Elf dance

Merry Christmas from the Shupe's! We hope your holiday is filled with laughter!

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Welcome Miley Ann Brown...

My Sister and Bro-inlaw had their 5th girl yesterday! She was a healthy 6 pounds 8 ounces and is so cute. We went and saw her last night, and it is hard to believe that my kids were ever that small, they grow so fast. She is darling and we are so glad she is here safe and sound 2 weeks before christmas. Good timing Miley! Welcome to the Family! Now i am next in my family! Yikes!

It's the most Wonderful time of the year...

I absolutely love this time of year. The excitement is in the air. Putting up decorations was a lot of fun this year with Parley being a little more involved, i think the kids feel the excitement too. Brigham has only eaten one ornament, yikes! What a great time to reflect on our Savior and his birth! What a blessing that is to me!

AFter we put the tree up Travis was telling the boys how he used to lay underneath it and look up at all the lights.

What would we do without Ranch...

Brigham loves Ranch! He wants to dip everything in it, and as long as he is eating something than i am ok with that. Here is a cute clip of the first time i gave him his own ranch!

Playing with Cousin Charlie...

My boys love when cousin Charlie comes over, they all have so much fun together, yes sometimes there is some arguing and saying Mine over everything, but for the most part they all get along. We walked down the street to feed the horses, and they loved it, even brigham got in on the action. then Parley and Charlie had to sit outside and watch the Garbage man, It is the highlight of Parleys week.

Quilting Bee...

Parley's "Hawaiian" quilt. Since he is our Hawaiian native.
Brigham's quilt.

My mom has a tradition that for every new grandchild she sews a beautiful baby quilt. as soon as you find out the gender you get to go shopping for fabric, she sews it together and then we all pitch in to help quilt it by hand. Well now that she is in the Phillippines, she finds her own Material, sews it together and than sends it home for us to quilt. My sister is due any day with her 5th girl and mom sent home the quilt, we all got together one day a few weeks ago to quilt it. it was so much fun. WE missed mom but we could smell her on the blanket and felt like she was there :)! This is a picture of all the kids having lunch, you can't have a quilting bee without a yummy lunch, so we made cafe rio salads, Yum! i didn't even get a picture of the quilters, oops!

Twins...

Lately, it seems that everywhere i go, people ask me if my boys are twins? Maybe its because i dress them alike any chance i get. i just can't help it, if i buy something for Parley than i have to buy it for Brigham too, or visa versa, isn't that how it goes? Twins or not, i do know that little brigham really looks up to his big brother and Parley always wants to do whatever Brigham is doing. I am just so grateful that they have each other for their whole lives.

Thanksgiving...

Wow, it has been so long, i don't even know where to start. How about with the wonderful Thanksgiving we had. We celebrated at gma and gpa shupes house this year, it was very nice, they worked really hard and put on a great party. I didn't even take any pictures, i can't believe it. We all enjoyed wonderful food and great company. The only sad part, was that i didn't get to see any of my side of the family this year, its hard when your parents are serving a mission very far away. As we were driving home from thanksgiving dinner thursday night, i got a little emotional thinking about it and even more emotional thinking about Christmas coming up, but i also feel so blessed that they are willing to sacrifice so much and be somewhere so foreign for so long, only 31 months left!! We love you mom and dad and you were missed around here, but we wouldn't have it any other way! I felt very blessed this year as i thought about all i have to be thankful for. I won't get into a list but it is overwhelming to think about the blessings. i hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!

Our first Stitches...

We were at the Shupe's Monday night, Travis was helping them with their remodel and we were having dinner together. The kids were running around and playing when we hear a painful cry from the front room, Travis runs in there and finds out Parley has fallen and hit the corner of the coffee table right on his forehead. It was bleeding pretty good,and as we were washing it out realized that it would need stitches. It was pretty deep!we bandaged him up and i took him to urgent care. He did great, i couldn't believe how brave he was! i personally have never had stitches and don't ever want them. but they came and put some numbing stuff right on the wound and then 15 minutes later stitched him up with 3 stitches, he didn't even flinch. They put a towel over his face and he kept trying to peek underneath it at me. He was so sweet.The doctor and nurse kept saying," i can't believe how good he is being", they said they usually have to wrestle the 2 year olds and strap them down, but he didn't even try to move! i was so proud! In the time we were waiting for it to be all numb, he had a big blowout, and in my hurry to leave didn't grab the diaper bag. i thought oh, we are almost done,but then of course it was going up his back, poor kid! so i asked the urgent care people if they had diapers and wipes and they do, all sizes! so we got him cleaned up and stitched up and he was good to go! i thought it would settle him down a little for the rest of the night, but who was i kidding! as soon as we got back to shupes he was off and running again! What a brave little boy!

Its a .....

