Santa's visit to Colorado

so santa paid us a visit a couple days early since we are in utah for christmas. breckyn really didn't get much because she really doesn't get yet what is going on but i needed to get her something so she could at least try and open it so i could take a picture. bryce just laughed at me because he knew i would wrap her presents and pretty much unwrap them too. but that's ok. at least i got pictures of her trying.

she got some disney movies since i really don't have any and then a toy and some clothes. santa was going to get her a big car seat but that will come about a month late. i guess he was all out.

bryce showing off his new bead case since he loves playing with beads. jk he got it for me because i do love playing with beads and making things. he is always so thoughtful with his gifts. i was so surprised that he thought of getting me this and also that he actually went in to joann's and got it. He said he had santas little helper in utah so I shall wait and see til Christmas. If you have seen Bryce and his wardrobe you will know that he desperatly needs clothes. i swear he has 3 nice shirts he rotates through and they are getting pretty old. he was also in desperate need of levis since the only 2 pairs he had were from before i even met him and one pair had a hole in the knee so he put a huge patch over it and then the other did the same so like i said he needed levis. i have tryed for the past 2 years to get him some and every time he trys them on he calls them crotch huggers. he might of said a different word than crotch though so needless to say they would always go back to the store. well this year i did it. no crotch huggers. he looks so nice in his new pants. so his christmas consisted of clothes, beef jerky, and a calander i made him with pictures of Breckyn and then one of those big metal tool boxes.


I hope everyone has a very merry christmas!!

LiGhTs LiGhTs and...

..........and more LiGhTs! So this house that is down the street from me reminds me of the Griswalds house on Christmas vacation. I think if I lived right next to this house I wouldn't have to worry about lighting my own house because the amount of lights on this house would light mine up too. The other night I was out Christmas shopping and when I turned up my street there was a line of cars waiting to drive by this. Last year I drove down the street and there was cars parked everywhere along with a tour bus and people everywhere. Anyways, when I came up the street I had my window rolled down and a guy came out of one of there neighbors house and he came out and said "dude this is bull crap, this would drive me insane." He probably didn't use that crap word and it was probably a different 4 letter word I just chose not to put it on my blog. But it does kinda get annoying when you are trying to drive down your street and there are people going 2 miles an hour trying to decide if they want to try to turn left into the circle and wait with the other 20 cars.

The pictures don't even do it justice so you just might want to take a trip out to Denver and check it out for yourself.

I couldn't even get the whole house in the picture.

And this is the neighbors. I wonder if I can get one of these next year and point it down the street!?!

9 month check up

breckyn had her 9 month check up yesterday and i thought these pictures were so cute and i just had to share them. breckyn now weighs 18# 20 oz and is 28 1/2 inches long.

she just LOVED the paper she was sitting on. she kept kicking her legs to make noise.

what a cutie! i cant believe she is almost 10 months old (we were a little late to her 9 month checkup since we were out of town for 3 weeks). i know i say this all the time but i cant believe how fast they grow up.

Bittersweet

This past week was bittersweet. Actually it was more bitter than sweet. Last Friday was the day we moved my mom out of her house that I have called home for the past 22 years. I knew this day was going to come, but it was one that I didn't like to think about. This is the place I have most of my childhood memories. Memories as a kid getting my dad his medicine, a big glass of ice water, pop popcorn and then crawling up in bed with him to watch TV.

Memory of us girls being downstairs with some friends watching a movie and my brother Parker thought it would be funny to try to scare us by pounding on the basement window. Not only did he NOT scare us but he broke the window, cut up his hand and got in trouble.

There have been many tears shed in this house, lots of laughter and tons of memories that I will hold close.

Moving day. My mom has the best ward. They have been there for my family the past 15 years. So many of them have taken us kids under their wing and have been there for us. Lots of them came to help with the move. It always seems like the people that live right across the street from us has always taken care of us. From Tom Nielson to Jared Sidwell and then the person who lives there now Gary. Whenever it snowed Gary would be right over to shovel her driveway

After the first trip to the new place we stopped for a little bit of yummy Inn-N-Out. It was so good and worth the wait.

Me, Christy, Matt who is hidden, Anika, uncle Gary, Ryan, Taylor, Jason and Lexi

That night after everything was out of the house, we decided to have a big slumber party one last time at the house. We blew up air mattresses and all slept in the living room. It was fun to lay there all together and reminisce about the house.

Pillow fight!

My mom is all tuckered out after a long day of work. We tried so hard to wake her up, but she wouldn't budge

Anika, Lexi, Jackson and Taylor

Me, Christy, Summer, Jaclyn, Ryan, Parker and my mom sleepin

I guess we are going to pick Parkers nose. Who knows what we are doing. Apparently my mom didn't get the memo because she is still sleepin.

Summer, Christy and Jaclyn always plot on ways to ruin my pictures. I guess they are being little piggies. Christy apparently didn't get that memo because she isn't being a piggie with them. I knew they were up to something.

Our last family photo in front of the house.

Jaclyn, mom, christy, Parker, Summer and me

The whole family minus Breckyn who is sleeping and Ryan

The new place! I love my moms new condo. It is out in daybreak and I love it out there. It is such a fun place.

Its starting to look like home. Just a little more to do.

I just want my family to know how much I love them and how much they mean to me. We have all been through alot the past 15 years and I know I wouldn't have gotten through it without you guys.

