Merry Christmas Family and Friends

Just wanted to take a moment and say Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends! We were so blessed this year and owe it all our to Savior. I feel very blessed to have the gospel in my life and pray that you may all feel that sweet spirit as we celebrate Christ birth tomorrow. I feel so honored to have a baby girl born on that same day... it's an extra bonus for our family. We want you to know we love and think of you all even though we are miles apart from many of you. We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and blessed New Year!

Just because he's cute...

here is a video of Jack singing at Preschool and I know my Mom & Dad would enjoy this. Merry Christmas Mom & Dad... we miss and love you lots! (btw... he's the one in the blue shirt in the back row)

Here is a picture of the kids with Santa... love these cuties!

Happy Birthday Jack Boy!

We celebrated Jack's half birthday back in July when my parents were here but I wanted to let him know how much we love him on his real b-day which is December 5th! I ask him what he wanted to do on his REAL birthday and he said "Let's go bowling" and I said "Fun... let's do it!" So last Friday our little family went bowling and we had a blast. I think Nate enjoyed it more than any of us. We got bumpers for the kids lane and Brandon and I had a lane to ourselves. I stunk so bad Taylor beat me by 50 pins!! Oh well! Here are some pics below of us from Brandon's phone because my camera died.

My favorite things about Jack...

*His wrinkle nose smile!

*His 5 minute hugs!

*His sense of humor!

*His comeback skills (just like his dad)!

*His inventions!

*He is so smart!

*He is the definition of a boy... loves to seek and destroy!

Thanksgiving

SO... I'm a little late. What else is new? I just can't keep up! But we had a really nice Thanksgiving this year. We have alot to be thankful for and we feel very blessed!

It was just the Briscoe clan... Grandpa, Grandma, Brian, Amanda, Cody (our new addition), Cooper, Lisa, Brandon, Taylor, Jack, Nate and me, of course. Our dinner consisted of many yummy things but the most interesting was the Turduken... you ask "What the heck is a Turducken?" Well, it's a turkey, duck and chicken all in one after it's complete. You have a turkey (deboned), then a layer of dressing, the duck, another layer of dressing, and then the chicken. My brother-in-law, Brian, started preparing it at 5pm the night before Thanksgiving and didn't finish it until 2am!! Then it was in the oven for approx. 12-13 hours! But it was SO moist and quite tasty. The duck was alot better than I thought it would be. It's pictured below...

After dinner, we had our 3rd annual "Reading of the Family Feathers." Every year we send out feathers made out of construction paper to our family in the mail and have them write what they are thankful for the past year on the back. It's alot of fun and interesting to see what they will write. Then we make our turkey out of the family feathers! Our turkey turned out great this year!Thank you to all the family members how participated! We love you all!

Twilight Night... Edward!!

We had our long awaited Twilight night on Friday and it was worth the wait! I have never been in a movie where people screamed as soon as the movie started... it was hilarious! Everytime Edward or Jacob come on the screen the girls just went crazy. It was so fun and it was definitely worth the wait. But I have to say, at first, Edward wasn't my favorite (not MY Edward) but he grew on me and I'm excited to see it again. We had a great night and yummy CPK food! Can't wait for the next one... Love these ladies... Kristin, Kelly, me and Amber

Introducing...

the newest Briscoe boy to our family. This is Cody Shawn Briscoe, born Oct. 30 (I'm a little late with this post) around 3 in the morning. He was 7 pounds and is such a cutie! His mom, Amanda, is doing great and recovering from a c-section and his dad, Brian, is SO proud.

I love it when they are all swaddled up!!Taylor, Jack, Nate, Cody and Brian (maybe Uncle Cooper will bring us some girl cousins, Taylor)

Halloween 2008

Finally... here are the pictures from Halloween! We had such a great time with the kids this year. Nate now knows what Halloween is all about... he ran house to house saying his version of "Trick or Treat" and said "Thank you" to everyone that gave him candy. He wouldn't put his Thomas the Train costume on but he let Brandon paint his face after seeing his big brother Jack get his done. So Brandon made him look like Jack Jack from the Incredibles and I put his spiderweb jacket on... so it worked out. We stayed in our neighborhood and hit all the fun spots which is the house with the cotton candy (the guy has been doing this since Brandon was little) and the Haunted House house, which is just a blow up version that looks scary in the dark. They gots lots of candy and they were in bed by 8:30!!! Success!

