My Latest Hobby and a few other things...

Early this month, I joined a few friends and enrolled in a Cake Decorating Class at Michaels. It has been so much fun. I would say I have dabbled in Cake Decorating my whole life but I have never had any formal instruction so it has been really nice and I am learning a lot. I have only had three classes so far but I plan to continue the classes for the next couple months and I will post all my cakes so you can all watch my progress- exciting huh?

Here is my new "toolbox" full of fun stuff!

This was my second cake. I had my mom in town last week and she joined me for cake class. We started learning the rose but didnt finish so when we got home we learned from the book and voila our very first roses- pretty cool!

We celebrated Uncle Scott's 24th Birthday on Saturday with this cake. I cant take credit for it though because unfortunately I was smitten with a terrible cold and not feeling like I should handle food so I watched as my mom created this one. Aren't those clowns so cute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT- WE LOVE YOU!

And speaking of hobbies, lately I have been getting a bit of flack for slacking in the scrapbooking department. I think to scrapbook and do a a blog is just overkill so I created a book of my first year of blogging and have sort of phased out scrapbooking. I composed it and ordered it from Picaboo. I am semi happy with how it turned out- not thrilled with the quality but pleased with the accomplishment- a year of journaling right? When I endeavor to put 2007 together I might do something else but at least it's done. I also just completed Brielle's mini scrapbook of pictures from the weekend she was blessed- another big accomplishment for me.
And now for my next big project- clean out my house for the big move---ugh!

As for any other updates... we had a fabulous week with my mom visiting and we enjoyed Dad's drop in for the weekend. Most of us are sick at the moment- Brielle has it the worst and it is so sad when little babies are sick because--what can you do? This week we are meeting with realtors to get our house on the market and doing some online house shopping in Omaha with plans for a trip out there in the not-so-distant future.

And lastly I thought I would post this cute pic of the kids with their daddy. We have new goals to read to our children more (esspecially Brayden) - maybe posting this picture will help us.

Who does she look like?

Since Brielle was born I have taken pride in others commenting that she looks like me- I think its about time one of my children wasnt ALL BRANDVOLD. However some have been lately saying she looks like Kevin- ahhhhh! (yes I do realize I am being a bit vain but I just want some credit :) So, mostly for my own benefit I went digging up old baby pictures for comparison purposes. My conclusion- she is her own self- not a mirror image of either of us but similar looking to our other children ...BUT I do think if you had to choose she more resembles my baby pictures. So... what do y'all think?

A Sunbeam

This month Makenna made the momentous leap from nursery to Primary. She is officially a Sunbeam (and loving it). Her first time in Primary, she eagerly volunteered for EVERYTHING. She gave the theme because the assigned person was absent and then the next week she gave her first talk. She had no fear and was so excited to do it. (She definitely doesnt take after her mother in very many ways :) It is fun seeing her grow up- because she seems to love it so much!

The Power of Advertising

When I woke up this morning Brayden enthusiastically brought me this paper and told me that if I called that number right now we could get a free pancake puff maker. Apparently some infomercial he was watching, while we slept in, really caught his attention and he actually wrote down the phone number (twice- I know its hard to make out). I explained to him that it probably wasn't really free and he was very much deflated. So as of now he is looking forward to getting one for his birthday and I am hoping he forgets by then.

A Very Merry Christmas

This year Christmas was a little bit different for us. It was the first time in our married life where we didnt spend the holidays with our families. We were able to make the best of it though and really enjoyed a happy little Christmas together.

On Christmas Eve we were invited to join our dear friends the Whitchurchs for a delicious feast and Christmas program. It was very good of them to have us and a really fun night. The nativity that the kids re enacted was complete with authentic costumes from Jerusalem and the program even included a Christmas story set in Hillspring. so we felt very at home.I believe Makenna was supposed to be a shepherd but I think she was acting somewhat in the role of sheperd/ angel. We couldnt quite decide. As you can tell, Brayden (Joseph) and Brielle (Baby Jesus) were not to thrilled about the whole nativity thing but they were sort of good sports nonetheless.


