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The Christmas season started off with the Wiltbank Bunch traveling to the Palouse to watch Carly Noyes and the rest of the Cougs play some basketball. It was so great seeing her!
We then had one assembly to attend, (Kaelsy got her first award!)and three Christmas programs. Phew! Can't wait until there will be 5!
Of course the season brought out the decorations. I was busy with the inside and Brady was very busy with the outside. This year saw the addition of lots more lights and a Nativity (our favorite part). Brinly (and the cat) loved the tree, especially the beads that hung down...note to self: may need to leave off the beads from now on.
The kids were so excited for Christams to come. Christmas Eve brought all new jammies for all of the kids and everybody was down by a decent time-9:30! Made Santa's time so much smoother! The only downfall...kids were rearing to go by 4:30am!!!!! We had a very early start and a second wave started about 7ish when Brinly got up, too. Santa is so smart and must have known that a little more snow would come for us to enjoy the sleds he brought! Great times!
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It has been awhile. Here are a few pics taken since Halloween up to Christmas time. The weather was pretty mild, in fact...no late starts or school closures for the first time in a long time that Brady and I could remember. We finally did get some snow before Christmas and the kids were all over it rolling those giant snowballs. Ella seemed fine for about the first 5 minutes or so and then decided that she really likes to be warm instead. Oh yeah...and we got a cat.
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Halloween came and went so fast this year. Brady went back to the favorite of Batman; Teagan and Kaelsy wanted good old fashioned homemade costumes, yeah! - Medusa (although, braiding all those snakes was not as easy as I thought it would be)and a spider; Kyre got his only wish... a Gronckle costume (so we found that...what about his REAL Gronckle he is asking for from Santa? Ugh...); and dear Ella was the SuperGirl that she already is. It was a fun night going door to door to our wonderful neighbors that spoil our kids and then hitting the high school. Until next fall...
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I overheard Kyre asking his sisters today, "pianos or heads?" as he was flipping a penny. What do you think? Kind of does look like piano keys to me.
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This last weekend was a great one. Brady's parents were able to come up from Arizona for Teagan's baptism and Brinly's baby blessing. It truly was special. The kids all love Grandad and Nana and were in tears when it came time to say goodbye. I can't believe my dear Teagan is eight. She looked so grown up in her dress. I just love the pictures of my two girls in their white dresses. Thank goodness that families can be together forever...I would never want this to end!
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Teagan got to do some cool stuff for her birthday this year. We tried to make it special with her turning 8. On her actual birthday, she got her ears pierced. The first few days were rough with them being sore and all, but she loves it now that they are all healed. Then this last weekend she got to have a party. She chose the bowling alley and it was a good call. I love it when I don't have to clean up my house before people come over to just have to clean it again when they leave! This weekend will be her baptism...Wow! A three week birthday! What a deal!
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After 2 years of preschool, it is official...Kaelsy is ready for kindergarten. She is so excited for next year to finally get to go to school with Teagan. Oh how they grow up so fast!
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All Kyre has talked about is dinosaurs lately. If you do not know what the dinosaur is, what it did, how it ate, where it lived...he does. He is our own Dino Dan expert. Unfortunately, we feed the obsession as you can tell from the pictures. We celebrated his birthday on Monday with my mom's and finally got some great pictures with her and the kids. Each of them had to take their turn holding Brinly except Ella and Grandma. Ella was perfectly content to have Grandma all to herself hence the fact that Grandma did not get her turn with Brinly.
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She was a week overdue, but the fastest delivery! She wasn't even sure she was going to wait for the doctor but all went well. We are all so thankful that she is finally part of our family. Brinly Jensen Wiltbank 7lbs. 9oz, 19.5inches, perfect in every way!
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Teagan was in the 2nd Grade Spelling Bee for her school. She has been making us practice with her all week and it sure did pay off. She took 3rd place out of the whole 2nd grade! Way to go Teagan!
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Again...I leave for the weekend and this is what I come home to. Although, I do have to say that it does fit his personality and it will grow back.
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So, we are always talking about how Kyre is our "all boy"...well...at least until tonight. He came upstairs to show us what his older sister had helped him with. As he darted back down the stairs I turned to Brady who had been on the phone and asked, "Did you see your son?" As Brady nodded with a big 'ole grin, Kyre yelled up "I'm a princess!"
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"This is the best Christmas ever!" That is all Brady and I heard on Christmas day. Obviously we and Santa left nothing out. The kids had a blast opening up presents. Teagan got her barbie and basketball, Kaelsy got her Go Go Puppy and DS, Kyre got his gronckle, and Ella...well lets just say she seemed pretty content. Brady got some PS3 games he has been wanting and some nice suits that will be coming eventually and Kim got her a sewing machine and clock for the living room (yeah!). We also got a trampoline in our back yard! "How did Santa do that?" was all the kids could say ask. Overall...it truly was the best Christmas ever!
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The days leading up to Christmas were pretty busy and wonderful for many reasons. This was Bradys first year of not coaching high school girls basketball and all of us enjoyed having him home for holiday celebrations and preparations. We all enjoyed going to Teagan's Christmas school program where she showed some great skill on the xylophone. The house got decorated inside (Kim and the kids) and outside (Brady). And the big great wonderful surprise... Santa came and did a personal check up on the Wiltbank family. We all decided that he had to be the real deal. He knew the kids names and things about them. Even Ella was captivated by his magic although she kept a wary distance. The kids even got to open a special present from one of our neighbors on Christmas Eve - a cool playhouse that they get to color. Kyre got an even more special treat - new pjs gronckle style of course!
