Brynlee's writing

I wanted Brynlee to write a little note to her preschool teacher.   I told her exactly what to write, but she wrote it all (needed some help with S) herself.   

I thought it was pretty darn good for a just barely-turned 4 year old.   Especially because I taught her all of that :)

What is funny is she writes all her letters in uppercase, except for the letter "r".

" dear miss Keri"

"Merry Christmas love Brynlee miller"

Making Christmas trees

Saw this idea on Pinterest- rather than making a while gingerbread house, we could just decorate Christmas trees using ice cream cones and frosting.  The kids had fun decorating and enjoyed eating them also.

At the movies

We went to go see penguins of Madagascar at the movie theater.   Brynlee was good and liked it, but Bentley was a pain in the butt.   He didn't want to sit on my lap or watch the screen at all.  

A (scary) visit with Santa

I don't know why, but Brynlee is terrified of Santa.   I had to pick her up and set her on his lap.   Bentley was fine until he saw Brynlee crying so he started crying too. 

John's surgery

John decided it would be fun to have surgery on a deviated septum December 11th.  

Waiting for the IV to be put in.

The surgery itself was 90 minutes.   John had a little bit of a hard time waking up and was in a lot of pain after the surgery. The lortab wasn't helping much, but we had to leave anyway.   

This was a pretty miserable surgery and miserable recovery.  It has been almost a week since his surgery and he is still in a lot of pain.   Hopefully once the stents come out he will feel a lot better.

Brynlee's broken collarbone- November 30

I decided about 9 am Sunday morning that I would survive after the stomach flu.  Around 11 am Brynlee climbed on our bed, the fell off right on her right shoulder.   She was screaming bloody murder for a while, so we decided to take her to instacare to get it checked out.  

It was an hour wait to be seen, and after a few minutes she said it didn't hurt anymore.  I thought about leaving, but decided we might as well stay.  After an x-Ray, the answer was pretty clear- broken collarbone.

Waiting for results 

They out on a sling and we were good to go.   John and I were both surprised it was broken.   

For the first week we gave Brynlee Tylenol and ibuprofen around the clock to help with the pain.   But after a while she only needed it at night.   As long as she keeps her arm in the sling and doesn't move it, she is pain free.

Her follow up appointment is 3 weeks after the injury, so we will hope it is healed and she can get the sling off.

She is supposed to have the sling on at all times, and can only have a quick shower.  The sling is getting dirty but can't throw it in the wash because it is supposed to be on her all the time.   Her right armpit also stinks because she sweats a lot under the sling.   

I am amazed how little this injury had bothered her.  She still tries to be very independent.   She basically just needs help getting into the car and booster seat at kitchen table.   Other than that she does pretty much everything the same.

Bentley at 8 months- December 3

Ohio trip

My dad wanted us all to go to Ohio to see his dad ( my grandpa) for his 90th birthday.  He probably won't be alive much longer and we haven't seen him since Brynlee was 6 months old.  All of my dads siblings and their kids were also there for the weekend.  

Friday, November 7th- flying to Ohio

Bentley was an angel on the short flight from st George to Denver, but not so happy on the Denver to Columbus flight. I think his ears were bothering him on the 2nd flight because we were at a higher elevation.   Brynlee's ears were also bothering her and she was crying too.   

The kids finally awake at 11 am after a loooong night of little sleep.  Too many loud people running down the hotel hall all night and bentley crying for whatever reason.  

On Saturday we had to drive from Columbus to canton, about 2 hours.  As soon as we got to canton we needed to find an urgent care clinic for bentley to check his ears.  That was all we could think was the problem after crying half the night.  He was still on antibiotics for his first ear infection.    Took several hours, but his ears were fine!!  

That evening we went to Brent and Brenda's house for dinner and to hang out with family.  

Sunday was the day we were celebrating my grandpas birthday.  There was a nice catered lunch and we took a bunch of family pictures and visited with family.

 

Grandpa with the kids

This was almost everyone.... Ariel didn't bring her daughter and Michael and his family weren't there.
But my dad's 3 brothers and 1 sister and all their kids (Brynlee and Bentley were the only great-grandkids there).

 Grandpa's grandkids plus spouses

 Grandpa's grandkids without spouses and with great-grandkids

 The birthday boy!  Celebrating 90 years

 My Dad's brother Brent plus his wife Brenda and kids Brooke and Brett

 The granddaughters- there are only 4!  Me, Brooke, Arielle, & Kaitlin

 My dad's brother Brady plus his wife Toni and daughter Arielle.  Arielle has a daughter (I think she is 7)

 My Dad's brother Brian plus his wife Judi and kids Aaron and Kaitlin, plus Kaitlin's boyfriend Freddy

 Grandpa with his kids

Grandpa's kids

 

 

 

I didn't get a picture of Paula with her son Nathan and his wife Kathy

 

 

 

Everyone else was driving or flying home Sunday afternoon or the next morning.   

We all went to the mall and Toys R Us to hang out the rest of the day.  

Monday morning we drove back to Columbus to go to the zoo.  John got a $100+ speeding ticket on the way also. 

We had a great time at the zoo and aquarium.   It was a little cold but not too bad.  

Both kids fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car.

Returning home- Tuesday, November 11th