

a crazy fun time for our family! Can't believe it's over. It was quite a whirlwind with lots of fun memories! Aside from the small adventure of adding sweet little Brynlee into our family (who by the way isn't so little anymore..3 months old and over 13 pounds!), we have had lots of fun times and made some great family memories! Since Brynlee was born, we have spent time with my whole entire family for the first time in 4 years, gone to Montana twice (once I took the girls without Curt), bought a van, gone to Seattle, sent Uncle Tate off on his mission, gone to Utah and to a resort in Idaho. Quite the travelers we have been. Lucky for us, we have the world's 2 greatest passengers! Our girls did amazing on every trip we have taken and we are SOO grateful!

About 10 days after Brynlee was born, we had all 16 people in my fam together at my house. The house was full and crazy and so much fun! Unfortunately, I wasn't in the greatest shape physically (being that having a baby the "natural" way tended to be a little more rough than I had anticipated), but it was still lots of fun being together. We had our "1st annual Murphey Family Sprint Triathlon." Sam was the only girl in our family that participated (maybe next year for me :), but it was fun to cheer everyone on and they all finished! Sam also planned an adorable baby shower for Brynlee. It was such a fun time with so many friends/family and delish food. We hung out, played games, ate lots and loved catching up with everyone.

Two short trips to Montana which included lots of 4-wheeler riding (while Brookie LOVED!), walks, enjoying the beautiful views and spending time with more family. Brooke has been talking about "antenna" (Montana) all the time since and begs us frequently to "go to Antenna to ride the four-wheeler ride."

Bought a 2002 Honda Odyssey van with 85,000 miles. It was a lucky find! And lucky that my bro-in-law Spencer was willing to check it out for us, seeing as it was in Utah :) Somehow, we finally were able to commit to buying one (since we have been looking for months and months), and it has been fantastic! Brooke's favorite feature, which she tells everyone when our new car is mentioned, is the dvd player. Needless to say it has been well used with all our traveling.. We are loving the space and the automatic doors. We feel like we are living high class. It doesn't take much to make us happy :) 

A quick trip to Seattle to watch a Mariner's game before Troy left back for school. Went over on Tuesday night, spent the night in a hotel, went to Pike's Place Market the next morning, then to the game, then home! It was fast and furious and fun! And the Mariner's actually won, a rare thing these days.

Our biggest trip was to Utah. We were gone for about 12 days at the end of August. We went down for Curt's brother's wedding, and decided to make a vacation out of it by staying the next week. The wedding was great, Brooke and her cousin were the most adorable flower girls, and it was fun seeing Curt's side of the family. We spent the next week in Park City (at least the nights), and did something fun everyday! We went to the Zoo which the kids loved, I met up with a nursing school friend and had fun chatting with her, went to Temple Square, City Creek mall, went to BYU, Park City outlet mall, and the BYU football game. We were on-the-go the whole week and we wore the kids out with no naps. We loved spending time with the James' and we are thrilled about their move to Utah so we can see them way more often!

And now we are back to reality (and actually have been for almost a month, with Curt going back to school the end of September)! Which happens to also be fun (usually anyways). We love our girls and feel so blessed everyday!