I'm excited to create new memories in moms new home!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

it was that time of year again. time for our trip to the "HaPPiEsT pLaCe on EaRtH." 12 years ago my grandpa took all us grandkids to disneyland and we have continued to go every 2 years since then. it is such a fun tradition and i hope we continue doing it, esp since i now am starting my family, and it is so much fun to see all the kids light up in disneyland. of course breckyn had no idea what was going on, but in 2 years she is going to love it! this year was a little different for me since i now have a little one and since bryce for some reason didn't want to come and feel the magic for 6 days. i couldnt even get him there for 1 day but he did say he would love to go next time when breckyn is older and will know what is going on.

*caution, tons of pictures*

summer and carter flew out with me. it was so much fun having company on the way out there. and no i did not cut bangs. for some reason one day i had short like pieces of hair up front. hate it.

me and all my bags
getting ready to go to DiSnEyLaNd!

christy, ryan and taylor

walking over
jason, summer, carter and lauren

the tears started a little bit early this year. we had barely left the hotel when summer started to already feel the magic.

getting ready to cross the street
jason, lauren, christy, me, breckyn and mom
and finally inside
sum and i

breckyn with auntie jaclyn

and auntie christy

so we decided to ride pirates for our first ride since we can all go on that ride together. well, i dont think jackson or carter really appreciated that. here jackson is just terrified and little carter is trying to hide in jacksons arm.

eating the yummiest corn dogs ever! i guess you can't see them because they are already gone

SpLaSh MoUnTaIn

and i got wet

supporting our utes on game day!

cant tell but we are surfing

me, jaclyn, summer and christy

so every night they light fireworks and i would have to say they are pretty amazing. after the fireworks they make the magical kingdom.....

magically snow!

which makes you magically cry.

here jaclyn is shedding a few tears over the magicalness, but a few days later she had told me that yes she was crying because it was snowing but also there was a blind guy standing next to her and when it started snowing i guess just seeing the look on his face and how happy he was, even though he couldn't see what was going on made her cry. and then that made me want to cry. somehow disneyland has that effect on people. making them just want to cry.

greg just taking a nap

the whole gang

me and the birthday girl!

all of us in our 3d glasses waiting to go on toy story. just about everybodys favorite ride.

waiting for something to start. just cant remember

with my cousin kim

cater feeding breckyn

with the 2 goofy ones, jac and kim

hangin out with cousin kate

gettin ready to soar over cali

matt trying to scare tower dude
with mary poppins

waiting for the parade

breckyn loved watching the parade

cute kiddos

jackson did not like the first part of the haunted mansion. he loved the ride but didnt like it in the elevator. every time he would close his eyes and plug his ears.me and breckyn in the dog pound

and the sistas in the dog pound

our traditional goofy hat pic.

and shes out!

the whole trip jackson wanted to ride splash mountain but he was just barely not tall enough. so the last day jason stuffed his shoes with towels to make him taller. here he is seeing if he is tall enough...and he is. but he didnt like the ride after all of that.

the 2 best things about disneyland are the bacon wrapped asparagus and

ToWeR oF tErRoR.l the bestest ride ever!

boo's door

hangin with the cousins

breckyns favorite ride. she loved all the lights!
i think it was all the kids favorite ride. here they are all lookin around

so long dIsNeYlAnD for 2 years! thanks to all of you for making it such a fun trip!

hApPy HaLloWeEn

So growing up as a kid, Halloween was not my favorite. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed going trick or treating but the dressing up part.....not my favorite. When you look at these pictures you might see why. We never were the creative bunch. It always seemed like the night before Halloween we were always scrambling to see what we could be.

Here I am as a hula girl(?) with my 2 cousins. Cute baby Jennifer Ann on my right and cute bunny Jennifer Kay on my left

Me again with Jennifer, Megan the princess, Jennifer and my sister Summer the baby(?) or is she just wearing warm pj's?

Me again with my cousins, Ryan the farmer or cowboy, Jennifer, my bro Parker as Davy Crockett and Danny the Ghost

So we were usually always either a baby or a Utah fan (you always had a pair or red sweats) and I guess when I was little a hula girl. I honestly cant think of anything else I ever was.
So here I am as a Ute fan.
(look Brooke its Ashley behind me)
Our first Halloween married, we had a Halloween party with our friends. I did NOT want to dress up but Bryce insisted that I did. So I figured I would just wear a wig. So I went out and bought one and came home and Bryce decided he wanted to wear it. So there I was 2 hours before people were going to show up and I was costume less. Bryce had one outfit that I could wear and I cant believe I did. Bryce's mom tried to throw it away along time ago at her moms house and his Grandma called Bryce and told him that she found it in the garbage, so she took it out. I wish she hadn't cuz I had to wear it.

Who knows what I was and there is my hot hula boy



So after all my creativeness what do you think Breckyn was this year for Halloween?
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a UTAH Fan! Like I said before you always have a pair of red sweats if your a true UTE fan. How cleaver am I?
I really couldn't get myself to go buy a costume that nobody would see. We thought about just going to the store and putting one on and taking a picture but we didn't. I know that if we lived in Utah I would of dressed her up because I know we would actually see people. I kinda feel guilty not dressing her up today on her first Halloween, but oh well. Nothing I can do about it now..

I would have to say that she is one cute UTE fan!

I guess my ward would of seen her all dressed up. Here she is with her rival. A BYU cheerleader.


I think they are staring each other down. At least UTAH won there game that day and BYU lost theirs:)

Mom if you are reading this I really am not making fun of you and no you did not scar me for life. I think our costumes as youngsters are funny and as you can see I take after you because now my kids are UTAH fans for Halloween.

