Oh No!!

I am devastated! Somehow, I've lost over half of my Christmas pictures! I took over 250 between 12/24 & 12/28 and my album is only showing 85 pictures now. :( I lost the pictures from our Swartzentruber (Alex's mom's side), Knepp, and Clifford (my mom's side) family gatherings. I'm so sad. Thankfully, I will get a few pictures from family but it just won't be the same. I'm too bummed to work on my Christmas update now. I'll try to post again soon...

Jolly Holidays

We have had so much fun the last few days! Saturday, Jamie and I took our kids, along with little Trista, to see The Princess and the Frog. Alex and I debated on whether to let the girls go. Alex thought it would be too scary and the girls would end up in our bed all night. But, they both loved it! It was Brynna's "first time" to the movies. (She went a couple of times as an infant when we'd take Braylee and saw a short film on a big screen at a museum.) The movie could have done without the voodoo stuff, but the princess & frog part was really cute.

Brynna LOVES popcorn so she enjoyed having her very own bag!

Trista, Brynna, Braylee, Ava, & Jake

Saturday evening, I had the girls try on their dresses for a few pictures. We had lots of fun with all their posing. Brynna was in heaven since she asks daily to wear a skirt and tights. ;)

Sunday morning was Christmas Sunday at church, the 4th Sunday of Advent. I love Christmas Sunday, and I'm going to miss singing all of the Christmas carols. I do not tire of Christmas music. ;) O Holy Night is one of my MOST favorite songs.

Our Family ~ Christmas 2009

Braylee and Sydney

After church, we went to my Granny & Pa's house (my dad's parents) for Christmas. We all received wonderful gifts! The girls' new sweater dresses are adorable!! They have been attached to their new Barbies ever since...even slept with them the first night.

Granny & Pa with the great-grandkids.

Brynna talked my brother into playing with her...so cute!

I mentioned in the last post about Braylee telling the story of Jesus' birth. It's detailed...from when the angels told Mary and Joseph she was pregnant until the wise men brought him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. On the way home that night, she was telling the story once again and got to the part about the angel coming to tell the shepherds. She said, "The shepherds were out in the fields watching their sheep and a bright light shone in the sky. They all got scared and ran together..... pause...I just made that part up!!" followed by lots of giggles! :) But then right went on into "The angel said, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news." Such a silly girl.

Monday, Aunt Tracee went with us to Bloomington to finish our Christmas shopping and to help me finalize some house things. It was a long and busy day but a successful day.

Tuesday, Santa came to daycare. I wasn't working, but I took the girls in to see Santa. They had a ball!
Aunt Tracee came down in the afternoon to see our new house. We also wanted to take some belly pictures! It was such a treat for my girls to see Tracee for 3 straight days since she has always lived in South Carolina since they were born. She even had the chance to read the girls some stories and stay for dinner. I think the belly pictures turned out very sweet...hope she doesn't mind me posting a few! :) This evening, the girls wanted to go Christmas caroling. I decided we could walk down to Jamie's...but they weren't home. Just as we were walking back up to our house, Jenn & Brad and their kids pulled up in the drive. We wished Jenn a Happy Birthday and the girls sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas to them. Jenn, thanks for stopping by because you made my little girls very happy! They can't wait to go caroling again! :)

May you all have a Joyous Christmas! What a wonderful gift God gave us on Christmas morning! He has an amazing love for us! While we were still sinners, He sent His Son into the world to die for us. I hope you cherish the true meaning of Christmas with your families this year.

Pre-School Program & Party

Monday evening was Braylee's Christmas program at pre-school. She has been singing the songs for the last two weeks around the house and did a wonderful job at the program! She had to find Chloe, her best buddy in her class, afterward to get a picture. So cute! Then, we went out for dinner with Mamaw and Papaw.

Chloe & Braylee- I often forget how tall Braylee is since her BFF Sydney is also tall. But, it's really obvious when she's next to a shorter friend. :)

With Papaw & Mamaw

Below is Grant's papaw Dave, Grant, Braylee, and my dad. My dad and Dave went to school together and then I went to school with Dave's kids and now their grandkids will be in the same class! Our families (mine and Heather's) grew up about an hour from here, but Heather and I both married boys from the same area. :) When we make it into our new house, we will be living just a few houses away from each other and our little kiddos will grow up together. It's nice having a little bit of Greene County so close!

Yesterday was Braylee's Christmas party at pre-school. They had a big birthday party for Jesus. While we do let the girls enjoy "Santa" and all of the magic of Christmas, it is very clear to me that my girls know exactly what Christmas is really about. They can both tell the story of Jesus' birth...very detailed by Braylee. You should ask her sometime. ;) I was able to leave work for a little while to attend the party with her.
Last night, Mandy and I had a "Girls Night Out" with our little girls! We took them to Mi Pueblo of course because these girls can put away the chips and burritos! When we got back, the girls were playing in the bedroom and walked out in leotards. They looked so cute!

This was taken last Sunday before church...gives a little glimpse of our rental house too. :)

More updating...

The following week started out as a normal week, then Miss Brynna started running fever on Wednesday (12/2). It ran 101-104 through Friday. No other symptoms, except for the yucky, runny nose she always has. My Granny came down to baby sit on Thursday. Friday, I took the day off work to stay home with her. It was nice being home on Friday since it was also Alex's birthday. We had his favorite meal and a cookie cake ready for him when he got home.
Saturday, we made our annual trip to see Miss Mouse with Jamie and her kids. They had their picture taken with Miss Mouse (Santa's helper who reports back to Santa on what the kids want for Christmas), made cookies, listened to Christmas stories, and then wrote their letters to Santa. Braylee's list for Santa is do-able...Brynna's list, not so much. ;) She asked for a "real pony like Mabel." (Mabel is my niece's horse.) I explained Santa probably couldn't fit a real horse in his sleigh! She's mentioned numerous times since then that all she wants is a real pony and a suitcase.

Brynna, Braylee, Ava, and Jacob

Braylee & Elle were delighted to see they had on the same shirts!
Braylee asked for Barbies, Polly Pockets, and a doll house.
Brynna asked for a real pony like Mabel, a suitcase, and a doll house.

Saturday (12/5) was also our big moving day! Tim & Krista offered to help us, along with Alex's dad and cousins. I had already started moving some stuff over to the rental, and we had moved a ton to storage over the last several months. I couldn't believe how much still needed to be moved! It was a good day though. The boys moved a bunch of big stuff to storage while Krista helped me set up house at the rental. We even put up Christmas trees and decorations. :)

Sunday, the girls wore their reindeer outfits I made them to church. Every year, I make up a holiday outfit for them. These didn't turn out quite like I envisioned them but as long as a skirt was involved, Brynna didn't care. :) In the afternoon, we attended The Nutcracker. My ballerina Brynna was completely smitten with the ballerinas, especially the main sugar plum fairy because (of course) she was wearing pink. When we were driving home, I said, "Brynna that was your first time seeing real ballerinas in real life!" Braylee quickly corrected me, reminding me that Brynna had watched Braylee at her recital in May. Oops!

Monday, we were pleasantly surprised with a blanket of snow. Braylee was ecstatic when she realized it was sticky snow!! She has been wanting to build a snowman! Later, Emily was here for a play date, and I met with our cabinet guys again. There are so many little details to decide, but I think picking out the cabinets has been one of the most fun things in the house-building process. That evening, we had dinner with my mom and went to watch my niece cheer at the Jr. High game.

We put an Agrigold hat on our snowman for Papaw. :)

Brynna & my brother Travis
My girls with Emilee

Tuesday and Wednesday was spent cleaning the old house and saying good-bye. It was a bit sad...and a lot of work. We are already feeling at home in the rental and love all of our new neighbors. :)

Long Overdue...

My poor blog has been neglected the last few weeks. :) We've been super busy packing and moving to the rental house. Between packing/cleaning/moving from the old house, setting up at the rental, not having internet for a few days, running errands for the new house (cabinet and flooring decisions), working, and the everyday stuff, I'm definitely behind on updating here.

So...a few weeks back...

We went to the BR vs. WHS game the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It's always fun to start off the basketball season and holiday season at the same time. I made Braylee a new Barr-Reeve shirt since she had outgrown last years. I let her help pick the design...turned out pretty cute but don't look too closely at the quick stitching job! :) The girls had fun cheering for the Vikings and playing with Trista & Brody at the game.

I can't believe how much my girls have grown up in the last year!

They sat with Great-Aunt Sue and Great-Uncle Vaughn for awhile.
My girls adore them and I think they might like my girls a little too. ;)
Brent, Jenn, and Me

Thursday, we went to my brother's house for Thanksgiving. It was a quiet day of eating too much and relaxing with the family. My mom had to work, so we stopped by the hospital to see her before heading home. As soon as we got there, Brynna asked her if she had a treat for her...she knows Mamaw too well. Of course she had treats for them...a reindeer for each of them and the new Fancy Nancy Christmas book.

The girls and I made "turkey" cupcakes.

Aunt Trista gave the girls her old, giant bean bag.
Needless to say, Braylee loves it. :)

Saturday, my youngest sister Trista and I hosted a baby shower for Tracee. The twins are growing and her belly button has already popped out! :) The shower was a success, and the cake turned out super cute.

Me, Tracee, and Abbie.
The three of us shared an apartment for 2 years in college...fun!!!

That evening, we went to my Grammy's for another Thanksgiving dinner. The girls learned some new cheerleading stunts from Uncle Nick. We definitely missed our Gramps but still had much to be thankful for.

The Egnew girls- Me, Braylee, Tracee, Emilee (niece),
Teresa (my mom),Brynna, Trista, & Heather (sister-in-law)

The next day, the girls sang during offering at church with Lillie and Karson. They were so adorable!! Then we went to Gramma and Pappy's for another Thanksgiving dinner. Yum! We went around the table and each named a few things we are thankful for. It's difficult to understand why God has blessed us so very much. I pray we never take these blessing for granted.Just a couple silly pictures of Brynna...what a sense of fashion! ;) More updates to come soon!!

(Excuse the mess of the boxes...part of our lives the last few weeks!)