Fun Family Surprise Day

 Photo Courtesy of Swensen Photography

Wow, it has been way too long.  So much to update yet so little time. One of these days I will update our status, but until then I will share a fun family surprise day we had almost 2 years ago now.  It was so fun & the girls LOVED it.  It was captured on the photography blog for Swensen Photography as they captured some great shots for us.  You can read it there HERE.

Here is what we did:

We gave invitations to our girls stating to be ready in their new dresses for their big day.  When the time arrived their first surprise arrived.  Sam with Something Vintage Something Blue, picked us up in his beautiful princess ivy (vintage car). We all hopped in the gorgeous car ready for an adventure.  Everyone watched as we were riding in style & the girls loved every second of it. We reached our first destination spot at La Caille in Sandy.   Justin, with Swensen Photography was there ready to capture some family photos to help us remember this special day.  Thank you Justin!!

After our family photo shoot we traveled down to the fabulous Grand America hotel where we had a little tea party.  If you haven’t had the tasty Grand America’s Afternoon tea, I highly recommend it.  They have lots of different teas, or hot chocolates to choose from & I have even had a scrumptious chilled chocolate drink that was to die for, YUM!!  The afternoon tea comes with finger sandwiches, scones & one of their amazing desserts.  Perfect for a fun day out with the girls or a family day like this one as even Dad enjoyed being pampered.  Let's just say it was a little bit of Heaven. :)

After the yummy tea party Sam drove us to down town Salt Lake City where they were able to enjoy the Christmas Lights at temple square.  It was a memorable evening & their girls loved it  I am so lucky to have such great girls.  I love my girls & Brian too.  Moments to remember for sure. :)

I have lots to share & update on our blog so hopefully this will be just a start for me.  I need to get back in the habit of sharing & writing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAILYN!!!

I can't believe she is 6 years old today. She is getting so grown up. She has already had so much fun celebrating her birthday. She had a girl cousins sleepover last week. They had such a great time eating pizza, watching movies, playing the wii & just playing around the house. We have so many cute little girls in our family. Then she had a party at Grandma Roundy's house which is always so much fun. She picked out Better than anything cake- that is a popular choice around here. Today is her very special day & she has an agenda planned for us. She has requested to have me pick her up from school so she can pass out treats to her friends. Then she asked Brian to bring her McDonalds for lunch. Then she has dance class and then we will meet Brian during his work break for dinner. She opened her Mini Me & cupcake maker today & socks & she got to pick out a Sharpay dress the other day at the store. She did say after she opened her gifts- Is that all?? Little stink. We had to remind her of all the gifts that she got & to remember to be thankful for what she has.
Chailyn- we sure do love you. Thanks for being such a special part of our family.
We love you. Mom, Dad, Jacilyn & Brooklyn

He got it!!! :)

Brian got the new position today. What a relief it is to know for sure he will have a job in a couple weeks. I wasn't too worried so now he doesn't have to do the job hunt. YEAH!!!

We really hope this new position will be a good thing. He will be home a little earlier than before & no Saturdays which will be fabulous. I haven't had him Saturdays for a long time so this is going to be so GREAT!!!

Thanks for all the prayers- I know it helped.

Here's to a FANTASTIC 2009- hope everyone has a wonderful new year. Sorry for no Christmas cards this year- I totally slacked off. Maybe next year- we need a new family picture.

Jacilyn Piano & Chailyn Dance

Chailyn had her first dance concert. She was so dang cute. This is her with her friend Kaitlin- aren't they the cutest little girls you have ever seen.


Jacilyn did a great job at her piano recital. We think she is just AWESOME!!

All three of our girls are wonderful.- Thanks for being my girls. :)

Christmas Time!!! :)

We had such a great Christmas! It would be so nice to have a few more days without work and just enjoy the family. Christmas eve we had some of our family & some of Brian's family over. We invited everyone, but some had already made other plans. We had soup & lots of goodies, dips, treats etc... We didn't due much other than visit & eat but we had a great time. Earlier that day We had a scavenger hunt for PJS- the girls always get a kick out of it & really gets them excited for Christmas. Brian kept tabs on Santa so we knew where he was. The girls love that too. It seemed easy this year to get them in bed. They were so worried if they weren't in bed that Santa would miss them.
Christmas morning was GREAT. The girls slept til 8:00 I was shocked. Brooklyn yelled from her crib- "Dad, come here" Once we all got out of bed we came downstairs to see what Santa left. The girls got all that they asked for- Jacilyn got her IPOD and wallet, Chailyn got her pink guitar and password journal and Brooklyn got a new baby doll. They were all so cute & we loved watching the girls open up their gifts.
As Christmas is now over I come back to reflect on our Saviors birth. How blessed we are to have our savior in our lives. To know he lives and loves us and to know that one day we can return and live with him and our Heavenly Father. We are so blessed to have the knowledge that we have about being a forever family. I love my Savior and I am grateful for the gospel in my life.