Is it.... December?

thats what you would think when you looked out our window. it has been snowing non stop since tuesday night and they say it wont stop till tonight around 6. crazy to think its oct and we already have 18+ inches of snow and the schools have already had a snow day. i feel like i should be listening to christmas music, sitting in front of the christmas tree and drinking hot chocolate. if this happened next week i probably would, so i guess i will leave my halloween decorations up till at least sunday.

here is outside my front door

and out back on the deck
look at the roof behind my house with the snow hanging over


kingston loves the snow. look how deep it is.


taking care of business


the snow is so deep that he has leap and jump over the snow

the thing that i love about these kinds of days is that you just hang out .

i've spent the last 2 days doing a lot of scrapbooking.

baking. nothings better than warm banana bread fresh out of the oven.

and best of all hanging out in warm sweats!

never thought i would say this but im excited for winter!

Give hope to Benson and Claire

If you look on my right side bar you will see that I added a button for Benson and Claire Skinner. This family just moved out of our ward the beginning of September. I feel bad because I never did get to know this family, and to be honest I never even knew what was going on with their kids. I took them dinner the night that they were moving out of their house to go to Minnesota and I still didn't know what was going on. I found out a couple of weeks ago on Oct 3 when I got a email from the relief society president saying, Friday afternoon Claire had surgery to replace a dialysis catheter and she had some major complications during the procedure. During the surgery a liver and kidney also came available for her but she was unable to have the transplants due to an unexpected open heart surgery. Not fun to say the least. And at the bottom of the email it had a link to their blog that they had. I opened it up and just started balling. Here is something that I found that you can read to just give you a glimpse of what was going on before the open heart surgery.

Very soon after that Natalie took Claire in for her routine 2 month check up. That was the day their world got turned upside down. The Dr. was concerned that Claire was not growing and sent them straight to the hospital for tests. By the end of the day they discovered that Claire's kidneys were only functioning at 10% and she was in kidney failure. Everything changed that day and everything is in terms of before and after that day.They eventually figured out that she and her brother BOTH have a rare disease that causes their liver and kidneys to be overworked and eventually wear out. Claire's are already worn out, so she is on dialysis for 3 hours a day. They were doing it at night too and it was 15 hours a day, but there were recent complications with that, so for now it's 3 hours a day. Natalie gets up before the sun to get the kids ready, drop Benson off at various friend's houses, and then she and Claire head up to the hospital. During the dialysis, Claire is connected with tubes to the machine, so she has to just sit there. There's a video on their blog of Natalie entertaining her so she'll stay put and stay happy. She has to be the most patient mother on earth. It would be like taking a 3 hour plane flight with your two year old everyday. Stuck in one place and trying to make the most of it! Thankfully, Benson's condition is slower progressing and they caught it before it had gotten too bad, so they are hoping with medicine his organs will last longer. Their family moved to Minnesota to be near the Mayo clinic where Claire will hopefully get her transplant this winter. They are trying to raise $100,000 toward medical expenses. The bottom line is they will both eventually need liver and kidney transplants. When I think about this family and the physical, emotional and financial toll this must take on them, it breaks my heart. So, please, click on their button, read more about their story and do what you can to support them.

If you chose to follow this story I would start reading it at I have no idea what day it is! (its in the october archive near the beginning of the month). This is the day they rushed her into open heart surgery.

Some cute pics of the Breckster

Just wanted to share some pictures of Breckyn.

She has a little patch of hair that is long enough to pull back.

Shes a big girl now!

Here she is just relaxin in the shopping cart with her leg up just like she does in the bath.

She got mad at me because I took that paper away. She started eating it and gaging on it so I figured it probably wasn't a good toy.


So I gave her a different piece of paper and she was happy

As you can see I love taking pictures of her.

Good times with the Neeley's

So the Neeley's came to visit last Saturday and we had a good time. They flew in on Saturday at about 4 and we headed up to the University of Utah vs CSU game. We got there by half time, but I don't think any of us minded that we were late since it was 20 degrees outside. It was so cold, but it was a really fun game.

Here are some pictures of us at the game.

Ben, Tara, Bryce

Karen, me and Breckyn

Dave and Todd



Breckyn and I



Breckyn did so good. She was such a good sport for wearing about 5 layers of clothes, a big puffy coat, being outside in 20 degree weather, looking at a crazy drunk guy not wearing a shirt,
(Just kidding I don't think he was drunk which makes it even worse) and watching an old guy who was there with his 10 year old son throw a beer ice ball (It was so cold the snow turned to ice and he must of poured beer on it) at a ute fan because he was waving his Utah flag. Fun times at the Utah game.



Breckyn must of been so warm that she feel asleep



All of us after we WON the game
Karen, Me, Breckyn, Ben, Tara, Todd, Bryce and Dave





After the game we went and ate dinner. Here Breckyn is playing with a empty bag of chips.


I think its funny how you can get all the toys in the world and they would still rather have a empty bag of chips, the remote and always, your cell phone.

On Monday we went to the mall. After 10 years of Bryce trying to get his dad a cell phone, Dave finally caved. We all had to take a picture because we couldn't believe it.

Riding cowboy

We then went to Rock Bottom for dinner. It was
yummy!

We then went to Dave & Busters.

Bryce playing jump rope

With the tickets we won, we got Breckyn this monkey. She loved it. She would just sit there and smile at it.

