8 is GREAT!

 I can't believe this was 8 years ago. She was 2 days late, and the doctors had surgically force her out of my tummy! She was content where she was at! She was the most beautiful, perfect baby girl I had ever seen.

Although Brenna was a beautiful baby, she was very unhappy! She cried for the first year straight. We didn't hear her laugh (besides one occassion) until after her year mark. After that, she became such a fun, yet still serious, happy girl.

 I love this picture. She takes her role as big sister VERY seriously! Too often, I have to tell her "You are not the mom!" She is the best big sister to Cannon and Brooklyn, and they LOVE her.

 One thing that I am extremely grateful of, is Brenna LOVES school. She loves the educational and social aspects of it. She loves the structure and the play. We just had her Parent Teacher Conferences, and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs Wishard, loves her. She surprised me with the fact that Brenna is excellent at math. I'm only surprised because she did NOT get that from me! She is testing above 3rd grade math and has scored 100% on their testing so far this year. She even corrected Mrs Wishard on one of the story problems, and then came to the front of the class to teach them (at the teachers request!).

 I can't believe she is going to get baptized in a couple of weeks. I think I'm going to cry all the way through it. Thank goodness I can just sit there and absorb it. We've had lessons each week, about baptism, and concepts she should understand before she gets baptized. She is not just book smart, but she has the same spiritual mind as her dad. It just makes sense to her. It is amazing to watch this side of her strengthen and change, and her lack of fear in telling anyone about it!



Here is Brenna this morning. We've kept her home from school yesterday, because she's had the stomach flu. She is excited not only for her birthday, but also getting back to school!  She looks soooo grown up, it just kills me. She is no longer the round faced, extremely conversational, serious little munchkin. I love learning more about who she is becoming.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Brenna's Baptism Shoot Preview

Our good friend Ashley has taken some beautiful pictures of Brenna in her baptism dress. This is just a sampling of all of the fabulous pictures she took of her that day. LOVE Brenna!

Brenna is turning eight. Holy cow. I feel old. That is beside the point. She had a party!!! A double party, with a great friend, Rachael - who's birthday is 2 days before hers. They are both in the same school class, and have the same group of friends, so why not!?  We had about 30 kids there, and thank goodness for the Merkley's Driving School being the spot for the party, it was perfect!

 

 Birthday girl!

 Birthday girls!

 The ENTIRE birthday group!

We had lots of pizza. We had lots of DANCING!

 And, we had lots of cake. Cannon especially loved having distracted parents to get as much cake as he possibly could!

We had a GREAT TIME, and are SOOOO grateful it is over! Couldn't have done it without great friends.

Trick or Treat!!!

We had a GREAT time trick-or-treating with the cousins! .... For the first 30 minutes! After that, the younger two decided they wanted to be home in bed. But, other than that, it was a great night and perfect weather!

Pre-Halloween Festivities

 Here we are, dressed up for the Trunk-or-Treat at our Church. Brooklyn this year was the Lady Bug, Brenna a Cowgirl, and Cannon... well, Cannon was Mr. T! His e-bay purchased Spiderman costume hadn't arrived yet, so to compliment his hair style, he embodied Mr. T. We even taught him how to say, "I pity the fool!" It was a hit!

 Here is the only picture I got of Brooklyn with her ladybug hat on! The school that I work at, and the kids attend, had a Halloween parade. She loved following her friends through the halls of the school all dressed up. It was a crazy day!

 Of course, Ryan dressed up for the annual Chesapeake Halloween Party. He borrowed our friend, Ryan's Ghost Buster gear. He looked completely authentic!

We haven't worked up to pumpkin carving, so we paint our pumpkins. Then everyone gets a pumpkin to decorate!  

The kids really had a great time!

Sunday BBQ

 One of Ryan's co-workers had a department BBQ at her 5 acre farm. There was a fire pit to roast marshmallows (which was obviously Cannon's favorite), some fantastic smoked and BBQ'd chicken, ribs, brisket, perfect weather, horse riding and a hayride!  It was a fantastic ending to a great Sunday.  (Sorry if the pictures are a little fuzzy, they are taken with my camera).

The kids LOVED riding the horse. At one point, we couldn't find Cannon, and found him finishing up his turn around the pasture on the horse. He was in little boy heaven! Brenna did very well, and managed to stay lady-like in her dress she wore to Church.  

 And surprisingly enough, Brooklyn couldn't wait to touch and ride the horse. The young lady who was helping the kids with their horse ride, said she's never seen a child her age be so comfortable with such a large animal. Maybe its because Brooklyn knows she's always in charge! And she wanted (and got!) a second ride.

There is something about the aged wood, smell of leather and hay, and feel of dirt and dust in the air that is invigorating. I've always loved being outside, but being in this pasture, and the barn pictured below; brought me back to a time of visiting my Grandpa Cameron's farm in Toquerville, UT. I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of the kids while they waited their turns. (P.S. Ashley, I think we found a FANTASTIC place to take more family pictures! Right!?) 

Poor Cannon couldn't understand why he had to let other kids have turns. He was so disappointed that this BBQ and horse riding didn't revolve around him! Life Lessons, kid.

There is something perfect about this picture. Brenna's very soft and girly dress, and the rough and masculine surroundings. I thought this was the perfect photo op!

We topped off the night with dessert (or our second round of desserts) with the 1st and 2nd generation of Hansens, and Bushmans. Perfect night to eat homemade apple pie out on the porch, while the kids got dirty playing. LOVE Sundays.