Christmas Festivities

On Christmas Eve we acted out the Nativity with the cousins (Clarke tradition) and this time my kids were stars of the show. Mika was an angel. Paka would read to her what the angel said and she would proclaim it! :) 

 Travis was Joseph, Kaylin was Mary, Ashlynn was baby Jesus (once he was born) and Laurel was the donkey.

Here we have most of the cast. Sayla was a shepherd and Ethan was a Wise Man.

The excited kiddos waiting at the bottom of the stairs! Travis had to go wake Mika the grump up and Ashlynn stayed asleep. Travis told Mika that Santa came and asked if she wanted to see what he brought her and she replied, "No, I want to go back to sleep." 

The kids had so much fun with their cousin Sayla. We are going on a chilly golf cart ride. I crack up at Ethan's face!!!!

My Clarke sisters!! I enjoyed being with Breezy and her family so much this trip. And Stacey was so good to us for sharing her Christmas with both families. She just found out she's having a boy! 

Jonathan spent a few weeks with us. He adored the kids and Ashlynn was a favorite. She'd let him kiss her all the time. 

 After we opened presents, went to church and had a nice Christmas brunch with the Clarke's, we headed down to Macon to see my sister's family and my parents.

It was so good to spend time with them!! Such a fun day!

 The Georgia Sharp grand-kids. They all had a blast together running around and playing with new toys. Thanks Ang for hosting, the meal was yummy and the company was even better.

 Lily and Ashlynn...

 Lily got a stand up microphone and Kaylin got a paper jamz mic so they sang a lot together. It was cute. Lily kept making up her own songs rather than singing holiday classics. :)

10 years together

My sweet love and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary together. It was so so much fun. We both agreed we needed more time, but a quick weekend get-a-way was still so great. We just stayed at the Westin near Perimeter. It was perfect, we got an upgraded room with a great view of the lake and city.

 We shopped and went to a movie, ate and walked around. It was the perfect time well spent.

Travis is so wonderful. He does so much and is the most unselfish person I know. He has a heart of gold, with the best intentions and also tender and sweet to the core. I love our talks together, he just gets me. Like no one else. He's seen the good, the bad and the ugly and it doesn't matter, he loves it all. That means so much. He's honest, kind and oh so patient. I love his laugh, his awesome smile, and even his moles. I love his snoring and the way he falls asleep in 2 seconds- because I know if he wasn't by my side, I'd miss all those things. Thanks for loving me and trying so hard to be the perfect man for me.

My amazing parents had our 4 kiddos all weekend. Of course the kids had a blast, and I'm hoping my parents did too! (probably not much sleep though!)
Here they are Sunday after church in their Christmas clothes. THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!

Yes even after a couple days I missed the kids dearly. I love love love being with Travis, but my kids are my purpose, who I am, what I love. And yes I missed the monster incredibly. :)

I love my little Ashlynn. I hate that she is growing so fast. I miss her being tiny. But I'm enjoying every minute of her. She is a mover, roller, kicker etc and soon there won't be any snuggle time, so I'm taking as much as I can get!

My big girl is sitting up!! She hardly ever falls unless she wants to roll to get somewhere. I found her today sitting up waving her arms crying. It was so cute, because she was just lonely.

Ashlynn is lucky enough to have more than just baby toys. This is the kids' fake frog (filled with sand) it has a weird texture as you can see on Ashlynn's face.

 Mika rises to the occassion of the big sister role when the older kids are gone at school. She loves her so much. Maybe a little too much. :)

 I think they look so much alike here. I'm looking forward to seeing if it stays that way or not.

Mika's Class Party

Travis and Ashlynn joined me and Vicki at Mika's class Christmas Party.

 She was so happy to have daddy there with her!

 Mika loves to make faces. She refused to smile until we made a face first. This is her grumpy face...

 Then her happy girl face

 Mika's class got a special surprise! Santa came!! He gave each child a gift of candy and a stuffed reindeer. It was so cute.

 Ashlynn even sat on Santa's lap. She is my very FIRST baby who did NOT cry!! 

Ward Christmas Party

Santa came to the Ward Christmas Party! The kids were SO excited to tell him their favorite toy they want this year. I couldn't believe no one cried! This is the first year! 

 Nathan was home- I love his crossed eyes, I love my Jocey and I'm holding sleeping Ashlynn...

Nathan and Brandon were tossing her afterwards. Yes, you can see the girls behind them...most people are really shocked. But this baby loves it!! All the pictures of her flying through the air were blurry. 

