Mr. and Mrs. Smith

After turning eight, Brayden was old enough to choose to be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He and his dad practiced how to hold on and also plug his nose at the same time. We are so proud of him, and appreciate him setting such a good example to his brother and sister. He had a lot of support.  His amazing primary teacher, Sis. Burlingame came to the baptism.... as did some of his friends.  Here he is (blurry faced) with his buddy Jonathan who was not only baptized the same day, but was born the same day as Brayden too. Also there to show support was all the family.  Here we are unsuccessfully trying to get a cousin shot.   Congratulations Brayden!

Brayden got to celebrate his birthday at the happiest place on earth...Chuck E. Cheese.  Yes, he really wanted a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party.  Not the kind where you show up and mom orders pizza and brings your presents in, but an actual Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party.  You know, the one where they set the table for you and you get an awesome blow up crown and Chuck E. comes out an entertains you.  I blame all the children that previously have had birthday parties there when we've shown up. Brayden did design his birthday cake.  Apparently he wasn't impressed with the giant cupcake one I made last time that tipped over.  I like doing it this way much better- so much easier.   He got to invite a few friends.  We missed a few that were sick or out of town.  Bummer.  I guess that's what happens when you have a December birthday.  The boys that did come were so much fun and full of all that boy humor- loud and silly.   We opene...

Christmas morning FINALLY arrived and the look on Brayden's face was my best Christmas present!  Normally, the kids open stockings first, but Brayden couldn't wait to see if Santa had read the directions he had left for him. Stocking time Brooklyn is our little artist, and she was thrilled with the BIG present Santa got her.  She uses it almost daily.  It folds up into a nice compact art set.  The stickers were promptly put to use decorating her dresser and doors- nice, right? A few weeks before Christmas, we were at Best Buy and they had the game, Just Dance, on the demo thing.  She had so much fun with it, that she got it for Christmas.  Little did we know that mom and dad would play it more than her.  Her favorite is the "Monster Mash" dance. Surprise, Surprise... Billy's gifts were nearly all sports related.  BSU stuff, mini hoop (he wanted to hang it up in our bedroom, but I had to put my foot down on that one.  Really?  He though...

I don't know how many times I've tried to upload these pictures, but every time blogger would get mad at me.  So, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, here are our Christmas Eve Pictures.  Brooklyn was my superstar wrapper.  She was actually really good, as long as she had lots of tape for all of the little pieces she used.  That evening, we went to Billy's parent's house for Christmas eve dinner and festivities.  Grandma read a Christmas story to the kids- with interactive stickers. Baby Chloe and her pretty momma enjoying the fun... Big Announcements were made... Brayden was shared his new BSU snuggie with Ellie... The kids reenacted the Christmas Story... We opened cousin presents... (my darling niece Ellie) Our pretty Christmas tree after Santa made his visit...   And thanks to Brayden's sign, Santa knew exactly where to put his special present.  "Santa, put DSi here" 

The perils of having a big sister that likes to play dress up.... Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

Brooklyn's preschool class performed a Christmas progam for a local nursing home.  She practiced her songs nearly everyday.  She was adorable, if not a little nervous.  The patients there were so cute and clapped after every song.  It is mid January now, and she still remembers the songs and will sing them in the car. 

All Brayden wanted for Christmas is his two front teeth... He got one.  Brooklyn=Fabulous (as always)  And Landon as the fancy train conductor....