Semifinalist

Brinley is a semifinalist. If you want to vote for her, she is #3 again.

It would help if I had the right link.

Go to http://www.stephanietueller.blogspot.com


And get voting she's behind and I'm sure it's because of my stupid mistake.

Yes, we do have a cute baby

Remember These? Stephanie Tueller took them last March. It turns out Brinley is in one of her top 12 photes for 2008. She wan't people to vote on them and the winner gets a free 11x14. Go Here and vote for your favorite. Brinley is #3.

Paradise Friends Christmas Party

Burr

The live Nativity

Our Big FAT Christmas Tree

We finally got our tree up with lots of help from our little UN DECORATOR.

I had a hard time believing Christmas was almost here. I think I needed a day to give thanks for all of the blessings in my life first. So, I suggested that we had a big family dinner and our traditional Thanksgiving day gingerbread houses. We ended up doing that last weekend.
Notice: our houses aren't as elaborate as they were before we became parents, but family traditions WITH children make them so much more fun.

Brinley's favorite part was UNdecorating her house. I never let her eat this much just so she was shoving candy in her mouth as fast as she could.

Gratitude and Grieving

The weekend before Thanksgiving my Grandpa took us to find a Christmas tree. This is a tradition I look forward to every year. I even missed Ashley's baby shower because tree hunting with Grandpa is so important to me. I know I could buy a permit and cut a tree down anytime, but going with Grandpa has always meant so much to me. He started this tradition years ago. Dustin found the perfect tree for us. You can see Grandpa in the truck. At the moment I took this picture Grandpa cracked a funny joke about our tree.
This last picture means so much to me, as it was the last picture ever taken of Grandpa.

My Grandpa died on Thanksgiving. It was a total shock to all of us. I can't express the impact my Grandpa had on my life. We were all so close to him! I am so sad for my poor mom who did everything she could to save her dad's life and my poor little Grandma who doesn't even know how to take her next step. None of our lives will ever be the same without you Grandpa. We love you and miss you so much!

Today my heart is filled with sorrow

But this picture is making me smile Thanks for the picture Lora. It made my day.