Birthday Party

After our birthday trip to Disneyland, we had a little get together at our neighborhood park with some friends to officially celebrate. Brailyn loves all of her friends from church and school. Playing at the park and climbing trees was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Duck, Duck, Goose of course

Kids in Trees

Opening presents

Make a Wish!

Birthday trip to Disneyland!

What a wonderful birthday we had this year! Grammie helped momma surprise Brailyn with a trip to Disneyland. I woke her up early in the am, car all packed up, and wouldn't you know- she took one look at my shirt (my Minnie shirt) and said, 'Are we going to Disneyland?' Too smart for her own good:) So off we went. We got to the Disneyland Paradise Pier hotel about 1pm, and headed to the park. We had a blast, of course. It IS the happiest place on Earth, and we both love it so much. We even had a visit from Larissa and Jeff on Monday, and Grammie came on Tuesday. The best part of all was seeing the smile on her face every time someone saw her birthday pin and told her 'happy birthday, princess!'. Even Goofy and Minnie gave her extra hugs because it was her birthday. Disney just makes it that much more special.

Goofy LOVES Brailyn


No lines at Fantasyland!




We had breakfast with the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto. Yummy!


More Disney magic:)




She was so excited when she saw Jeff (with whom she bonded in San Diego last summer). Her new favorite 'uncle'.


We also ran into some friends from Momma's high school (Chris and Melissa Braegger) and their girls, who took swimming lessons with Brailyn (McKenna). We went on a bunch of Fantasyland rides with them. They were so excited to have a friend!


Riding Space Mountain with Grammie!




My heart was so happy this trip. The magic of Disneyland, the special birthday trip, the joy in her eyes. I love this girl so much, and loved spending this wonderful time with her.

Happy 6th Birthday!

Wow! Six years old already. Brailyn, you are growing into such a beautiful, smart, sweet, kind, discerning, spirited little girl, and I love watching you live your life with joy. Here are some things about you now that you are 6.

You can read VERY well. Your kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Brown, says you are reading at a 4.6 grade level. Wow!

You love your new gymnastics class with coach Mike. You are learning new skills and getting stronger every week.

You play the piano very well. Miss Melanie says you are musically talented, and she loves having you in class.

You are such a good friend to your classmates. You love school, and play with just about everybody in your class. Your BFFs are Casey, Adam, Addi, Naomi, and well, the list can go on because you really do love all of your friends:)


You are a great big sister to Lincoln and love having him over every week. You play all day with Parker using your wonderful imagination.


You love to write and illustrate stories. It is one of your favorite things to do in school and even at home. We go through a LOT of paper!


You love to play with your American Girl dolls at Grammie's

You are very fashionable. You love to pick out 'cute' outfits, mix and match, coordinate, and just get creative with what you wear.

You tell Momma EVERYTHING, and I love it! School, friends, good things, sad things, what you want to do...you are great at expressing yourself and are very good at telling the truth.


Playing with Barbies and monster trucks.


We love to watch Wipeout every week and laugh at the crazy obstacles and the contestants bouncing all around.

Favorite food- Amy's Organic bean burritos (you ask for them every night), broccoli, watermelon, strawberries
Favorite book- Junie B Jones and Cinderella pop-up book
Favorite color- pink and green

Here are some more things your classmates wrote about you when your were special kiddo

New Year Fun

2012 is going to be a great year. Through trials come great blessings, and I know Heavenly Father has a plan for our family that will be for the best, even if we go through some hard times for a while. As we continue in faith and hope, consistently living the Gospel, our testimonys will be strengthened, and we will be carried through and made stronger.

To start off our New Year, we kept tradition alive with illegal fireworks with Paca. This year had a little more excitement as the fireworks were REALLY big, and the neighbors called the Police! Luckily Paca got a warning, but he says it was worth it.




Brailyn and Momma love to go eat lunch at Sprouts sometimes after school. They have yummy veggie sandwiches! And who doesn't love a tea party??





Photo Booth- best entertainment ever!



Brailyn usually wakes up early and gets to playing right away. One morning I found her playing a game with a bunch of friends. Too cute!


To earn money, Brailyn has some extra jobs to do that are a little more difficult then her regular jobs. One is to vacuum her bedroom. This day she was having a hard time, so she locked herself in her room and told me to go check my computer. This is the note I found. Made me smile:)

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas season, as usual. Love this time of year, and all the traditions we keep.

Decorating at Grammie's house


New Playmobile Nativity!


I love this Gingerbread house from Trader Joe's!


Visiting the Mesa Temple lights and striking a pose. We always stay and listen to the wonderful concerts they have too.


We had a wonderful tender mercy. We had Secret Santas who brought some extra Christmas joy each night for the 12 Days of Christmas. Heavenly Father was truly looking out for us to send us someone to show a little extra love!


Special surprise on Christmas Eve! Santa came to Grammie's house!! He brought presents for everyone, and all the cousins loved seeing him before his big day.




Even Paca sat on Santa's lap!

Brailyn got an American Girl doll that looks just like her from Grammie. I think she was THRILLED!



Momma was so excited for her new Mac desktop. We were truly blessed and were so grateful for the generosity of friends and family this Christmas!

Fall 2011

Brailyn started the year off (in July) with a bang at her new school, Edu-Prize. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Hallie Brown, made some great new friends, and is a great student.


Some fun things we did:



Visited the Sea Life Aquarium




Dress up, of course

Rode the Merry-Go-Round at the mall for getting all green lights at school

Played with new baby cousin Lincoln (Brailyn is such a good helper and honorary big sister! We love having the boys over every week)



And yes, we went to Disneyland again for Halloween time! It was fun, as usual, and we got to see some villains.

Brailyn has been earning money by doing some additional jobs each week (vacuuming her room and wiping down lights and remotes). She saved up enough money to buy her very own pin at Disneyland- Minnie dressed as Sally from Nightmare before Christmas-She was SO proud of herself, and so were we!

Her class took a field trip to Mother Nature's Farm to celebrate Fall Festival. She had fun decorating a pumpkin, riding the hay ride, and seeing the different farm animals.





With her friend Adam Moon


It was a great semester so far!