The next day (Tuesday) we went to the Denver Mint. At the mint in Denver they make the coins. It was cool to see how its done. They had just made a Guam quarter and since Bryce served there on his mission he had to get one. He bought a pack of quarters that had about 12 quarters in it for $30. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't that of only been $3?
After the mint we went to Boulder. Boulder is a fun place. It has some interesting people there. There was this Jamaican rastafari guy that was super flexible. He was fun to watch. Here he is bending in half, getting in a barrel.

and inside a box

the last night hangin out at home

A couple of years ago we went over to our friends Steve and Jen Burts house. While we were there they pulled out this game that shocks you. What you do is you all hold a handle and when the music stops you press a button and the last person that presses there button gets shocked. Well I thought it was the funnest game and I had to go out and get it. Here they are playing the game.

Well when I found the shocking game I also found another one where 2 people hold a handle and every round the shock gets higher. Here is Todd the Rock star doing it all by himself. He almost got to the very last level which does not feel pleasant.

Actually I think he did make it to the last level. He's a Rock star.

Breckyn and Grandma Neeley right before they had to leave to go home. Isn't Breckyn's outfit adorable. Grandma got it for her.

Breckyn and Grandpa

Breckyn with Tara and Ben

It was so much fun to have the Neeley's here. I love it when people come out and stay with us. You are all invited and welcome anytime you want to come out.

Parade

Just had a parade go in front of my house.....Kinda fun!

Boy don't they look excited

Kinda wish I was at DiSnEyLaNd watching one of there parades. I know family you will be doing that in about a month. Yes I am jealous but you will be jealous of me when I see Ben Aflek hanging out in central park in NYC or drinking a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. Just had to put that in to get my mind off of "tHe HapPiEsT pLaCe On EaRtH".

I LOVE FALL

Its official...you can now decorate for Halloween! I just love this time of year. I would have to say its my favorite. Not only is it decorating time of year but I also love that its getting cooler outside, the leaves are changing colors, sweatshirts, soup and comfort food and of course all my shows are back on. Just to name a few....Greys anatomy, Private Practice, The office, Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, The Hills and coming soon American Idol. That's not that many is it? Bryce just loves all my shows...But for him he has football and sports center.

I love to decorate for Halloween and Christmas.

Love my lights! Made them a couple of years ago.

Just love going in the mountains and looking at all the leaves
changing colors.

I never thought I would say this but I am also looking forward

to this weather too. A couple of years ago we literally got snowed

in. It was so much fun!

Just look at all that snow. It was up to our knees.

Now I'm just hoping since October is here things will finally settle down for Bryce at least till December. He gets home today after being gone again, for the past 5 days.

SPLISH SPLASH

Just thought these pictures were cute of Breckyn playin and relaxin in the bath. She loves her baths!

somehow she got her leg up and she was resting

her head on the side of her chair.

So friday night I was laying in bed reading my baby books

and it was talking about teething and how grumpy your kid

can be. After reading, I was not looking forward to it. The

next day I was at Wal mart standing in the baby food isle

and for some reason I decided to check to see if I could

feel anything. Its not like she was grumpy or anything, I

just wanted to see. Sure enough not only could I feel them

but I could see her 2 little bottom teeth. There I was

standing in the Wal mart isle holding back my tears.

I dont know why it made me so sad, I just

cant believe how fast she is growing up.

5 year anniversary

Today is our 5 year anniversary! The past 5 years have gone by so fast. Every year we have gone somewhere for our anniversary but tonight Bryce is out with people from work that have come into town for a Rockies game, so we celebrated last weekend in Vail and Breckenridge. The day after we got home from Utah, Bryce left the next day for Vegas for some meetings, so it was a much needed vacation for the both of us to spend some time together.
All these pictures are in Vail. Im mad at myself because I didnt even get any pictures of us in Breckenridge. So no pictures of Breckyn in Breckenridge.

out on our deck

We took the gondola up the mountain. It was
such a pretty view. It was freezing up there .

It was really cool because all of a sudden

it got really misty and foggy.

So on our way home it was snowing. Yuk!

It was a nice and relaxing weekend.
Thanks Bryce for such a fun weekend! I love you tons!

Utah and the State Fair

So the months of August and September I would have to say they are not my favorite months of the year (December is up there too) only because Bryce is gone for most of the months. For the month of September Bryce has been home for about a total of 4 days. Granted I have been with him for some of the time. The Colorado state fair starts the end of August and since its about 2 hours away Bryce has to stay there. He was at the CO fair for about 8 days, got home about 7 o'clock at night and then we headed for Utah the next morning for there fair. Landed, and he went straight to the fair to set up. He spends all day, 9 am to almost midnight there, so when he was all done he was pretty tired. When we got there I was told by one of the district managers that they were all shaving ugly white trash mustaches and they would really like Bryce to be a team player and shave his beard to have a stache. I didnt really think Bryce would do it, but of course, he didnt just do a mustache, he did a white trash dirty beard. Only Bryce would do something like that. And here is the pretty beard.

I took my neice and nephew Colter and Boston to the fair.

My sister Jaclyn was babysitting my cousins kids, so she joined us,

along with my other sister Christy with her little family and my mom.

It was a partay at the fair. Here we are waiting for the bear show.

Jaclyn with Haley, Kennady's friend, Riley and Kennady

Boston, Colter, Christy and Ryan



Breckyn and I

The whole night all the kids wanted to do was go down the

big yellow slide. Here we are with our mats.

Having a little cat nap

Bryce, Breckyn and Jackson

Bryce and the boys. So who do you think has the worst

fair face?

So after Bryce did that thing to his face, he had to shave

it off. It was kinda sad. He had that beard for

exactly 1 year. He started growing it last

year when the CO fair started and

had itever since. Look how young

and different he looks.

