Christmas #1 and #2

This year we ended up celebrating Christmas 3 times-- first Papa and Nini, then Grampy and Nona, and then just the 4 of us at home. So needless to say it was a VERY busy Christmas season this year, but filled with plenty of amazing memories and lots of fun. Here are a few pictures from "Christmas in Birmingham" and our trip to Oregon to have our "Oregon Christmas." It was a lot of fun with the kids really getting into the first 2 Christms celebrations so it made Christmas Day a little bit more anticipated. But I am pretty sure Cami asked to "celebrate CHristmas" every day because she thought it was normal to do it with as much as we did this year. The kids are so blessed to have 2 sets of grandparents that love them so much!

Papa, Brayden, Cami and Nini

The kids helping Nona decorate their tree

must of been a good show on TV to have both kids sitting and quiet with their Grampy and daddy

Grampy, Nona, Brayden and Cami

Thanksgiving in Birmingham

Happy Thanksgiving! 2012 has been a year full of blessing and we got to celebrate it down in Birmingham with Julie's parents. The weather was amazing so we spent a lot of time on the back porch letting the kids play and talking. It is hard to believe 2012 is coming to a close and looking back on all the changes and wonderful things I would say it has been a pretty good year. I would list all the things we are thankful for this year but we would be here all day. So just a few highlights are FINALLY getting healthy, Julie is getting to stay home with the kids full time, Devin's hard work is really paying off, we have made some very close great friends this year, both sides of our family and good and healthy. I know there is a lot I am missing, but thats just a few that comes to mind. We love you all and are SO grateful for each of you and what you bring to the family dynamic :)

Growing up too quick and "Daddy Daughter Dates"

It seems as though life is passing by way to quickly! I feel like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with Cami, and here we are with her about to turn 3 and Brayden is a year in a half. They have changed so much lately it blows my mind. It has been a few months since I have been able to stay home with them full-time and it is so fun to learn even more new things about them everyday. Just really trying to soak  up this time because I am quickly realizing how fast time really goes. We love these two kiddos with all our heart!

 Can you believe 2012 is already almost over?! Well, here are a few pictures from a Fall day of playing outside. It was such a gorgeous day!

Brave little girl loves to "walk the balance beam."

I love his little cheeks

These 2 are trouble together

She was tired of me taking pictures so she put her fingers in her ears and said "I can't hear you mommy, what did you say?"

"Argh!!"

Every couple of weeks Devin tries to take Cami out on a "date." It warms my heart to see how much they love each other and how excited she gets for these nights. I am also happy to be married to a man who wants to make sure his princess knows how she should be treated by a man and treated like a Queen!

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year since the kids (especially Cami) really got into it. Both kids had a lot of fun picking out the "perfect" pumpkins, painting them, and then carving the big one. Cami wanted to be a princess so we decided Brayden would be a frog, so we ended up with our very own "Princess and the Frog." They were adorable! Our good friends the Reeder's came over to go 'Trick or Treating." EG and Cami would run up to each house as quick as they could leaving behind their little brothers that couldnt move as quick. I would say they had tons of fun getting free candy! Great memories were made and I am excited to see both kids into it next year.

 

HIlton Head {Part 2}

Hilton Head, SC {Part 1}

At the end of August we took a nice long family vacation to the beach with some good friends of ours. The plan was to go to Seaside, Florida but had to change locations to Hilton Head, SC because of the hurricane. It ended up great and we had a lot of fun despite the rain we seemed to have a few days. We started off every day with some time on the beach. First day trying to get 4 adults and 4 children all packed up to get down to the beach (which was about a block away) was pretty entertaining. Kids had a blast on the beach! We built sand castles, jumped the waves, chased the birds, and enjoyed throwing sand everywhere (okay Brayden and his buddy Easton did at least :)). In the afternoon the kids would nap and we got to spend some adult, kid free time at the pool. I am so glad we had one right there at the house! All the kids became little fish by the end of the trip. Cami and Emma Grace would count and jump in "together." I am pretty sure they jumped in, swam over to the stairs, and jumped back in a million times. Cami took a few days to figure out the "kicking her legs to swim" and would get pretty frustrated, but after a few days she did a ton better. Brayden would even get on the side of the pool, make some noise that sounded like he was trying to count "1-2-3" and then would jump in (more like step in haha). So all in all it was an awesome trip with tons of great memories!