9 years old!!

McKell's 9 years old! Wow that went by quick!! Her birthday is the end of November - I thought she would be a December baby, but she was excited to get here! I thought about the day she was born and she loves when we tell the story. I was at work and reached over to turn off my computer when my water broke. I was completely shocked and couldn't believe that the day had come!! I called Brian and he had me get a ride from one of my co-workers to Utah Valley Hospital - so Troy had the honors and really made a 7 or 8 block drive very entertaining :) I remember him yelling at all the drivers as he was trying to make a turn into the hospital - it was really busy traffic for some reason that day. He finally made the turn and dropped me off by the front doors. His wife teases him that he just left me there, but I was just grateful he was there to drive me & park my car. Brian made it to the hospital quick and we were on our way to get this baby here. We hadn't decided on her name quite yet so we discussed that as my contractions got harder. We thought McKell was a cute name & we would most likely call her "Kelly" or "Kel" for short. My sister & her husband came over for support and when it got to be time for me to push they went into the lobby to wait. They only waited about 10-15 minutes when Bri went to get them. They met a 7 lb. little girl with a bunch of black hair - much different than her older sister who had a little bit of strawberry blonde when she was born. She was beautiful and we were thrilled to be parents again!!
Kelly is a funny kid with a bunch of energy. She's a social butterfly! She loves to be doing something with family or with friends. She loves her sister - well loves to tease her :) They are wonderful friends & love to have eachother. She's a beautiful dancer, smart student in school, loves to play sports, loves to clean and organize (like her dad :) and is just a sweetheart.
She celebrated her birthday by taking her cousins and a friend to the movie and then we had cake and ice cream with everyone else. Happy Birthday sis - we love you so much!!

Other Thanksgiving Activities...

Piggy back from Grandpa.

More piggy backs from uncle Brian.

Grandma & Tracy

We got in a game of thanksgiving bingo - the kids had fun, the older kids were just nice and played along & Tracy was the big winner!! :)

Cute girls - always ready to pose for a photo...well mimi if you can time it just right !!

Grandpa & Aspen taking a break.

Grandma & Grandpa walking off their turkey dinner! It was a beautiful day - just perfect for a walk!

We Are Thankful!

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. Brian's sister's family invited us to dinner and it was soooo yummy. Everything just tasted delicious and we really appreciate all the time and effort they put into cooking an amazing meal for us. We had such a nice time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Thank You for opening your home to us - we had a wonderful time!

Elder's Pinewood Derby

We recently had a pinewood derby for the "older" boys in our ward. We talked Brian into making a "girly" car because we only have girls and there's nothing worse that being beaten by a bright purple car decorated with polka dots and flowers!! So he did all the cutting, sanding, set the weights, balanced the tires just right and left the painting and decorating to us girls. So here is the "Daisy Destroyer" - we did win one race!! :)

Braces!!

So here's our cute daughter with all the new "accessories" she has received in the past month. Cutie in glasses and now before and after with braces. She's a great sport because in a text to her aunt she said..."what next...hearing aids?"

McKell's School Halloween Party

McKell had her Halloween Party and it was fun...I think. I'm the room mom and was told to only put together one activity - didn't know that one activity had to entertain them for almost 1 hour!! Luckily I had two games to play and threw in a game of cherades that kept them busy until they were called to the gym to do their parade of costumes. 3rd graders are fun and Kel's class were good sports to play the games I came with. I think she was an adoreable ballerina clown and love she put that costume together herself - we think she did great!

Pirate Island

There's a new pizza place in Orem we decided to take the girls to. It's a whole "pirate" themed place and it was really cool. When you walked in it was like walking into a cave and there was pirate stuff everywhere. They even had a full size ship with cannon "shooting" smoke every so often. We tried the food and it wasn't bad - pizza was a little too cheesy - but it was much better than chucky cheese! There was an arcade the girls really liked, a room with a huge t.v. screen to watch movies or ball games and a gift shop. There wasn't much "entertainment" going on when we were there, but it was a fun place to go and the girls seemed to like it.