This year Christmas morning was particularly fun. Brayden was really into the whole Santa thing. He was in our bedroom at 5 am. We were all very spoiled this year- esspecially me- Kevin yet again got me a fabulous gift that was a complete suprise and yet again he spent way to much money (but I am not really complaining :) I have been wanting a bigger Kitchenaid for a long time.Kevin had a great Christmas as well. My gift to him was only some shirts and a board game but luckily Scott came through and wowed him with some BYU golf club covers which he LOVES.

Santa brought Makenna "Baby Alive." He really didnt want to get her such a silly expensive doll but it was all she asked for so we couldn't let her down. She is made to drink real water and eat this baby food mix that she comes with and then yes she produces "real" dirty diapers. Those are features of the doll which Makenna is currently unaware and which we have no intention of sharing with her. Ignorance is bliss.

Brayden got a transformer, Elefun and two new pairs of pajamas and he was a happy camper!

I look at this picture of the kids and think I am so so blessed- really I am! They are sporting their new p.j.'s from Grandma and aren't those smiles just priceless. I think so :)

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas too.

And now we relax...

So our semester is over and boy are we glad. For a while there, I was not sure if we would make it through. With a new baby and an intense job hunt- life got a bit overwhelming. It was a tough semester for Kevin which was complicated by the seven trips he took. Now finally though after a lot of stress, spreadsheets, and agonizing, we finally decided to accept the offer from ConAgra Foods which means...da da da da... We are moving to Omaha!
We both feel good about the decision and think Omaha will be a really good place for our family and ConAgra a really good place for Kevin to launch his marketing career.
It was really hard though to turn down that delicious chocolate company we all know and love-- especially with Kevin's parents so close there. Who knows what the future holds though.
So since making our Omaha decision we have found that when we tell people- their response is usually "interesting." Most people also have heard of ConAgra but are not really sure what they do. Here are just a few of their products.

Omaha is where ConAgra's frozen foods are headquartered, which means Kevin will either be working on Healthy Choice, KidCuisine, Marie Callendars or Banquet. We will be sure to let you know.

Well, as for the semester from my perspective, I can pretty much sum it up in two words- "Sleep Deprivation." Brielle is an angel baby. We love her dearly. She is cute as a button and a sweet sweet spirit but she (like most newborns of course) is a terrible sleeper. The issue is complicated by the fact that I have two other children who make it difficult to sleep past 6am and IMPOSSIBLE to take naps. Plus there were those fun two trips out of town that I was able to accompany Kevin on, where I reached new levels of exhaustion (due to airport delays and my own personal postbaby health issues) that I would've expected to kill me--- but I survived. I am still here. And in fairness to sweet Brielle, she is making gradual improvements in the sleep department. We are working on the transition from our arms to her crib--and from the hours or 2am to 5am she does pretty well!


A recap of my semester wouldn't be complete without mention of my new favorite escape from reality. I couldn't have discovered it at a better time.
Yes it is a "young adult" book but I am seriously considering putting the Twilight series on the top of my favorite books ever- yes even above my beloved Jane Eyre and perhaps even C.S. Lewis classics. I just love it that much- even to the point of rereading it- yeah I know that's pretty crazy.

Well, with the beginning of our Christmas break, I got a chance to get Brielle dressed- yes for the first time, she is wearing something other than a sleeper- what a cutie!And just for fun here are a few more kid shots.The other day I was out with Brielle- who was sporting a big bow like this one and somebody said to me, "I just love those Ridiculous bows." So what am I supposed to say to that "Thanks for thinking my baby is cute" or "How rude to call her bow ridiculous." Its ok though- apparently Brielle isn't such a fan of the big bows either.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Happy Baby

Well, she may have pimples, drool, and a mom who can't take a good picture but I still thought this smile was worth posting- it's just so cute!