GIRL!!
We are so excited to have a little girl join our family! i can't even believe it, it is hard for me to think of a little girl and doing little girl stuff and changing a little girls diapers after doing boys stuff for so long! Travis says he still has a back up boy name, just in case! He is having a hard time believing it! I am so excited to see him with a little girl, it is going to be so fun! If any of you have cute name ideas, send them my way! I really have nothing right now! We feel so blessed to be adding a third to our family, and feel sooo blessed that she is healthy so far and that everything looks just right! what a miracle!

Parley's story....

Ever since my mom and dad left i have tried telling Parley about where they have gone and for how long and everything. He has mastered the story and i finally caught it on tape, i love it! and i think mom and dad will too! my favorite part is when he says, we miss em soo bad!

halloween parties...

We had 3 different Halloween Parties in the last 2 weeks. First my family has a tradition of having a halloween party and the kids all dress up and do a costume parade, then they go on a treasure hunt outside! It was perfect weather this year and the kids had a lot of fun, We had a yummy dinner at the Brown's and they did a great treasure hunt that Parley loved! Mom and Dad called while we were all there, so we all got to talk to them and see them on skype, it felt like they were in the room with us. Mom even said the prayer on the food, it was so sweet and so fun to hear mom's sweet prayers again!

Parley and Boston
Parley is a Pirate this year and has mastered the AAARRrrrgg matey!
Brigham is our sweet little pumpkin.
All the cousins, i don't know why this picture is so dark but it kind of makes me mad.
there was 5 pirates this year, this is everyone except samantha.


Then for my friends play group this month we did another costume party/ Tate's bday party! It was a lot of fun and jade had everything so cute, she worked hard!Parley was scaring all the little girls, sorry macie and mckayla!
some of my high school friends, i love these girls, Melissa, me, Nichole, jade, heidi
the cute bday boy and his mom that worked so hard on everything, thanks jade!
attempting a picture of all the kids, an impossible task.


Our last party was Family night with the Shupe's, and since their house is being remodeled we had the party here, it was a lot of fun, we had yummy pizza and salad. and had an fhe lesson, and played some fun games. then gma shupe had a little treasure for all the grandkids, i think my kids think halloween is everyday lately, they are going to be really sad when its all over ina couple of days, but i will be thrilled especially since i won't have to put their costumes on them again for another year!
Playing fun games and decorating ghosts and pumpkin cupcakes.
all the kids, another bad picture, bug!

Parley and Charlie, the pirates!

Pumpkin Patch...

A few weeks ago we went to the local pumpkin patch for family night with Heather and Kyle and charlie! it was a lot of fun. the boys loved the hay maze and loved picking out pumpkins and pulling the cart around.i love this time of year.

Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra GOOOOO Cougars!

This is just a shout out for the cougars big game tonight against TCU! It is also a shout out for my dad who is a true blue, diehard BYU fan, he has been a member of the cougar club since i can remember and i have many fond memories of attending the games every saturday or watching them on tv, or listening to them on the radio at my saturday soccer games. As you know my dad is now serving as mission president in the phillippines and doesn't get the opportunity to watch his cougars each week, and i know it has been hard for him but he also knows he is involved in a much more important work! But he does manage to call someone from my family at the end of each game to see what the score was even if it is 5:00 am in the philippines! We love you dad, thanks for raising us true blue! parley and brig have even caught on to the cougar spirit, Parley loves doing the ra ra cheer! and brig just claps for him! We think about you dad everytime we watch or listen to the games!

Brigham's walking....

So our little Brigham started taking off last week. He is at such a fun stage right now, i can't believe how big he is getting even though he is still very little.

CVM Mission Reunion..

Travis hosted a mission reunion this last weekend, he was so nervous about noone coming and wasn't sure how to get the word out, he actually had nightmares about it for 2 weeks, so i am glad it is over for his sake! But it turned out better than we all thought. Travis absolutely idolizes his mission president as i think all missionaries do, and we were lucky enough to go out to dinner with his mission pres and wife before the reunion started, so it was fun for me to get to know them better and so fun for travis to hang out with his mission pres again. We went to Lonestar with another missionary and his wife, it was a lot of fun. The reunion was at a church in west bountiful, and me and this other wife had to provide the desserts for it, it all turned out great. And the best part was that about 40 elders and sister showed up from the California Ventura mission, so travis and his mission pres were well pleased! We had a mini zone conf. as travis called it in the chapel and travis conducted, it was so fun to watch him, i could just picture him as a 20 year old missionary up there, all the elders and sister stould up and recited standard of truth and it was so cool to hear them, they all still had it memorized. It was awesome listening to pres. clarke and his wife as well, i have just as much reverence for them as travis does. I couldn't help thinking about my mom and dad in the phillippines and knowing that this is how their missionaries look to them, so cool!
all the elders and a few sisters. all their spouses were there too plus some kids, we had a full chapel, it was awesome.

us with pres. and sister clarke

"Damily Night"...

Parley can't say his F's right now, so for family he says damily, and for funny he says dunny, anyways the other day I bought a bag of plastic bugs for parley to play with, i was out of the room doing something and when i returned this is what i found on the couch, he then went on to tell me that they were having damily night, so cute, a little bit later each bug had one smartie next to it and he told me they were having damily night treat! i love this kid!

mission calls, baptisms, & primary programs...

Three of my favorite things all happened in one weekend!
#1. Mission call: My nephew James received his mission call on thursday last week and the whole family gathered at the wagstaff's to watch the event, plus all the wagstaffs which shockingly out numbers my family, plus all of james's friends, it was a full house! Mom and dad were even there on Skype, which was awesome, they had some of their missionaries sing called to serve to james! Angie had some maps up and we all had to take a guess of where we thought he would go! angie even fed us all pizza, salad and brownies! I decided that this is seriously one of my favorite things to watch, i love the spirit that is in these young boys and i love to see their faces as they see for the first time where they are going to spend the next 2 years of their lives, i love to see them know that that is exactly where the Lord wants them to go!I love to see their eyes fill up with tears of joy and sometimes fright :)! This is the oldest grandson in my family so it was so much fun to watch this and now it is going to be so awesome to watch him in the next 2 years! James is probably the most righteous 18 year old that i will ever know, i can just hope and pray that my boys will follow his example! We love you james, Good luck!
Oh and he was called to serve in the Bogota, Colombia mission Leaving Dec. 19, one week before christmas! wow!!
James talking to mom and dad on skype! technology is amazing!
Standing with his dad!
he was so nervous, and shaking so bad he could barely open the envelope.


#2. Baptism: On saturday my family all got together again to witness my niece Alivia be baptized. I decided again that this is another one of my favorite things to watch! i love the spirit of these little children as they enter the waters of baptism. and then to watch their dads or whoever perform such a sacred ordinance! i love to see the light in their eyes when they come out of the water! it always reminds me of my own baptism! i always seem to be very emotional at baptisms and i am not quite sure why but this one was no exception, i was asked to say the closing prayer and barely made it through it, i am blaming most of the emotions on my pregnancy and i have decided to blame the other part of them on me missing my parents really bad!! particularly my mom! WE sure missed them at these big events in our family but could feel their spirit!We are proud of you alivia, thanks for being a great example to our family!

#3. Primary Program: On Sunday it was our wards primary program, another favorite for me, always has been!i always look forward to this sacrament meeting! i love the spirit of all those kids and to see them wave at their families and to see all the grandparents in the audience and to go over the meeting by 30 minutes! I love the simpleness of all the songs and all the parts that they work so hard on. Their first song was I am a child of God, and as they started singing it, Parley perked right up and gave them his full attention, he then started singing along quite loudly! It was the sweetest thing and just brought tears to my eyes (pregnancy again) !

3 under 3....

So i am sure most of you have heard the rumor. And yes it is true, i am pregnant!i am 14 weeks along and have been feeling ok, i have my sick times but i can't complain because i seem to have pretty good pregnancies (knock on wood). The baby is due March 20, 2 days before Parley turns 3!! I am so nervous and excited. I am nervous because i don't know how i am going to handle 3 because right now i am barely making it with 2, and my mom's not here! But i have wonderful sisters and an amazing mother -in law that will help me a ton! We didn't try for this one, but we will take them when we can get them! We tried for 3 years to get Parley and now i totally know that everything is in the Lord's timing. We feel very blessed to be welcoming a 3rd into our home! i will now officially be a stay at home mom, because i don't think i will dare leave my house!! Wow!! Is everybody Shocked??

Play Group...

My friends have a play group once a month, it is so fun because most of the kids are all the same age and it is so fun to see my friends from high school that i just don't get to see that much anymore. This month was at Melissa's house, she was 9 months pregnant and still had a clean house and yummy lunch, and then had the baby like a day later. Congrats Melissa! Can't wait for next month!
all the kids
Bentley, Macie, Parley, Chloe, McKayla

Macie and Parley cuddling on the lov sac, these guys have so much fun together.

Train Park...

The S & S train park is just down the street from us and they are actually in our ward and the lady was telling me that Saturday was their last day for the year to be opened. So we called Charlie and Heather and off we went to ride the trains, The boys loved it. They couldn't believe all the train stuff. i didn't even get a picture of them on the main train ride because we were all on it and of course when i tried taking their picture when we were done, it was impossible.
They kept saying that this was Thomas's house.
Parley loved these little hand cart trains that he did all by himself.
They couldn't believe all the trains.