pics from halloween parades and carving

halloween 2019

Hazel insisted on being a unicorn this Halloween.  We all followed suit.

click here for: Costumes of Halloweens past 

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

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:

 over the years, i have gone ALL OUT with halloween costumes, and this year was no exception.  johns cloud - so many hot glue-gun burns.  

we used to go more nerdy, see previous years:  

2010

2011

2012 - i think this was a morning sickness fail

2013

2014

2015

2016

but this time decided to go more mainstream.  my girls are OBSESSED with trolls right now, just like every other 2-10 year-old in north america.  so you can guess what we were... 

for those that don't know, cora is GUY DIAMOND

idaho summer 2017

thanksgiving recap

well, we're back!  what an awesome break it was.  nothing better than cousins to entertain our two busy girls!  it actually felt like a vacation for me.  wahoo!

we spent most of the time in idaho with the brunts, but a few days in utah on each end with the neffs.  hazel and i had perfect snowman-building snow to play in....

we opened christmas jammies early this year, so they could be enjoyed through december rather than opened christmas eve and only enjoyed a handful of times.  i'm pretty sure cora has worn it during the day several times already since we've been back!

some highlights:
hanging out with the girls in mimi and grandpa's new hot tub
petting horsies during our family photo shoot with randi
my turkey relish tray
the blow-up playground mimi and grandpa got for the occasion that kept my girls busy for hours
seeing my girls in their new superhero capes from honey
making a snowman with hazel

hazel's thankful tree

a little snapshot into our 3&1/2 year-old's little brain.  doing this thankful tree was such a great teaching opportunity with her.  i was so proud of her for coming up with "Jesus" and the "scriptures", as well as "music", "school", and "disneyland".  i can't wait to see what great things she comes up with next year :)

happy easter, loves!

holidays are finally becoming really fun with hazel.  she finally gets what it happening, and that makes hiding easter eggs like the easter bunny that much more fun!  easter this year was extra special too, because cousin claire has been here hanging out with us! {and her mom and dad of course}.  

we decorated eggs together, and hazel has since asked to do it again about 20 times.  {she has this egg obsession, and i don't really know where it came from} 

what did we do with all these hard-boiled eggs, you ask?  GOLDENROD of course.

and then we did an easter egg hunt, and even cora got in on the action.

but the true meaning of easter was on my mind the next day {easter sunday}, as i contemplated how grateful i am that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and because of His sacrifice, we can be forgiven, work towards becoming like Him, and that we can live with our families forever.  Happy Easter, friends!

merry.

we are in idaho for christmas this year, and it's pretty thrilling. hope yours is great as well.

thanksgiving in plymouth. part two of our series.

on thanksgiving day we got ready and went to a monument i had never heard of in plymouth, massachusetts.  then we had thanksgiving dinner at plimouth {yes, that's how they spell it there} plantation, and our little heffalump, as you can see, is the cutest baby known to man.

agfag

then we took our full bellies and took a tour of an imitation wamapoke indian homes/grounds and a town full of "real life" {aka actors} pilgrims. see hazel above, singing jingle bells to me ^^^ also, look at hazel's face in the photo below.  right after this picture was taken she laid her head down on my shoulder and fell right asleep.

then we went and saw the most underwhelming national monument ever, plymouth rock.
and took a tour of the mayflower...

such a fun day!  thanks so much to mimi and grandpa for taking us!

more thanksgiving weekend pics to come!

what does santa say?

our little hazelnut, trying her darnest to say, "ho ho ho"

what does santa say? from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

an island park 4th + unexpected boo boos

the fourth started off like any other. john flew in thursday night and we left right from the airport to go to idaho. i even had an alberto's breakfast burrito in the car waiting for him, because that's the nice kind of wife that i am. 

we played lots of games, and john wake-surfed while hazel and i watched from inside grandpa's boat. 

we went to the sand-dunes, (the boys) put on an amazing aerial fireworks show, and ate truly homemade ice cream.

hazel's cousin lily put a million band bracelets on her cute little arms:

randi took family pictures for everyone, and we went to the rodeo. it was all so much fun!

and then, somehow, as i was trying to prevent hazel from falling off a picnic bench simultaneously with other tasks, she fell the opposite way of me, and i couldn't catch her in time. she fell, and started crying and acting like her arm hurt. i was (still am) riddled with guilt. usually when she's hurt, she rallies very quickly. but this time, she didn't. and as we drove home our plans went from putting her to bed to taking her to the ER in rexburg, the closest one to where we were. 

i'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that they didn't find a break in her arm, and we went to idaho falls to sleep, feeling lame and very, very tired as we all went to bed at 2 a.m.  

the next day, i could tell hazel's arm was still hurting her, but she was still playing so I thought the doctor must have been correct when he said, "she's probably just a really tired baby that bruised her elbow." but by sunday evening, when hazel started crying and grabbing her wrist, i could clearly discern where she was hurt, and that this was no bruised elbow. we made a makeshift splint out of a popsicle stick and a ripped-up dish rag, and headed straight to instacare. 

she indeed had a buckle fracture in her left radius and ulna, and the doctor we saw was so kind and much better than that idiot in the ER. hazel is so much happier with her splint on, and we've been dosing her with tylenol and ibuprophen the last few days, although she hasn't acted like she's needed it. that splint will stay on except for during baths and the occasional pool time for at least 2-3 weeks, and i can't tell you my dismay at having a hurt child, especially when it feels like my fault. but, i am relieved that the break was discovered, and that she is now back to her happy self.  truly, she is on the mend.

some things!

oh heyyy there blog.  it's been awhile.  are we still friends?

it's the holiday season, and that means i have been so busy that i don't even know what to do with myself.  {i haven't even gotten much for hazel yet!  mostly because i am waiting to find the perfect few gifts to give her....} and i'm making hazel a quiet book which has to be done by the 19th so i can let her open it on christmas day, and i need a sewing machine to complete it and i have probably spent over 30 hours on this dang quiet book so far.  but anyways, it is 2am and i'm working a full shift and i figure hey - i should document what's been going on in our lives lately.

-  we have gotten gobs {is gobs a word?} of snow over the past few days, and as i was shoveling our driveway one morning before hazel and i ran out to get some christmas shopping done {in high-heeled boots no less} one student walking home literally begged me to let him shovel my walk.  i didn't succumb to his wishes and i'm not sure why.  pride?  determination?  feminism?  {winky-face}

-  hazel has started walking with her walker and standing up for a minute at a time on her own.  rude.  also, she weighs 20lbs 8oz and is 29in long!  aaaaaand her legs really hurt, especially the left from the pneumococcal vaccine.  it's the worst!

-  john saying to me last night:  "when i close my eyes, i see call of duty.  it's awesome."

-  i loved witnessing the other day:  a man trying to push his car through an intersection when it went dead, and seeing three young student jump out of their separate cars to help him.  there is good in the world, i tell you.

and what would a meaningless blog post be without a pic of hazel therese?

"here hazel, you play right here with these christmas lights so i can get something done."

christmas favorites.

here are a few of my favorite pictures from this christmas week. best christmas present: skypeing with my brother sam who is serving a mission in cusco, peru. enjoy!