He finally had a day to relax. Our nephew

Luke was blessed on Sunday.

Luke on his blessing day. Look at those blue eyes!

The Neeley's

Its always so fun going home, but always very busy.

6 Months old

So Breckyn is now 6 months old. I can't believe how fast the last 6 months has gone. Breckyn gets more and more fun every day. Today Breckyn had her 6 month appointment and she now weighs 15 lbs 4 oz and is 25th percentile on weight, length is 27 1/2in so she is 75th in length. She is just tall and skinny. Here are some pictures of the last week and a half.

Waiting to get my shots:(

She did so good and barely even cryed.

I love this picture. Of course she was laughing at the dog.

So on Saturday we decided to go to Estes Park. It was

fun to be back up in the mountains.

Breckyn is playing in a little stream with her dad.

Breckyn hates her tummy. She lasted about 5.2 seconds

So the other day I was feeding her breakfast and she was

getting so sleepy.

My 6 month old birthday! Bryce said that this is really

the only time that your half birthday really counts,

so I went out and bought her toys for her birthday.

Breckyn loves to twirl her feet and wrists. Its kinda

hard to tell but she is doing both in thess pictures.

So cute!

Scrapbook

So after looking at all my scrapbooking stuff, pictures and telling myself everyday that I am going to start Breckyns scrapbook today, I finally started it. I was so excited after I finished my first page I had to send my sister in law Lindsi a picture of it. I don't know why I was so scared to start it, but now I am hooked. It is so much fun! I had to share some of my pages because I am so proud of myself.

Fun Times

First things first. I have to make a correction to one of my posts that I posted when Breckyn was 4 months old. I believe I said something along the lines that I really didn't mind it when Breckyn pooped out her pants. Dont get me wrong, I really do like dressing Breckyn, but when she decides to blow out her diaper while I am flying on a plane and not only does it get all over her but it also gets all over me. Ya, not so fun. No one ever told me that not only do I have to pack extra clothes for Breckyn (which I didnt have on the plane) but I also needed to pack myself extra clothes. So there you have it. I don't really enjoy blow outs.

So we have been on vacation for the past 3 weeks, or maybe I should say that I have been on vacation and Bryce kinda has. He can be on vacation and still have to work. The only way he can get away from work is if he goes out of the country and there is no phone or internet connection. Kinda annoying but what do ya do? I guess just get used to it. Anyways, we started out in Utah and got there on July 16th or maybe I should say the 17th cuz it was about 2 in the morning when we got there. My cousin Jen got married on the 17th up in Park City and it was such a pretty wedding. We were there for a week up until we went to "the tets" A.K.A "the tetons" A.K.A "Jackson Hole" A.K.A "Colter Bay" A.K.A "the second happiest place on earth". We were there for 9 glorious days then headed to Island Park A.K.A "Bryce's happiest place on earth" to spend time with his family at there cabin. It was such a fun time. I LOVE Jackson. It is so pretty there and I always hate leaving. I do have to say that after 3 weeks of living in suit cases, having to wash the dirt off my feet every night before I go to bed for 2 weeks straight, smelling like mosquito repellant all the time for 2 weeks straight. Having Breckyn spoiled for 3 weeks straight by being held all the time, she now doesnt know what to think by being home and not getting all the attention all the time. Ill be honest, she doesnt like it, but it is good to be home. Now its time to work on Breckyn and let her know that she doesnt need to be held all the time and that its ok to be left alone for more than 2 minutes.

So just a warning, I have a ton of pictures. Just remember I was on vaca for 3 weeks so I did take a lot of pics.

This is at my cousins wedding. So pretty

Hangin out at the wedding




Cute little Breckyn









Bryce thought this was the best wedding reception ever
because he was able to go fishing while we were there.




So here is the start of our Jackson trip with my family.
Just hangin out at camp playin games.

So I saw this hat on ellen when she was doing her Christmas

give aways and I thought it was so cute and had to get one.

Bryce made fun of this hat and said she looked like strawberry

shortcake. I think its cute. And it kept her really warm

which is the most important thing.

Hangin out at camp with dad

This was such a funny game to watch. Its called Ninja and

you try to slap the persons hands next to you.
Bryce dominated the game.

Another funny game to watch. Called "zoom" and "bong".

You stand in a circle and have to say zoom or bong to the

person next to you without showing your teeth.

Bryce owned this game.

So Kingston was able to join us on our vacation. 3 weeks was

way too long to board him. He was in heaven being able to run

around in the woods and swim. There isnt a prettier place to swim

and play fetch in the water.

We wore him out pretty good that he didnt care that he

was falling off the bed.

Kim, Christy, Summer and Greg seeing how

high they can jump.

Went into Yellowstone. Jaclyn and I wearing our

matching Jackson 09 sweatshirts waiting for old faithful

to go off.

Breckyn with auntie Jaclyn

All bundled up, going to bed.

The Smith chicks. We hiked up to hidden falls.

On the hike up to hidden falls

Such a cute picture. Greg, Taylor, Lexi and Jackson

Some how Christy didnt get the memo that we were

all going to wear brown sweatshirts.

So these next pics are out of order. But this is where we stay. people

always ask what we stay in so I figured I would just take pictures of it.

2 sides are wood and then the other 2 sides are a canvis tent. Those are bunk

beds that we put up cuz we put a air matress down.

Theres a little wood burning stove to keep us

warm at night.

Family photo in front of the tent cabin right before we take

off for Island Park. Such fun times in Jackson. Lots and Lots of

fun family memories.