SPOKE TOO SOON

So I guess I spoke too soon because Brian got Laid off today. His work sent him over to apply for another position within the company so hopefully that works out. They aren't able to do any hiring until the first part of January because the entire company is on a hiring freeze. So say a little prayer for us that it works out & he gets this new position. :)

Economic Crisis

With the economy the way the way that it is has left me pondering our American Crisis. Brian's work just laid off 4000 employees in the US. So scary. We are so grateful that he is able to keep his position and we feel for those who are losing their jobs at the end of this year. How blessed we have been as a Nation but how troubled many of our friends, neighbors, associates & many we don't even know have been & will be affected by our current situation. We have really seen a hit in our personal business & hope to see a come back in 2009. I was talking with Brian earlier about how we can get out of the recession we are in. I don't have a simple solution but what I realize is that we all need to buy American made products. I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks about & if anyone has any amazing ideas or thoughts about how to get the US back where we need to be.

Thanks to my girls!!!

We went on a little get away this past weekend up to Midway. Our plan was to go tubing in the fresh snow- but unfortunately for us there was none. But we had a good time relaxing, watching movies & just being together. When we got home I had to catch up on missed work. The girls played around & turned on the fireplace for fun. But the thermostat assumed that the whole first floor was warm & my office was so cold. So I asked the girls to turn off the fireplace so the heat would start coming into my office. They were so cute. They turned it off & then made me hot chocolate. What cute, thoughtful little girls I have. I love you girls.

Happy 38th Birthday!!!

What more could I ask for?? I am so lucky to have you Brian. Thanks for being such a hard worker & a great Dad & Husband. You may not be the most romantic but I do know you love me. No one else would put up with me like you do. I love you!! Thanks for working so hard for our family. You are amazing. All the hard work will pay off one day. I just know it. :) Thanks again for all you do. I look forward to our Birthday date on Friday.

XOXO

Melissa

10 Reasons Why I love you!!

1. You are what I want and the one I want.

2. You love me and all 3 of our girls.

3. You are good to everyone.

4. You teach me to be a better person.

5. You are honest.

6. You are a hard worker.

7. You are loyal.

8. You like to help others.

9. You have an amazing family that I am so lucky to be a part of.

10. You are a great husband.

I love you!!!

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

Dad,
Happy Birthday. I love you so much. Hope you have a great day!
You are the best Dad. Thanks for being my DAD!!!
Love your,
Jacie Bear

Dad,

Happy Birthday. I hope you have a great birthday. Thanks for working so hard for us. You are the best dad in the whole world. Thanks for bringing home McDonalds & Wendys. (She really told me to type that)
I love you so much

Love,
Chailyn (Chai bug)
Daddy,
Happy Birthday!! I love you too!! (I wove ooh too) as Brooklyn says it. :)
Love,
Brooklyn

HSM 3

Our good friend Eric Marsing called us a few weeks ago & invited us to the Utah Premier of High School Musical 3. It was such a blast. We did have to stand in lines because of course we aren't as important as some of the people there. Even Governor Huntsman came out to watch it- so COOL! We went on Monday October 20th- what a perfect family night (minus Brooklyn- she wouldn't sit still so she got to play with Grandma & Grandpa Barney). Eric works at Zions bank & was offered tickets to go to the show and dinner at Tuchanos & he invited us. How lucky are we. :) We had a blast with Eric, Katie & their cute little guy Colton. Jacilyn & Chailyn loved it- I must say I think Brian had a GREAT time too- even though he may not admit it.
Thanks Eric for thinking of us. We love hanging out with you guys. We owe you!!!

Happy Birthday- Brooklyn!! Our little 2 year old.

I can't believe how time flies. Brooklyn turned 2 on Saturday. She was so cute. She got a cute little buggy car to cruise the neighborhood and a new doll & stroller. Her favorite things ever. Brooklyn's latest move is to remove her clothes & replace them with her PJS- only it isn't bed time- she does this every 2 hours or so. I added this picture because this is one of the shirts she likes to wear to bed- she also loves the phone & to put my shoes on. She is so dang cute. We love her so much!!!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACILYN!!!

I can hardly believe she is 10 years old. So crazy how time flies. What a joy Jacie is in our family. We love her very much. She is having a birthday party tomorrow. It is a late over and she is so excited. She has new friends already at her new school. She makes friends so easily. Jacilyn has so many talents. She loves doing hair- & she does it better than I do. She loves anything girl - like jewelry, make up, clothes etc... She is so fun. She has been drawing outfits lately. I am shocked at how good she is. I keep asking her if she wants to take dance or singing lessons but nope- just not her thing. She would love to take hair & make up classes and art classes too. We need to find an amazing place to put her in. Oh yeah, and she plays the piano. Now that she is practicing she is really starting to get good. We are so lucky to have her. Jacilyn- We love you!!! Happy Birthday.

Back tracking to Lagoon In July :)

We went to Lagoon in July as a family and had a great time. Here are some photos.

Barney's in the box!!

Brooklyn started to play inside the box's so we couldn't help but snap a few photos- Sisters wanted to join in the fun so here are our little treasures in a box. :)

New home :)

Here are some pictures of our new home- I know I am not the greatest photographer. We love it here. :) I had to take a picture of the pantry because I didn't have one in our last home. I love it!!!

Pictures of the old house

A couple days before we moved into our new house, Chailyn said out of no where "Mom I miss our old house, and I think it misses us too." I laughed- she always says the funniest things. We had some great times in our old home & will always treasure the good memories we had there. :)