Happy Halloween!

Whitney-Mermaid, Kaitlyn-Pumpkin, Brynlee and Laramie-Princesses, Kenna-Gypsy

Not a great picture, but it was the best one. Halloween is a big deal here-my friend bought 1,000 pieces of candy and ran out! You have to stand in line at houses to get candy so we only trick-or-treated one street.

Another Grandma (and Grandpa) THANK YOU!

Grandma Jones came a week and a half after Kaitlyn was born and stayed for almost three weeks. She was such a blessing! It was a HUGE help!

They got lots of snuggle time-I love this picture!

Grandma being silly and making Brynlee erupt in laughter!

Grandpa meeting Kaitlyn. He joined the party for Grandma's last week. (Don't worry - we were not driving for this picture!)

Beautiful Kaitlyn Mykell

What's in a name? It took us a while to come up with another perfect girl name and one that was seven letters was even more tricky! When Whitney and Kenna were learning to spell their names I realized that they both had seven letters and Mike and I did too so we decided to stick with that theme when we chose Brynlee's name. We couldn't break the trend this time! I tell you what-there are some serious treasures when it come to seven-letter girl names! YIKES! Though Kait was born at noon, she didn't officially get her name until 7:30 the next morning because we just couldn't decide. We finally settled on Kaitlyn-spelled Kai for "the ocean or sea" in Hawaiian and Lyn for her Aunt Stef. Since we don't (and probably will never) have a son to name after Mike, we chose Mykell. We took a poll Thursday night to see what the girls thought between Kaitlyn and Shalyce. I was the only one who wanted Shalyce and after calling her Kaitlyn for only a short time, I knew we had chosen the right name for her.

Grandma made Kaitlyn's beautiful blessing dress. I had a dream about the dress and it being in Hawaiian print material. Believe it or not, that isn't too easy to find in Montana so I went searching here. The first time I was kind of discouraged because I couldn't find anything. Next I tried the Swap Meet-still nothing. Back to the fabric store and I found this-they only had six yards so I bought it all knowing I would use it for something. Grandma also made all of the rest of us (except Mike...) skirts to match Kait's dress. She took pictures with her camera that I will have to post later. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with Grandma and Kait in her dress. We were grateful to be able to bless her when my parents were here and to have Grandpa stand in the circle. Mike's cousin Craig and his family, were here on vacation so we were lucky to have them be a part of it, too.

The temple open house started two days before Grandma and Grandpa left so we got to take them through the temple. (We went one more time before the dedication-this picture is from our second time) Grandma got Bryn this dress for her birthday and made a pattern for the older two. While she was here she made Whitney and Kenna's dresses. THANK YOU! They love the dresses!

A few weeks after my parents left, I got out my sewing machine for some mending projects and Bryn said, "Are you sewing like Grandma?" Mom was patient to let Bryn sit on her lap-and for a two year old, she did a pretty good job being still and not touching things. I didn't get my camera out near enough, but am glad I got this shot.

2 1/2 weeks

I think my favorite part of having Mom here (besides all the yummy food, cleaning, letting me nap at least once a day, etc.) was watching her play and laugh with my girls. Whitney and Kenna were on fall break for Grandma's first week here so they got to hang out. Grandma came up with all kinds of fun games to play. One of their favorites was the "secrets" game. Grandma would whisper something for Bryn to do (i.e. "Go tickle Kenna's foot"). Then she would say, "Go!" Kenna and Whitney were good to play along and let Brynlee be the center of this game. It made them all laugh.

"My Grandpa is #1"

It was so great having Grandpa come too! He went on walks with Bryn, to ACE to get things to fix things here that we hadn't gotten around to (like a towel rack, cupboard door, girls bikes, stroller), and so much more. For weeks, Bryn made comments about the things Grandpa had fixed. Dad is always busy doing projects and helping others. Thank you, Dad!

They got their share of snuggle time, too. :)

We didn't get to take them snorkeling when they came in January, so I wanted to make sure it happened this time. And as a bonus, they got to swim with turtles!

It is amazing how big and old Brynlee suddenly was/is once we brought Kaitlyn home! These four girls have this Daddy wrapped around their fingers!

Time to say goodbye. :( I was teary for two days in anticipation of them leaving. Mike and the older two girls took them to the airport and I stayed home with Kait and Bryn. Brynlee wasn't really sure what to do with me crying. She kept asking me why I was sad - she's a very observant little girl. We can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa again in February! (We're meeting them at the airport in Honolulu and going to Maui for a few days together.)

Thank you for everything!

Sunday Photo Shoot

Our first attempt, of many to come, photographing our four beautiful princesses.

As you can see it was very bright outside.

(Kaitlyn is a week and a half old.)

I took Kait in to eat and Mike took some more pics of the older three. We LOVE being the parents of GIRLS! What a privilege to have these precious daughters!

We can't wait to have the temple open again-the girls have been really looking forward to the open house!

Happy Birthday Brynlee!

Brynlee is so much fun! Every day she has me laughing! She is recently potty trained, sleeping in a big girl bed with no binki, and now shares a room with her big sisters. About six weeks before Kaitlyn was born, she decided she wanted to wear panties so I figured we would try it. She has done great! Definitely not without accidents, but we are getting close! Just in time to buy diapers for Kait! Then week we brought Kaitlyn home Bryn climbed out of her crib so I figured it was time to graduate to a big bed, which meant no more binki. And I intended for the only change to be adding a new sister. She has done really well with it all.

Some Brynlee Facts:

She is still very attached to her snug (little blanket).

Loves books and has many books mostly memorized including Pinkalicious-it is adorable!

Wants to do anything and everything her big sisters do including polly pockets, ponies, barbies and even practicing the piano.

LOVES her new baby sister and the new role of BIG sister.

Making the traditional birthday "rolly pancakes" with Daddy for breakfast. I never let my older girls sit on the counter to help me cook. I'm getting softer with her and Kaitlyn will probably be worse so I guess we better stop. She does love to help in the kitchen whether it is cooking or washing the dishes, unloading the dishwasher, and setting the table.

Kisses for Daddy!

Showing me that she's 2!

YUM! You can't really go wrong when you get to have powdered sugar for breakfast!

She didn't want any to go to waste! Funny Girl!

We had her birthday cake a week late because I didn't get around to making the Minnie Mouse to go on the cake. I had good intentions, but my newborn kept winning out over the cake. And this may be the only fun cake she gets! Next year I have a feeling I will be birthday-ed out. She will be the third in three and a half weeks!

I wasn't really up for a party since Kait was only 2 weeks old, but we invited Sage and the Kimballs to eat cake with us. It will be fun to watch these two growing up together.

Big Helper

Brynlee LOVES to help me with Kaitlyn. She thinks it is especially fun when I let her sit on the changing table to help me.

1 week old-I have used this blanket as a measuring device starting with Whitney. I thought I had a one week picture of Brynlee on it, but I guess not.

Instead this is an almost 2 year picture! :)
It was amazing how big and old Brynlee suddenly seemed once we had Kaitlyn!