We went to yellowstone falls. It was very pretty and fun to see

since I had never been there.

Neeley family photo

We have tried so many times to get a picture of Breckyn

and Kingston together but Kingston would never want to

be close to Breckyn and would always get up and leave. Breckyn loves

being by kingston and she usually always laughs when he comes close.

He was so worn out by playing in the river that he didnt care

that she was pulling his ears.

Playin in the river with dad

The boys heading off to go fishing

Big moose across the river

So Bryce and I decided to go on a canoe ride and kingston

saw us and decided that he had to follow.

Family "bob" photo on the dock. I know you cant

tell but we are all wearing bob marley shirts. Yes even

Breckyn has one.

Told you there were alot of pictures.

As you can see we had a fun 3 weeks.

There is nothing better than spending 2 weeks in the

mountains. Such fun family times!

57 Years Young

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

So this post is about 6 days old. I wanted to get this done on my dads birthday which was last Saturday, June 20th. I have been working on it but just haven't had time to finish it. I got the song on there that reminds me of my dad about a week ago, and that's about how far I got. So this one is for you dad.

So a couple of months ago we decided it would be fun to throw my dad a birthday party. It had been a long time since we have seen my dads brothers so we thought there isn't a better time than my dads birthday to get together with them. It was so much fun putting it all together. My sister Summer and I made invitations which took about 10 hours to make but looking at it you would never even think that, it really should of taken us about an hour but we wanted them to be perfect. The night was fun. We ate, hung out and talked and then we had my dads brothers tell us stories of my dad. There were some crazy stories told but its always fun to hear stories of my dad. Summer and her hubby made a video of my dad. It was a video of pictures of when he was a kid growing up, when he met my mom and then pics of our family. I was doing really good controlling my tears till that point, then I lost it. I had made a book for the brothers full of memories of my dad that people had written, poems people had written and then all the funeral talks. I think they all really liked it. The night was a lot of fun. I'm so grateful that we still have my dads brothers around. Each one of them remind me so much of my dad. I'm glad the night turned out and they were all able to make it. Only one of the the brothers didn't come but that's because he is a mission president. So that's understandable.

Here are some pics of the party.

The table of food. We had pictures as the center

pieces then sprinkled sunflower seeds cuz that was

my dads favoritest thing.

Of course I had to put a pic of Breckyn.

Shes with her Grammy Smith.

Everyone just hangin out

Uncle Kent and my cousin Julia

The 3 brothers looking at the memory book

I also re-did my parents wedding album and gave that to my mom,

so that is what they are looking at.

Singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY

This was my favorite. Chocolate cake

yumminess!!

Its hard to see everyone but this is all that came

to celebrate.

The next day we went to the cemetery.

I can't believe my dad has been gone for 15 years. In a way it seems just like yesterday, but in another way it really does seem like that long ago.
Dad, I just want to say Happy late Birthday! I miss you so much. There is not one day that goes by that I don't think of you. The past month or so you have been on my mind so much as I was getting things together for your party. You would think after all this time I could read a story or look at pictures or even be in the same room with your brothers without crying, but I cant. It still hurts. Thanks for all you taught me and your example. I will always cherish the 13 years I had with you. I love you so much and miss you a ton. Love your Kel Bel

4 Months Old

So I can't believe little miss Breckyn is all ready 4 months old. This past 4 months have gone by so fast. Why didn't the 9 months I was pregnant go by this fast? Let alone the last 3 months I wasn't working, staying at home, staring at the calender and wondering what more can i possibly clean and organize in my house. Breckyn is getting more and more fun every day. She is smiling alot and also is starting to giggle which is so cute. I haven't really been able to record it cuz every time I get the camera up she stops and just stares at it. The other day she found her thumb. She has always liked to suck on her hands but on Sunday she actually found her thumb. It really was the cutest thing ever but I really dont want her to continue sucking it. We will see if she finds it again. She likes to have blow outs out of her diaper which is always so fun. Actually I really don't mind cuz then I get to re dress her in another outfit. Bryce thinks I act like shes my doll cuz I like to dress her, which is true, I do. It's crazy how much you can love something so small and how you really can't imagine your life without them. I love being a mom, its the bestest thing ever. Here are some pictures I have since the last time I posted some.

Breckyn LOVES her fingers

She always sleeps with her hands by her head

So this picture was taken about a month ago and this was

her first night in her crib. It was a sad night and I think

she only lasted about 2 hours before I put her back in our room.

I know, I'm weird, but I like her close.

Trying to sit up

I have no idea how she did this. One night she

started making noises so I went in and checked on

her and her binki was on her face.

Colter and Breckyn. 1 week ago Colter and Boston

came out to Colorado to play with there cousins that

live in Greeley. They all came down to my house one night

to play and spend the night.

All the kiddos in the hot tub

We took all the kids to the Aquarium. It was fun cuz

my cousin Jesse was in town for work so he met us and

them came to the house to hang out.

Anika, Taylor,Colter, Lexi, Boston and Jesse in the back

Breckyn was trying so hard to watch T.V.

We went out to Utah about 2 weeks ago and while

I was there we watched my brothers kids for

a couple of days while him and Lindsi were in lake powell.

It was Lindsi's birthday so we got a cake to celebrate.

Breckyn and Grandma Neeley.

She is getting tired cuz her hands are up

on her head.

Edison and Breckyn

This is the 2nd time we have taken Kingston to Utah.