Cotton Candy house

Haunted House

Did you know...

if you put pumpkin seeds in a bowl they will grow?!? The night we carved our pumpkins, I decided to keep some seeds to roast later, but never got around to actually cleaning the seeds. So a couple of days later... we started seeing little buds growing from the seeds. I started sprinkling water on them every other day and this is what has happened! Amazing, huh? No dirt or anything else.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Brandon's birthday was on Sunday... but we started his birthday on Thursday by celebrating at the Melting Pot! Yummy! If you've never been... you HAVE to try it! Fondue heaven! But I'm so bummed because I forgot my camera so we have no pictures from the event ! But I got a few shots of his little family party we had on Sunday. He requested a chocolate cake with pudding in the middle. So I made that with homemade cream cheese frosting with a little orange food coloring to make it a little Halloweeny! The kids decorated the rest of the cake! Happy Birthday babe - we love you!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday at Irvine Park. We've never been to this Pumpkin Patch before and there was so much to do! We mainly did all the free stuff and didn't stay very long because it was SO hot! It's supposed to be cooling down here in Cali but not yet. We are still in the high 80's and are really ready for some fall weather. But the kids had fun and that's all that matters, right?!?

My three cuties!

Patrick & Mika going into the Haunted House... and them coming out!! She hated it!

Jack, Alex, Nate and Taylor (I love their faces in this pic)
Jack and Hannah

Brandon pushing Nate... that was hard work. I did it the first 3 laps!

Nater!

Powder Puff Race for the Cure 2008

This past weekend was SO much fun... we took 5th in our class!! It's my second year racing this event for Breast Cancer and it was huge success! There were over 200 cars. They have raised over $120,000 the past two years from this event. I had a new co-driver this year... my good friend Kim Dunn. She was a firecracker!! She did awesome and we had a blast. Amanda, my sister-in-law, was my co-driver last year but she is 8 1/2 months pregnant with a new Briscoe boy!! We missed having her with us... but she needs all the rest she can get!

Getting ready for the start...
Coming out of the pits... here we go again!
My cute family...

I just want to thank Brandon... he is the best, most supportive husband in the world! He has built two race cars in the past 3 years and I have raced them both... not him and he couldn't be happier. He, along with Kim's husband, Bob, our friend Justin, my father-in-law Larry, and my brother-in-law Brian worked many long hours trying to get our Arcticat in tip top shape! And it was... nothing went wrong at all... we finished all 88 miles with no problems. Thank you so much team for your hard work. And thank you Kim for being a great co-driver! "Go left, Go left... No my left!!"

Jack and Soccer...

This is my favorite age to watch my kids play soccer. Taylor was picking flowers at this age and Jack... well he is looking up in the air and spitting at who knows what or waving to us as he chases his teammates who are kicking the ball. It's hiliarious and I love it! I really thought he would be more aggressive but no, he's not. He's just really happy to be out there running around and thinks it's awesome if anyone scores... even if it's the other team! Gotta love him!! Here are a few pictures of our soccer boy.

YES on Prop 8

I'm really not a political person... I don't like to talk about politics! But tonight I'm feeling extremely worried and passionate about a proposition passing here in CA and really feel the need to do as much as I can to help it get passed. My main concern is my children - I want to be the one to teach them about marriage, not the school. My friends who live here know what this proposition is about... for those who do not, the amendment says "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California." I have already walked door to door, made phone calls, made donations (not as much as the NOT so sexy anymore Brad Pitt has AGAINST this prop) and now want to share on my blog. Please watch this video if you have any doubt about why this prop needs to be passed... http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1815825713/bctid1819819843

If you still have doubt, read below...

Below are Six Consequences the Coalition Has Identified If Proposition 8 Fails:

1. Children in public schools will have to be taught that same-sex marriage is just as good as traditional marriage.

The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage.

Therefore, unless Proposition 8 passes, children will be taught that marriage is between any two adults regardless of gender. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.

2. Churches may be sued over their tax exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston already closed its doors in Massachusetts because courts legalized same sex marriage there.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools with married student housing may be required to provide housing for same- sex couples, even if counter to church doctrine, or risk lawsuits over tax exemptions and related benefits.

5. Minister who preach against same-sex marriages may be sued for hate speech and rish government fines. It already happened in Canada, a country that legalized gay marriage. A recent Faliornia court held that municipal employees may not say: "traditional marriage," or "family values" because,after the same-sex marriage case, it is "hate speech."

