O Christmas Tree!

Our dear Christmas tree 3 years ago, fresh out of the package! Decorated with 3 different colored strings of light and maybe 4 ornaments... apparently invisible in this picture. And yes Mike looks quite charming in my slippers. He might be wearing them right now too. :)

I set up our Christmas tree the other day. I would have to say it has made much progress in the last 3 years. It is nothing spectacular, but I'm definitely happy with the improvement!

And some recent pics of our little bundle of joy....
Tummy time with friend Isaac Heath

A little nap time with Papa D during Thanksgiving break

Oh I just love Brinner's smiles! It is like her eyes have smiles of their own as well!! She is getting so big.. 5 months this Saturday!!

So hot right now

What I'm really loving:
*Spending time with Mike and Brin
*Harry Potter (finally reading them!)
*P90X
*Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
and...

The other day I bought this, Vanilla Almond Shredded Wheat, the most amazing cereal. Ever. I can eat it for every meal and snacks in between. It is really that good. If I was daydreaming of Christmas presents, then one would be ten boxes of it stacked under the tree. Mmmm mmm good!

I didn't want this post to be entirely about me.. so here are some of Brinley and Mike's favorites as well.

Mike:
*Playing with Brinley and trying to make her laugh
*24
*and some more 24 (note - he is trying to catch up to the current season and is a little behind)


Brinley:
*MILK!! haha (I thought that once she got a little older her feedings would be less often.. but no she is still eating just about every two hours excluding nights.)
*being held and getting lots of attention from mom and dad
*giving smiles to everyone!!
*sucking her fingers

Hunters, Tigers, Giraffes and More!

Well, I think that Halloween has to be one of the most popular blogging topics for parents everywhere! And I will be adding to the list as well!

We had a great time with our little giraffe at our ward Halloween party. Our friend, Ashlee Villordo, found the costume at Babies 'R' Us for only $10! Of course I had to make her costume a little more girlie by throwing on the flower and bracelet! :) We tied in our costumes to Brinley's by Mike being a giraffe hunter and I, the zoo-keeper. Brinley went trick or treating for the first time down a dark and spooky hallway! (It was in our church). Such fun!

Way to stick to the healthier option: fingers over candy!

Probably my favorite picture of the night. All the commotion of the evening tired our little bug out!

Smilin' away

I don't think I looked too much like a zoo-keeper... oh well! ;)

Austin Heath and Mike had similar roles but different costumes.

Me and Brinley, Liz and Isaac (vicious tiger!) Heath, and Jenna and Katelyn (pink tiger) Ralph. We often take trips to the library together. And we were on the same volleyball team :)

Our friends, the Nardones. I loved the speed bump!! Baby Porter will have such creative and wonderful parents!

Love this picture!! My husband is such a hunk!!!

Actual Halloween night was a date night for Mike and I! I was planning to surprise him with a date at the Corn Belly Maze at Thanksgiving Point, but it actually closed at 6!! (Really, being a Halloween attraction it should stay open much later on Halloween.. perhaps the actual time that is advertised on the website: 11pm!!) Such a disappointment because we really wanted to go. But, we enjoyed guryos at Burger Supreme instead. Any night with my hubby is a good one even if it doesn't turn out how I plan. :)

Caramel Apple Goodness!!

Yesterday I made my first caramel apples! Well, I might have made them when I was younger, but I don't remember if I did. Anyways, I decided that I wanted to go all out and make them extra super delicious. We used white chocolate chips, toffee bits and chocolate drizzle to make these scrumptious delights! The best gourmet apples I have ever tasted! Our friends Dan and Cat Reid joined us for FHE to make them. Mike doesn't even really like caramel apples and said that they were really good too!

My creations :)

Dan and Cat Reid enjoying their apples

Dan, Mike, Brinley, Cat and I after eating our delicious treat :)

I just had to put up some recent pictures of our delightful little girl. She is getting so big! According to our home measurements last Sunday, she was around 14 lbs and 25.5 inches long! I love watching her develop and learn about herself and her surroundings. She is such a blessing and we are just so grateful for her in our lives.

Brinners in her cute little outfit and chillin' on her new play gym!

Hmmm.. interesting red light from the camera

Grabbing hold of the little frog for the first time

Volleyball Intramural Champions!

Well, I just had to post some pictures of my amazing volleyball team after we won the top division of BYU's intramural volleyball championship!! As some of you may know, I had surgery the previous day so I wasn't able to play. I had half of my thyroid removed and a lump on the other side. Thus, the reason for my scarf. :) And hooray it wasn't cancer!!

You can't really tell from the pictures, but on the front shirt is stated, "The most coveted shirt on campus." Then on the back it says, "Thou shall not covet." Truly, I was very excited about my volleyball team. A small part of me wishes that Mike wasn't graduating so I could play with them another year!

Left to right: Patrice, Cathrine, Chanda, Melissa, Jenna, Sarah, Liz and Me

My two biggest fans :)

Just a picture of me playing during the tournament... evidence that I did play! :) (I am the one blocking middle if you didn't know)

Is it worth it...

To buy this adorable, super cute and very precious Halloween costume for $30 that Brinley will only wear once? She won't be eating any candy and really won't remember it unless I take a picture of her in it. And if it is just the picture that I want, maybe it would be better if I just went to a store, dressed her up in it for 3 minutes and take the picture. Of course I would love to play the role of a proud mom showing off her cute little bunny at our ward social or around the town, but we don't plan on dressing up. That interact will last at most 3 hours... so I ask again, is it worth it?

Another 26.2

This last weekend Mike ran his second marathon! This one was in St. George and he improved his time by about 10 minutes! Wooohooo go Mike! His chip time was 3 h 42 m. I'm proud of my little stud. (I definitely would never want to run one!) We were able to stay with Mike's parents and family since they just recently moved to St. George and that was a blast. We spent time recovering by watching general conference. It was a great weekend!

Mike on the final stretch

Scott and his wife, Christie, with us after the race. Scott and Mike trained together for the race.

Mike distracted... Brinley eating the carrier... :)

Mike: Ugh, what a miserable race... I wonder when I will do it again?

Good thing Brinley and I were there to support him! :)

Brinley and I reading together. She just loves books!

Asleep in Alanna's swing

Alanna and Brinley

Smiley bug

We are mentally preparing for the race by watching cartoons the day before the race. Brinley and I were ready! Brinley was wearing her running shoes and outfit too! :)

Leslie's Visit and Trip to Logan

Leslie, my twin, came to visit last weekend from Connecticut! She hadn't met her precious little niece yet, and had a wonderful time with her! Well, Brinley actually had a little spell of fussiness while she was here, but Leslie was excited nonetheless! :) We went shopping and took a trip up to Logan to visit our brother John, his wife Liz, and their kids Sam and Jenny. Brinley wasn't a huge fan of shopping or driving. Leslie also introduced me to the exciting hobby of scrapebooking! I'm not a fanatic, but it is fun to do on occassions.

While in Logan we played Blockus, watched "New in Town," and John made some amazing milkshakes! It was great to relive a Brumbaugh tradition of milkshakes and popcorn for Sunday dinner. :) Thanks for coming Leslie!

Sam carefully holding Brinley

Leslie and Brinley

Liz and John

Cute little Jenny

It was difficult to get Jenny to smile on camera... this was close :)

I loved this outfit on her! Kilee and Soren got us this cute skirt.. and she would be wearing the shirt but it was dirty.

Leslie and Brinley taking a nap