Christmas Eve was a blast! After we returned from Calamity Jane's we got the babies into their CUTE little pajamas with their names on their rear. Laura ordered these from ETSY and they turned out super cute! I still put Autumn in her pajamas and think of this special night to have all three babies (born within 4 months of each other) together again for the second time.
They really don't look that different in age!
All the moms and their babes. Each of us so in love!
I love how all the babies are looking right at each other
7 grandkids total! Left to right:
Autumn 9 months, Bryan 13, Lily 9, William 8 months, Lainey 4, Kate 6, Oliver 6 months
(these are current as of today)
I love this family picture. Just missing my mom and dad, Smokey, and grandpa and Jacquie
Spencer, Julie, Autumn Christmas 2012
William, Katie, Travis
Love this little guys new smile! Scrunched nose
Dustin and Bryan handed out the presents. When we were kids we always had one person be "santa claus" and hand out the presents. We still have this same tradition.
Dustin's gift from us. I think he liked it ;)
Autumn in her cute little Christmas dress!
She was a little sick :(
Love my baby so much! She's so wonderful.
We had a delicious feast! Travis and Katie did an amazing job at feeding us great food.
Lainey climbed onto the table and it came crashing down. Poor girl she was so scared!
Super loud noise.
And the babies playing in their new outfit from Aunt Betsy.
Later that night we played some more Monopoly Deal and skyped with the family in California. We missed my dad this Christmas. 2nd Christmas without him. It really doesn't get much easier around the holidays. But we did feel him near as always. The next morning, Travis, Dustin and I woke up at 5:30am and went to the temple. We were able to do family names, including doing a baptism for my dad, initiatories, and an endowment. It truly was amazing! I felt so near to him On the way home we listened to R.E.M and I just cried as the words reminded me so much of my dad. We all listened to a lot of R.E.M. growing up. We followed a car with a big Raiders sticker on the back on the way home, and it totally felt like dad was there through that sign.
Portland Temple trip for my dad Richard Edwin Brown 1955-2011
This was definitely the highlight of the entire trip! I am so glad we were able to do it altogether. We took Kris to the airport that same afternoon. I know she was very grateful to us for doing the work for my father. To learn more, visit http://www.lds.org/church/temples?lang=eng.
Spencer, Autumn, and I stayed an extra day because of bad weather. Katie and I woke up and did a Jillian Michaels DVD, followed by an outside run. We cleaned the house and just chillaxed the rest of the day! We took off the following morning and had a pretty smooth drive, but then broke down in Boise, Idaho. The serpentine belt fell off and Spencer had to run all the way to Auto Zone 1.5 miles to get a new one. Upon his arrival we ran into a mechanic at the gas station who helped us fix it. They were the nicest couple. They had 4 kids and 2 puppies in the car, he was on his way home from work, and he still helped us! Truly a huge blessing for us. We stayed the night in Richmond, Utah, and then the next day met my new niece Hope Dorothy Maxfield! So precious!
Perfect ending to a perfect trip!
That's so awesome that you got to do the work for your dad! What a neat opportunity.
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