The time before this was when he was a puppy. We decided

to bring him cuz we spend too much money boarding him, so

he came with us. We stopped off in Evanston on the way to see

our friends Johny and Shaunel. The dog you see on the far right

is Kingston's sister. It was alot of fun to see them play.

Johny and Shaunel were so nice and offered to keep

Kingston there for the week. I wish we lived closer so we

could get together alot more often.

Johny decided to juggle some eggs. I told him I needed the

picture to put on my blog. I don't think he took me serious

and didnt think I would do it. So heres to you .

And no he didnt drop the egg.

Funnel Clouds

So today we came out of church and it was just pouring rain. By the time we went from the church to our car (which wasn't far since we parked on the front row) we were soaked. Since we don't live in Utah our church is about 15 minutes away from our house. On the way home we couldn't believe how dark the clouds were. When we were almost home Bryce pulled over cuz we started looking at the clouds and couldnt believe how fast they were moving. And then we realized that the cloud was actually spinning. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. These pictures dont even do it justice but thought you might want to take a look at a funnel cloud forming.

Go Thuggetts

So we never have been Thuggetts fans and we still really aren't but since Denver is playing LA that makes us Thuggetts fans for the time being. Last night we went to the game and it was alot of fun even though we lost. Here are some pics of the game.

Breckyn and I in front of the Pepsi Center

The whole fam in front of Pepsi Center

Just hangin out. We got there really early, so we were just waiting for them to open the doors.

This is why we came early, to people watch. Really wasn't the reason but there are alot of special people out there.

Tryin to get some sleep in before the craziness starts.

Look how close our seats were. Go Melo! I think thats who has the ball

Just kiddin! These were our seats. They still weren't too bad

Breckyn just hangin out. She did great with all the noise.

The last minute of the game was pretty crazy. Bryce could barely stand it.

Neither could this kid. He just had to take off his shirt.

Hopefully Denver can pull it off on Monday night.

Wow if that wasn't frustrating. I think I'm done blogging. Just kiddin. That just took awhile to figure out. But here is a ton of pictures of our little one. I just started from when she was born and then the very last picture was just taken the other day. Breckyn was born on February 17, 2009 at 8:22 am. That was the funnest day of my life. But not quite as fun as Disneyland. She weighed 6lbs 15oz and was 19 inches long. So Bryce really wanted a picture of the dog on here since he is a part of the family, which if you ask him sometimes I forget that. I meant to put this at the end or middle but once again, I forgot about the dog and I can't figure out how to move the damn picture. So he is the first one you get to see! Enjoy

That sure was the best feeling finally having

her out of the belly and being able to hold her.

First time Bryce held her



1st family photo



Finally going home!
Look how little she looks



1st night home from the hospital.

Breckyn's 1 week old today

Breckyn and her cousin Edison.

Sleepin with her dad

Breckyn on her blessing day

I think this is the funniest picture. All of us

Smith girls were pregnant at the same time

(except Jaclyn) and as you can see Breckyn

is the youngest, but this is the 1st time we have

all been together since the kids were all born. From

left to right: Brewer, Carter, Kate and Breckyn

Breckyn and Braxton. This is Bryce's best

friends Ryan's little boy.

Breckyn at her 2 month check up. She had

to get 2 shots in her legs. It was soo sad.

Dad and Breckyn playin

We went to a Rockies game and it was a pretty

cold night. I had Breckyn in so many layers.

She was wearing a onsie (I dont think I spelled

that right) a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, jacket,

pair of tights, pants that had like a thermal layer

inside of them, socks and a pair of booties. Then I

had her in a bjorn ( I dont think I spelled that right

either) in front of me inside my coat. And then I

had a blanket on top of us. I think I kept her warm

enough because all she did was sleep. The whole game.

I think she just wanted to get out

of all those layers.

1st time on the airplane. Heading to Costa Rica.

She did so good on the plane. She pretty much

just slept the whole time.

1st time in the water.

Just hangin out at the pool

Bryce tried to surf

Just relaxin in the sink trying to take a bath

I can't believe how fast they grow up and how much they change week by week. Breckyn is already 3 months old. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I will really try hard to keep this up.

