christmas in utah

thanksgiving photos, thanks to my cute SIL

happy halloween!

hazel has been talking about this halloween since LAST halloween, and has even settled on WONDER WOMAN as her costume of choice for a few months now.  cora loves being like hazel, so of course she quickly picked a superhero too.  for the first year ever, i made NOTHING, and just bought all of our costumes online!  pregnancy miracle!  

click here for halloween costumes of years past

kauai

hawaii was amazing.  we aren't ones for big trips, we would love to, but we are pretty frugal people.  so it wasn't until we had saved a bunch from my night shift that we decided to make our dream of years and years a reality.  john has been saying for a long time how much he loves kauai, and he finally got to take me there.  a combined anniversary/babymoon trip and it was perfect!

the first morning, we discovered the BEST macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup.  so amazing, i need to try and recreate it at home sometime.  

then, we explored the beach right by our hotel.  they have an AMAZING snorkeling spot right in front of the marriott in poipu.  we snorkeled in several places and this was by far the best!  there are tons of beautiful tropical fish, sea anemones, sea cucumber, and one day we even snorkeled with a SEA TURTLE.

then we got puka dogs for lunch, shave ice, and drove up to waimea canyon.  it was amazing.  they call it the "grand canyon of the pacific" for a reason!

i definitely puked on the way down the canyon.  worth it.

the second morning we got acai bowls for breakfast and headed to church.  afterwards we drove to the north side of the island to queens bath.  aka one of my experiences of the trip.  

this is getting long-winded so let me just give you the highlights:

favorite activities (in no particular order):

1.  Napali Coast tour

2.  Waimea Canyon Lookout

3.  Queen's Bath

4.  Wailua Falls

5. Snorkeling at Poipu Beach

6.  airplane ride over the island

favorite food:

1.  banana macadamia nut pancakes

2.  Brennecke’s Beach Broiler

3.  the dolphin

4.  hawaiian luau

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it's finally her turn! cora goes to preschool:

this fiesty girl has been waiting and longing to go to preschool like hazel for like the past two years. well, today her turn finally came!  she was so excited!

beach photos

my mom's birthday present request: new portraits of the girls.  and since we looked cute last sunday, and i have been meaning to take beach photos of the girls for FOREVER, we just randomly decided to go to the pier and shoot some photos and see if we got anything good.  and boy, did we!  in fact, we got so many good ones that i will probably have to post another batch another day.  my girls were looking SO CUTE and were being so cooperative with the promise of treats when we got home.  

my beauties:

 you guys, I MADE THEM.  i can hardly believe it.

some siblings have been in town!  we've had some perfect days at the beach and disney

i definitely drug cora onto splash mountain, and she definitely did not love it.

hazel's first day of kindergarten!

 love my sweet big girl!  i can't believe she's going off to kinder to be more independent and learn to read!  so proud of how far she's come and can't wait to see where she goes next.

i'm excited and terrified

utah and idaho summer trip!

we LIVE for this trip each year.  i have now been sick and pregnant for three summer trips and i can honestly say my burden is significantly light with grandparents around to help with the girls.  hazel and cora automatically go up to my parents room at 6am every morning and i can't say i'm upset about it.  this sick momma needs sleep!  and jolly ranchers.  lots of jolly ranchers to keep the nausea at bay!

hazel LOVES wakesurfing.  she continues to be a little daredevil every year.  

we went horseback riding, and to wade lake... and of course the fourth of july fireworks playlist was on point this year.

 cora did not like wakesurfing.  she is not a daredevil like hazel.  but i was SO PROUD of her for being brave and trying it!  

life lately

lately we've been wearing a lot of dresses, had some grandma and grandpa visitors, a preschool graduation, disney trips, and a whole lotta love

they don't even know what he does for them.  5 days a week, he gets up early, puts on some nice clothes, and goes to that place called "work".  it's too abstract for these little people to grasp, and i am grateful they don't really get it.  and yet, they sense how hard he works for them.  and they KNOW how much he loves them.  because he spends every moment he can showing it and saying it.  grateful for my partner in crime and in life, john harman brunt.  aka dad/husband of the year.

they love each other fiercely.  a little too much sometimes.  i'm sure one day i'll look back and laugh about it, but right now my top phrase is, "don't touch your sister!"  so far we've avoided any major injuries

my two girls.  happy to spoil them with overpriced cotton-candy in front of the castle any day.

easter weekend in AZ

THE ENTIRE BRUNT FAMILY GATHERED FOR EASTER!  some kind of wonderful miracle.  too much delicious food and fun cousin time.  plus, it was swimming heaven for these two fishies: