A Wedding in Utah

Joel's sister Jaime's oldest daughter Savanna got married in the Salt Lake Temple one Saturday in December so Joel took the Friday off of work and we pulled all of the kids out of school so we could go. We left for Salt Lake early Friday morning. The kids were super excited so they got dressed and ate super quickly. We borrowed grandma's ipad again so after we exhausted playing eye spy and listening to the radio we pulled them out. Miriam fell asleep shortly after that so it was a mostly peaceful and eneventful trip. It took us a little under five hours to get to our motel and we didn't have to make a single stop. I packed a lunch box full of treats and a sandwich for each of the kids. 

As soon as we got checked into our motel we ran to DI to try and find a swim suit for Joel to wear. (I started to pack for him but he told me he would get his own things. He forgot the swimsuit.) The one they had was pretty big for him but it worked so we changed and jumped in the pool. The water was really warm and we had a lot of fun swimming around in the water. Joanna's family showed up before too long and they all jumped in the pool too. The kids had a lot of fun swimming with their cousins. 

After swimming we all changed and decided to go get dinner and then look at the lights on Temple Square. We went to Chuck a Rama and we all ate our fill of delicious food. The kids loved the slushy drinks and ice cream. Brynlee and Anna rode with Joanna's family and we went to Temple square. The traffic that night was crazy! There was a Jazz game and a Tabernacle Choir concert that we didn't know about so it took us forever to find a place to park. In the meantime our gas was running seriously low. It started to sit on the 0 miles till empty spot for a while when we were stranded in traffic. Luckily we were able to pull into a gas station right at the last minute. By the time we got out it was late and Miriam was asleep. We decided to just load her in the stroller and make it work. She missed seeing most of the lights but at least she got a nice nap in the presence of the temple.

The kids were all pretty tired so they went to bed pretty quickly as soon as we got back to the motel. Brynlee woke up super early at like 5 in the morning and was begging to go eat breakfast. I think she was afraid she would miss something. I made her wait until seven when Kyla and Summer were also awake and then I took the three of them down to get breakfast. We saw lots of family before we were done eating. Joel's sister Joy and Brent were there, Jaime was there and I got to see and say hi to her husband Gary for the first time. Josh and Katie were there with their kids and Mike and his wife Caty were there. We were all on the same floor of the motel this time without even planning that so it was like a giant party. After Breakfast Joel took the four older girls to the pool while I took a shower and got Miriam dressed and cleaned up the motel. Then we put on some church clothes and went to the Salt Lake Temple for the wedding.

Before going to the temple we stopped at the giving machines they had in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. The girls were super excited to see them. Miriam was asleep in the stroller so you can't really see her but we got a family picture while we were there. Then the older cousins took all of the kids off to the Church History museum to hang out while Joel and I went into the temple for the sealing.

The temple was just about to be closed for renovations so it was super busy that day. There were almost 50 weddings that day. Savanna looked beautiful and it was great to get to be in the temple surrounded by family. After the sealing we went back to the hotel and watched TV and relaxed for a few hours, much to Brynlee's disappointment. Jaime brought us some sandwiches for lunch and then we had a few more hours to wait until the reception.

There was a reception that night that we went to. The girls had fun hanging out with family and they had hot chocolate and cream puffs to snack on. By this point everyone was super tired and hungry and it was getting late. We ended up getting out of there pretty early. Annalyn was pretty upset that we didn't stay for the cake. We offered to let her stay with some of her cousins but she was super hungry too so she opted to come and get some food with us.

We went to Wendys and got a bunch of chicken nuggets and fries and took them back to the hotel to eat. Then we put the kids to bed. Miriam took a long time to settle down and fall asleep but as soon as she was out, the rest of the kids all fell asleep pretty quickly. Joel also fell asleep at the same time as them so I pulled out my phone light and read for a few hours. We woke up the next morning and ate breakfast and said goodbye to everyone and then headed back for home. We had another uneventful ride back home. Summer had to stop and use the bathroom twice and the kids all started to get really hungry and antsy so we decided to stop and get some lunch that day. The ride took a little longer but it was still good. It was a fast trip but I am so glad we got to go and spend some time with family. It was nice to be there for Savanna's big day. 

Miriam at 16 Months

For some reason this post didn't save the last time I worked on it and I hated to have to rewrite everything so it took me a while to have the motivation to redo this whole post. Miriam has grown a lot in the last two months since her last update. She got several more teeth, is growing a little bit more hair, and is climbing and getting into whatever she can find. She is starting to throw more little tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She resists getting buckled in her car seat and tries to climb out of the cart at the grocery store.

Miriam likes to eat. She is getting pickier these days. She loves anything that is sweet or sugary the most and knows when she is getting left out and protests. She can somehow open any wrapper or container that she finds. She just uses those two bottom teeth and will rip open plastic bags and open up containers. She can even open up those little flaps on the yogurt or pudding cups. She got a hold of a loaf of bread while I was putting away groceries one day and she ate several holes in the plastic. The bread was super smooshed and had a few little baby bites in it by the time I went to check on her and discovered what she was doing.

Miriam had a lot of fun this Christmas. She loved opening gifts and playing with all of the toys she got. She got a little blue bouncy horse that she loves to bounce on and some baby dolls that she loves to snuggle with. She got to play in the snow and hated getting her hands cold. She also hated wearing all of that snow gear. She loved trick or treating but didn't last long out in the cold. She dressed up as an owl and ate as much candy as she could get a hold of. She went on a trip to Utah for her cousin Savanna's wedding and was great for the car ride. She loved swimming in the pool.

At fourteen months Miriam only had four teeth. Two on the bottom and her two side teeth on the top. Next she got her top right middle tooth and she had that tooth for several weeks before the other top tooth came in so she had the cutest little baby gapped tooth grin. Before that other top tooth came in she got her right molar. It surprised me. Her left top molar had also come in and the bottom left molar as well. That leaves her with a total of nine teeth. Six on the top and three on the bottom. She has a bottom left middle one that looks like it will break through any day.

Miriam still prefers to grunt or just holler and sit and wait for someone to meet her every need but she is starting to talk and do several more signs. She says "mom" and "hi" the most. She has even grabbed my phone and put it to her ear and said hi several times. She also says "meow" for cat a lot. She can sign "more," "thank you," and "please" and she can also say more and please. She says shoe, ow, uh-oh, and no quite a bit. She will repeat other words and every once in a while she will say something new but most of the time she is silent. She is an extremely observant baby. She loves to watch what it happening around her. She is also quick to laugh and is usually pretty happy. Her sisters love to help her with stuff and to sing with her and play with her and she loves to be in their presence. 

Miriam still climbs onto and into everything. She likes to play in water and get wet and also refuses to wear a bib so I have to change her clothes a lot. She is wearing size 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 4 shoes. She also hates to wear bows and shoes. She will often take her shoes off right after I put them on. Then she uses her teeth to pull off her socks. She doesn't like wearing socks either.

Miriam is lots of fun. She is constantly making us laugh and giving us hugs and snuggles right when we need them. She is sleeping really good in her bed these days but she also wakes up really early and wants to play. She is down to only one nap most days. She is one sweet baby and we all feel pretty blessed to get to spend our days with her. 

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Brynlee 9 and 1/2

Brynlee is now nine and a half and since I did a half birthday for everyone else I better do one for her too. Brynlee is now in fourth grade. She loves her new school, has made lots of friends, and seems to have gained a lot of knowledge and confidence this year. She loves learning Spanish. She reads books all the time. She likes to be in charge and in control of everything going on around her. She finished speech but will have to get her tongue tie clipped again in February. This time it will be a longer procedure that will require stitches.

Brynlee is creative, hard working, and is a great leader. She likes to be in charge and be the boss of everything. She is kind, helpful, and an overall great kid. Lately she wants her hair straight down and parted in the middle. She wont let me fix it for her at all. She takes a shower all the time. Whenever she feels anxious she takes a quick shower and will often run off to school with her hair still a little damp since she prefers to let it air dry. She has accomplished a lot in the last six months and went on several adventures but I already wrote about most of them so I am just going to leave you with a bunch of picture. I love this girl a lot and I am glad I get to be her mom.