My Mormon.org Profile

Hi, I'm Brittany

I'm a daughter of 6, a mother of 4 and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I grew up in Washington State with 4 sisters and 1 brother. My home, some could say, was chaotic. But to me, it was heavenly. My favorite memories are with my siblings and today after all these years, they are still my best friends. Not everything went perfect, we had hair pulling fights and were grounded to our room with our worst enemy, but those are now what we look back and laugh at. Our paths have taken us all on different journeys and different states, but we stay connected because our family is eternal. It will not end at death. Now at age 30, I have been married to my husband for 10 years. Our sweet relationship has always had its ups and down, but when we turned to each other and our Father in Heaven, we've made it even stronger. We have been blessed with 4 amazing children who are 8, 6, 3 and 5 months. They teach me so much. Our favorite things to do are have dance parties, read and draw together, go boating on the lake and watch movies. I enjoy teaching them and watching them grow, seeing their personalities and testimonies of Jesus and His teachings bloom. When I look at them I know I've always meant to be their mother and the warm truth and understanding that we will be able to be together forever.

Why I am a Mormon

I was baptized at the age of 8 by my oldest sibling, my brother. I grew up in the church, with parents very involved in our local congregation. The gospel was all around me, yet I still had to know the truth for myself. Some would say I learn things the hard way, but once I learn them and I know its truth, it's a powerful testimony that resides deep in my core. I remember at different times in my life, I would gain testimonies of the principles and teachings of the Savior. It didn't all happen at once. Trials and experience helped me turn to my Heavenly Father for guidance and direction. Most of the time I look back and wonder how I got through what I have, and I know my Savior was right by my side, helping me through it. I am so grateful for the Atonement in my life. Without it I would have nothing. It encompasses all.
The world is getting more and more terrifying to me as a mother of young children. I believe firmly that they need strong testimonies to make it in this world. We focus on the future-looking forward to meeting our Savior once again and remember what is truly important in our lives. We keep our home safe, positive and loving teaching each other what it means to be loved and to give love, serving each other and learning our divine natures and individual worth as we are all sons and daughters of God with a unique and important purpose in each of our lives.

Personal Stories

How can we develop greater harmony in our homes?

I believe you can control what is brought into your home. To keep our home happy and full of love, we monitor our children's TV shows, movies and computer games online. I also believe that the more you do together, the more love you have for one another. We make sure we all eat dinner together, say family prayers, read together, dance and sing together, go on family vacations and include the kids on making family decisions. If they feel a part of the family, they will contribute more. We encourage playing with siblings as much as possible and inviting friends to play at our home. We want to make our home fun for the kids so they'll want to be here.

How I live my faith

I teach the 16-18 yr old girls each Sunday. They are amazing young women. Most of the time, I prepare the lessons not only for them, but for me as well. It seems to be exactly what we all need to hear. The gospel is never ending, you can always learn something new to apply it to your life. I love these girls, they are examples to me.
My family and I enjoying serving our friends in and out of our faith. We try especially hard to provide meals and toys to those in need.
But our main goal is to love everyone, seeing good in everyone and being a good and righteous example to those around us.
We love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and are proud to be Christians

Day to Day

These 3 kiddos love taking baths together. I think they looks so much alike here, especially the girls.

 Happy Ashlynn just waking up from her nap. She's such a sweetie pie.

 She loves being held (like all my babies) and I know I will miss it someday even though it's killing my back now! ;)

 Ashlynn loves to be a part of everything. Kaylin is so patient with her. Here they are "eating" snack

 She is a rolling machine! She loves tummy time and being on the floor, but only if someone is there with her.

Happy Halloween!

The weather was perfect for a fun, spooky Halloween! Beware! Out come the Peacock (Mika) a Gypsy (Kaylin) a baby black kitty (Ashlynn) and The Incredible Hulk (Ethan) 

The Black Kitty was so happy and alert all night. She enjoyed driving around on the golf cart snuggling in warm blankets.

The gypsy was beautiful and full of life. She loved running to each house and get her bucket full of candy!

The Incredible Hulk was well...Incredible. He was the fastest trick-or-treater I've seen yet!

The peacock was beautiful, a little scared, and got pretty tired. But she had fun and got tons of candy!

Trunk or Treat

Our trunk-or-treat at the church was so much fun! Travis as the walking half dead experiment gone wrong and me, a witch! 

 Travis' brother's Brandon and Nate (on left) along with their cousin Garret (middle) did a huge haunted house in a moving van hooked up to the enclosed trailer. Brandon and Travis were the "victims", Nathan was kind of like Frankenstein (his costume is off in this pic) and Garret is the creepy doctor. Kids were terrified!

My young women were in charge of a witch's spooky house. We decorated and all dressed up. Me and my girls! (and Mika too)

Stacey was the super aunt! When I was in the spooky house and Travis in the haunted house, she helped me with my little girls. Cousins with their Auntie after the fun party...

Kaylin won the best costume at her table! Me and my gypsy :)

I loved my friend Joyce's costume! Can you guess what she is?

My sleeping kitty. We got her nose done when she was sleeping :)