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So, the girls have been into this vampire kick, hence the vampire costumes. Kyre wanted to be a Gronckle (How To Train Your Dragon) but unfortunately could not find one in time and when I pulled out Ella's octopus costume, he saw the horse and had to use that one. Phew... that was so much easier. And of course, I can't leave out my other "child" who couldn't be left out either - My own King of my heart - Brady.
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Poor Kaelsy. Her birthday always falls in the most busy time of the year - beginning of a school year. I almost always have a volleyball game on her actual birthday so we usually plan on Labor Day for the celebration. Thank goodness she is so easy going with that. A cake was really out of the question for me this year, so I was so excited when she said she wanted an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Yeah! So, that is exactly what we did.
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School had actually started and therefore I was already busy with volleyball on Saturdays, but Brady and the kids were able to go out on a friend's boat and enjoy the lake and dunes on a beautiful day.
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I can't believe Teagan is already in second grade. She looks so grown up in these pictures. Where has the time gone?
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Before school started, Brady's parents were able to come up and spend some time with us. The kids were in heaven having Nana and Grandad all to themselves. Teagan and Kaelsy summed it up though when they left, "Why do they have to live so far away?" What great memories, though.
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Teagan did a lot of reading during her first grade year. In fact... she did so much that she earned a free pass to Silverwood. Brady treated her and Kaelsy to a fun-filled Saturday and they got to spend it with some good friends, too.
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This summer Brady was a great husband in letting me go away for a week without any kids. Obviously, they had some fun while I was away. When I got home, I heard about the treats from the ice cream truck and the awesome trip to the farmers market where they got their faces painted.
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Brady has been talking about getting a fire pit since we moved into our house and well this summer he finally did it. The kids love it (yes, Brady is one of the kids)! We did smores and Brady told some pretty tall tales to scare the kids. Fun times.
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Everyday, we are so thankful for great neighbors that enjoy our kids. The Smiths borrowed the blow-up from a friend so our kids could come over and play one day! And they loved it! When the water got too cold, the hot tub warmed them up until they were ready for another round on the slide! Thanks Cory for the great photos!
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Well, it only took 4 months from the time we started and almost two years since we have been in the house... but we got a room redone! The girls were so excited when we started their room. They really didn't want to lose the red shag (I knew that was the first to go!) but we talked them into a nice neutral color since we were using their two favorite colors on the walls - pink and purple. They got to help with the paint but unfortunately not with the wall paper. What a mess but it is done! Yeah!
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More Summer Fun...The girls surprised me with a tea party for my birthday. It was so cute. They had everything ready: the cucumbers, goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks and marshmallows (cubes of sugar for the "tea"). The girls had pop and of course they knew that I preferred "tea"-water. It was one of the best birthdays!
Swim lessons are still going great! Kaelsy is getting so good at putting her face in the water and doing her front and back floats. Her favorite thing to do now is swim under my legs and dive for diving rings! Ella knows exactly when it is time for her to get in the water. As soon as she hears the music and sees the water features come on, she is on a mission for the water. No stopping her. The other day I introduced her to a different part of the pool - the kiddie slide. She did not want to get off of it. Kyre took a break from the bigger kiddie slide to show Ella how it should really be done. What a kid. Teagan showed us her "no fear" attitude and went off the high dive. We missed her other attempts on a previous swim lesson but did not miss this one. She amazes us as they all do in such a wondrous way.
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Summer has begun. Teagan and Kaelsy finished their first session of swim lessons and passed! But much to my encouragement, we will be putting them in the same level for second session. Kaelsy did awesome putting her face in the water and letting her instructor help her do her floats. Teagan is swimming like crazy now and even dived from a kneeling position in the deep end on the last day! Ella is loving the water, too. She loves getting sprayed and does not mind her splashing siblings at all. Thank goodness summer is finally here!
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Kaelsy graduated from her first year at preschool this year! What a difference it has made in her social skills!
Brady and Kyre did the Father/Son Camping weekend. Kyre got an alligator on the way to the campsite after Brady had to pick up a few supplies at a small store and he would not put it down the whole trip. What a kid. Too bad Kyre got a pretty bad cough that cut the trip short. I think they had a lot of fun!
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Birthdays. We have had a few. Teagan and Kyre got to do a combinded one this year. Kyre wanted Batman and Teagan wanted Rapunzel. I have to say that the cake turned out better than I thought it would. The kids loved it at least. Kyre had the Batman theme going with getting a new costume and Teagan got books and a new DS! The DS is something that she has wanted for over a year. It is a good thing that her dad is such a gamer and thank you Grandma for getting her other passion - reading taken care of. Poor Kaesly doesn't understand why Kyre and Teagan get to have a carnival every year for their birthday. There is one perk for being born around Memorial weekend...the rides at Spring Fest. And then Miss Ella turned 1! Poor girl being the last... got brownies for her birthday. She didn't seem to mind though. I was all tuckered out with end of school year stuff and it was all I had in me. Thank you Betty Crocker!