I'm starting a blog

Sure couldn't get any sleep last night. I am living on 1 hour of sleep and I really am not even exaggerating when I say that. And here is why.
As you all know we had our first little baby in Feb. She has been so much fun and such a blessing in our lives. I feel like I have waited so long to be a mom and sometimes when I look at Breckyn I can’t believe that she is really all mine. Since having Breckyn she has made me want to do 2 things I said I would never, never, did I say never? Do. 1st of all I said I would never scrapbook. I always thought they were cute and wished I would do one but knew I would never cuz I didn’t think I was creative enough to put it together. Well as many of you know my sister in law Lindsi, every month does a card night where you go to her house, make cards and order scrap booking stuff. It’s a lot of fun but I haven’t been for 3 years since I now live 8 hours away, but I still order stuff. I know I don’t scrapbook so I would just order ink, little stamps that I could stamp and make a magnets for my fridge. So after I had breckyn I was looking through the catalog trying to figure out what other little stamps I could get. I then thought of a brilliant idea. Why not start a scrapbook for breckyn with all those 100s of pictures you have taken. Well as I started looking through the catalog I started getting really excited cuz I started getting all these ideas in what I wanted to do and there was sooo much stuff I wanted to get but I figured I would have to order month by month so Bryce wouldn’t kill me. So that night that’s all I could think about. I fed breckyn got her into bed then I crawled into bed knowing I had about 3 hours before she would wake up and want to eat. Well I laid there thinking about scrap booking for what seemed like forever, finally fell asleep, dreamt about it, woke up, fed breckyn, still thinking about it. So 2 ½ months later I have bought a lot of stuff, but still need to start.
2nd thing I said I would never do is this. What I am doing right now. Blogging. When we moved to Colorado everyone kept telling me I should start a blog. I always said never will I start a blog. I don’t even email. How on earth could I start a blog? Then when I got pregnant, again everyone said I would have to start a blog so they could see the baby. At that point I think I had just barely gotten my first email address. And the only reason I did is cuz I was giving Bryce’s email address to the ward cuz I didn’t have one. He didn’t like that so I had to get my own. I’m still trying to figure the whole email thing out. So again, at that point, I said I won’t have a blog cuz I wouldn’t be able to figure that one out and also I'm not good at writing stories so I knew if I started one I would have nothing to say. That is probably what this one will be like too. Really boring with just pictures for you to look at. So tonight, just like the whole scrap booking thing, I can’t sleep. But this one is 100 xs worse. Fed breckyn at 11 put her down to bed at 11:20. Talked to Bryce for about 10 min he then fell asleep. 11:33 started to think about those 300 pictures I had just developed to start my scrapbook. Then I started thinking about how much breckyn has changed in the last 3 months and nobody really gets to see her grow up and I thought that was sad. So I then started thinking about how I should start a blog. Can’t believe I’m actually going to start doing this. So I laid there in bed, again for what seemed like forever. This time it really was though. So I’m laying there visualizing my blog and since I can’t sleep I decided maybe I should get up and try to figure out how to start my blog, download my pictures from my camera onto my computer then paste (?) is that what you do? Paste your pics onto your blog? So I got up, (now it’s 1:16am) turned on the computer and that’s about as far as I got, just didn’t know where to go from there. So I decided to look at other people’s blogs. 1st one I logged into was my sister summers. Big mistake. No offense to you sum, but your 1st post made me cry. Here I am 1:33 in the morning crying hysterically. It was that type of cry that you are like hyperventilating and gasping for air and I was trying so hard to be quiet cuz there were people actually sleeping in the other room and I didn’t want to wake them and explain to Bryce why I was on the computer at 1:30 in the morning. I then was sitting there asking myself why am I doing this to myself. Breckyn is going to wake up in 4 hours. So after summers I decided to check out everyone else in the fam and by this time it is now 3 o’clock in the morning, I am now so tired I thought for sure I could go to sleep. So I crawl back in bed and nope. It’s like that annoying song you can’t get out of your head. As hard as you try, you just keep singing it. 3:16 Bryce gets up to go to the bathroom and blow his nose. I tried talking to him but he was too tired to talk. 3:33 Bryce gets back up. Thought about taking medicine cuz his throat hurts and stuffy nose. He didn’t and he crawls back in bed. 3:46 Bryce gets up again cuz its windy outside and something is banging against the house. Tried to find it but realized it was on the roof so he was just going to have to deal with it. Crawls back in bed (3:51) and I tell him I want to start a blog. He laughs and says “do it”. And that’s all he said and went to sleep. 3:51 Kingston (our dog) comes in our room, lies on the floor and starts licking himself. I HATE THAT NOISE. You know how people have that one word they just can’t stand to hear? Like moist, ointment, Summer I’m tempted to say yours but I won’t. Well I don’t really have a word; I just have a noise and its dogs licking themselves. Kingston then jumps onto the bed. 3:56 I decide to get back up, this is ridicules. I decide I can at least start writing this and save it. I do know how to do that. So that is what I am now doing. It is now 4:55; Breckyn is starting to stir, going to want to eat soon. The birds are starting to chirp outside. I’m hoping I will be able to at least get a couple of hours of sleep in now that I have started my blog. So it’s now 5:17 and I am still here. Starting to get light outside. Neighbor’s lights are going on and I am now off to sleep. Good night. Or should I say morning?
Well I now think I should tell you about the remainder of my morning after I crawled into bed. I was so tired but I still couldn’t fall asleep. My whole body just ached, and still does. 6 o’clock rolls around. Still staring at the clock, while blogging in my mind. Believe or not Breckyn is still asleep. 6:15 I decide I want to try to take pictures of the two sleeping ones. Breckyns didn’t turn out cuz it was still too dark where her bassinet was. This is what I got of Bryce.
Just a side view. I wanted to get on top of him (yes only to take a picture, Bryce don't get too excited cuz I know you are) to get a full face shot but once again I didn’t want to wake him and explain to him why I was trying to take a picture of him at 6:15 in the morning when I should be sleeping. About 6:55 I finally dose off. 7:01 Breckyn wakes up. Get her in bed with me. Feed her and she decides she doesn’t want to go back to sleep like she usually does. She wants to be wide eyed and smiley. Finally by 8 she is back to sleep. I then fall asleep and at 9:15 Kingston starts barking and wakes me up. I decide to just get up, which I actually really needed to. My mom and sister Christy got into town last night and were up at my sister’s house so today we were meeting at the mall. Then they were coming to my house tonight so I decided to marinade some chicken so we could bbq. Get the marinate all made and put the chicken in and this is what happened.
That’s what I get for trying to cook with 1 hour of sleep.
I learned that soy sauce, oil and other spices make a good hard wood floor polish. I then got ready and met the fam. Feeling like a zombie. It is now again 12:23 in the morning and I really am ready to go to bed.
So now Im just going to put a bunch of pictures of Breckyn starting from when she was born. Trust me I have a ton. I think I could just stay home all day and take pictures of her. But give me some time cuz I'm still working on it.