6. It will cost you money. This change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits, including some already lost (e.g., photographers cannot now refuse to photograph gay marriages, doctors cannot now refuse to perform artificial insemination of gays even given other willing doctors). Even if courts eventually find a favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today's activist judges), think of the money-your money- that will be spent on such legal battles.

And think of all the unintended consequences that we cannot even foresee at this time. Where will it end?

It's your children, your grandchildren, your money, and your liberties.

Lets work together to protect them.

Tribute to Paul Newman

I had to give a little tribute to Paul Newman... he was my all time favorite actor! He died a few days ago at the age of 83 of cancer. I could watch Cool Hand Luke over and over just to look him and his famous blue eyes. My dad and I practically begged a movie theater to give me this awesome poster that was displayed of him so I could take it home and hang it in my room when I was young. I still to this day love him and I'm sad to see such a TRUE movie icon pass on. He was such a gentlman and also a very generous man... he donates ALL the millions he receives from his "Newman's Own" dressing company to charity. He thought it was hiliarious that his dressing made more money than his movies.

Creativity emerging...

from my kidos this week. Taylor was getting ready for soccer practice when she realized she didn’t have any clean socks (yes, I’m a little behind on laundry) so she decided to cut up a pair of her tights that were way too small. So small in fact that I don’t even know why they were in her draw. This is how they turned out… kinda cute huh? The same day, Jack was upstairs being very quite so I knew he was up to something. Well, he was coming down the stairs yelling “Mom, guess what?” but I couldn’t see him yet. So I said “What, Jack?” He jumps out from the bottom step and yells “I’m the King of the World” and below is what he was wearing. Look a little closer and you will realize his cape is the skirt for a Christmas tree! I tried so hard not to laugh out loud because he was so proud and acted like he was the “King of the World!” I love my kids imagination and wish I had some of their creativity! Nothing is impossible to them!

What?

So I actually slept in this morning for the first time in weeks... and when I say sleeping in I mean sleeping in until 8:00am. That's late for me. This was my plan, so last night I got milk ready for the kids in the fridge and told them to get poptarts in the cupboard when they woke up in the morning for breakfast. So my plan worked except for Taylor decided she didn't want poptarts. She didn't eat anything which I didn't find out until just a few minutes ago when I told her she needed to get ready for soccer because we have to go to Target before the game at 11:15. Then my mother-in-law says "Taylor will probably need a snack before the game" and I said "Oh yea, I'll fix you a pb&j sandwich." Taylor says "I didn't have breakfast" and I said "What, why not?" She says "Oh, it's ok, just run me to Starbucks!" What? We laughed out loud!! What am I teaching my kids!

First Day of School ...

Yes, I know I'm a little late! They've been in school almost 3 weeks now and I'm just getting this posted... oh well! Jack is in his 2 year of preschool and loves it! He is so excited to be with his friends and loves his teacher! The first picture is of the day we went to meet his 1st teacher. She was really nice and I say "was" because I have switched him to a different class now. The one he was in was a little too young for him so I moved him to a different school within the district that has more kids his age. The next picture is from his 1st day and if you're wondering what is on his shirts... it's The Hulk! He just had to wear it!!

Taylor is now in 3rd grade... a big jump I hear from other moms! Lots more homework which we have already experienced from the 1st day. Yes... homework the FIRST day! But we love her teacher. She's great! It was also alot of fun shopping with Taylor this year for school. She had to get more stuff that was JUST for her like notebooks, folders, etc. and it was fun to see her style she picked out. AND apparently "No one takes a backpack mom, I just need a shoulder bag" (see picture below) I found the greatest deal on one at TJ Max!!

Girlfriends... aren't they cute?!?

Mom and her baby girl... she's gonna be taller than me in now time!

The Fun Days before School (I'm still catching up)

We had a yummy BBQ at our friends house on Labor Day with lots of food and swimming. The kids and dads had chicken fights, a contest jumping through a hoop without touching it and who could do the best flip. Lots of fun and good sleep that night!

Taylor lost this round of chicken fighting!

Dads taking a break to cook on the bar-b!

Eatin' good stuff...

The Sim family relaxing in the hot tub.


Then had an awesome day at the beach with more friends the day before school. I know I've said this before... but we love living at the beach! It's so nice to spend all day then have a 2 minute ride home for showers!

Two cuties...

Friends..

Messy cuties...

Playing in sand...