A new post!

Well, I have been sitting here trying to think of a creative title for this blog entry without success. I can't really title it "January recap" because truthly these pictures were taken at the end of January and beginning of February. I opted to simply draw attention to the fact that I am actually posting a new entry within a month of my last entry. This is quite the accomplishment for me! Anyone who has followed my blog is shocked I am sure. So here are some recent pictures of my family for y'all to enjoy. I guess I need to get my husband to take more pictures so that I can be in some of them...maybe next time!

Daddy/Daughter Dance: Brandon came to the front door to pick up the girls...they were thrilled!

Sydney's day out with dad: They hiked Kennesaw mountain together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYSON!

Bryson loved his cupcake...

until we lit the candle.

he also loved the sugar cookie dough.

Allison's Valentine's Day box. We spent all afternoon researching the solar system and making it. Can you tell?

We're Expecting...

It is official! We are soon to be pet owners. We get to pick up our new baby boy on February 1st. Last weekend was spent traveling from Athens (go Bulldogs), Georgia to Helen, Georgia looking at a couple of different dog breeders' puppies. Allison got to choose. The Cavapoos (pictured below) won. As you can see in the picture, Allison is thrilled! This is her big reward for reading the Book of Mormon with her dad. Now if we could just agree on a name. Ideas anyone? Our favorites so far are: Samuel (as in Samuel the Lamanite), Trigger (or Trigg) and Tucker. We thought about Teancum but figured either the neighbors would think we are breaking the word of wisdom if we call it Tea or the dog would get confused when we said “come”.

Our dog is the one on the right.

Our dog is the one on the right.


Our dog is the one on the left.

BTW the other two dogs are still available :)

Happy Birthday Sydney!

Our cute, little Sydney turned five on November 3rd!

She was so exicted for her birthday...it just could not come fast

enough for her. We celebrated the day together with our

tradition of breakfast in bed followed by her opening up her

presents. She was thrilled with her American Girl Doll--now

she can play with her sister Allison! Later in the afternoon, I

went to Sydney's school and threw a little party for her class. We

finished off the day with yummy hamburgers from Red Robin

and an ice cream cake! Sydney is our tender-hearted sweetheart.

We love you Sydney!!

Soccer Weekends

If you ever wonder what our family does on the weekends, wonder no longer...soccer, soccer and more soccer is the answer. I wish I would have thought things through a little more before signing both my girls up for this! Practices are Friday night, games are Saturday. That means that at 5:00 Friday evening we pile in the car and drive 20 minutes away and then do not get home until 8:00. The big excitement is usually what fast food chain we get to patronize that night...will it Moe's, Firehouse Subs, or maybe the kids favorite McDonald's??? Saturdays aren't quite as long. We've been lucky so far in that Allison and Sydney's games usually overlap. In spite of the hassle of it all, I must say that the girls are doing great and really enjoy it!

School Blues

Today I kept Sydney home from school. She had a "rough" dentist appointment yesterday and now has three silver teeth. Poor thing...she calls them her princess teeth and loves them dearly. I try and tell her that having silver teeth isn't a great thing but she refuses to believe me. Well, she really could have gone to school today--she is feeling much better but I made her stay home because I have the school blues. I have to admit that having my two daughters gone all day has been more of an adjustment for me than I would have thought possible. It is just plain quiet and lonely. As cute and fun as Bryson is, I can only stand to watch Barney with him so many times and we are often looking for things to do instead of staring at eachother. It has been great having her home today and it has been a breath of fresh air for both Bryson and I! Don't worry, I won't get in the habit of doing this but it sure is fun having her here. Who ever thought I would get the school blues??...not me!

Once again, high time I contribute something to my pathetic blog. If anyone still checks up on me this way...yes, I am alive and my little family and I are doing good. We had a fabulous summer! A short recap: one awesome week at the beach in Destin, Florida, enjoying the white sand beaches, beautiful weather and the great company of good friends; two weeks in Utah packed with fun activities and spending quality time with our two great families and friends; some fun family activities here in Georgia--including a Braves game and Six Flags. It wasn't all play though. My girls still had swimming lessons and yes, I did TRY to get them to do some workbook pages in the their respective summer books I had purchased for them. I had high hopes that we would do better this summer at getting them to study a little bit and having a nice routine. The routine...never really materialized as I had hoped. Better luck, hopefully, next year. Here are few photos of our summer.

Classic picture of Bryson and Sydney playing in Grandma Kunz's backyard

Aunt Ruth taking Allison and Sydney on a hike

Brandon and Rebecca shortly after finishing our race on the 4th of July

Brandon, Sydney and Allison at the Braves game. I don't know what was more enjoyable--the game or the blue slushies

Random Ramblings

I guess it's no secret that I really am not the best at blogging. Every time I check up on my friends blogs I am so impressed at their dedication and abilities! I have wanted to post a slide show of photos of our recent family trip to Destin, FL, but the time needed to learn how to do that has just not been available...I guess I will settle for just putting a few pictures on.

Maybe I just don't get out enough but I have to say that Destin, FL is where it's at! We had an incredible time down there with our friends and loved every minute spent together as a family. We were pretty lucky--awesome weather and no one got sick. To think that it is only an 8 hour drive away from our house makes it tempting to go more often.

We love it here in Georgia. There is never a shortage of ideas of things to do or excellent restaraunts to eat at, or great short vacations to go on. It is beautiful with mild temperatures. We have a great ward and great friends. We have grown closer as a family being out on our own. We wish we could see our family more often is the only downer. Family is very important to us and it is heartbreaking to be so far away. We love them and feel blessed to have such strong, awesome families who care about us and pray for us. We can't wait to see some of them soon!

Allison and Sydney have swimming lessons this week. I found a girl who is coming to our neighborhood pool! They are both making a lot of progress and growing up too quickly. Bryson is hoot and does the funniest things--he some great cheesy grins that are hillarious.