Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Monday, December 12, 2016

Christmas 2016 Pictures

since having babies, taking family pictures means so much to me. and they become even more meaningful when I look back after time has passed. to capture and freeze these moments is everything as these babies are growing and changing ever so quickly and not going to be slowing down anytime soon!

it can feel a bit chaotic at times but that's also just real life ;) kristal always amazes me at the moments she captures for us.
original plan was to be at a local tree farm, but living in WA the rain isn't always in our favor. being in this old studio downtown was just as great and no way having two kiddos out in the rain and mud would've gone well!

last year's pictures HERE. I am amazed at how much harper has changed over this last year.

it was hard to choose which to share, so here's a majority of them :)

this first one is my absolute fave.

 ...and the best for last ;) can't wait to show them both this one in a few years.

 we're heading to Suncadia for a few days this next week and we are all so ready for it. we did this last year too, and will likely be making it an annual thing for us before the holiday. there's so much busy-ness and hussle during december. we found it so nice to escape for a couple of days and just enjoy our family without the to-do lists.


Xoxo
-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Christmas Holiday Fun List

I've always been the "no Christmas until after Thanksgiving" kind of person. I know, I know... some think I'm all bahumbagh because of it. well.... having kids is changing me. just a little.
the christmas decorations were brought in from the garage this last weekend, I'm already writing a christmas bucket list for us this year, and as I'm sitting here typing, I've turned on the classic rudolph show for harper.
...and I'm actually loving it!!

having kids (especially now of age to understand more of the excitement) makes this holiday even that much more fun! I can't wait for us to do all these fun holiday things together and to see harper light up and enjoy it all with us!

here's one of our pictures from last christmas season. I was just barley pregnant with tanner :)
so excited to take our family pictures this weekend!

2016 Christmas holiday fun list:

--decorate the tree as a family with christmas music playing in the background and sipping on hot apple cider

--bake + decorate sugar cookies. I"m on the lookout for the softest sugar cookie recipe. I've yet to find one that I've fallen in love with.

--ZOO lights at our local zoo. we've been before, but I just know harper is going to LOVE it this year! she already loves when we go to the zoo and this will be magical for her.

--drive around neighborhoods looking at christmas lights with some hot cocoa :)
--watch christmas movies in our christmas jammies while eating stove popped popcorn

--make, cut, and wrap our annual homemade caramels

--deliver christmas goodies to our neighbors. we did this last year and it was so fun to quickly see each of our neighbors. we all live on the same street, yet sadly, we rarely get to see each other unless it's in passing while going to get the mail.


...and tonight we're breaking out matching christmas jammies!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!
we always something to be thankful for.


Xoxo
-Brittney

Monday, July 11, 2016

Harper's 2nd | pink lemonade party

and she's two!! (well almost!) ;)
in leu of her little brother- who is due on the 15th, we decided to have Harper's birthday party the weekend before her actual birthday. 
this sweet, spunky, sassy, little one still has a couple more days of being one. 
come Wednesday she will officially be a two year old and my heart will be completely broken! 
ok- not true. 
she is at such a fun age right now and I just love love love, how she is growing and learning. 
though it certainly does get me all sorts of emotional (thanks a lot pregnancy hormones) ;) seeing my baby no longer have an once of baby in her. she's about to graduate to her big sis role and how perfect it is to be able to celebrate her, and only her, just before that change comes.
this was such a fun party to plan. fairly simple with a pink lemonade theme. 
pink + yellow + lots of lemons!
it was perfect for our girl, because she LOVES herself some lemons!
no joke.
she will eat a lemon wedge like it's nothing. 
so what better summer birthday party for her than one full of lemons!
T W O birthday candles in the cake this year!
and how shy she got when we all began to sing to her. she knew allll the attention was on her and wasn't sure what to do with it. 
it was the cutest thing :)
in just two short days this girl will officially be TWO!! 
we love her with all that we have and are so looking forward to celebrating her again on Wednesday.
it's birthday week for her!

Xoxo
-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

'TIS THE {busy} SEASON

And that it is! SO busy!!
errands.
parties. 
shopping. 
schedules to follow.
party planning.
house decorating.
gift wrapping.
I could keep on going.. but I won't bore you with that - you get the jist!
With all that to say, lately I've been trying to take time to intentionally put a piece of my energy solely into my little family. And so glad I have. I don't want this season to fly by and me hardly remember it because I was too busy. With Harper being able to show her excitement this year, I want to enjoy it right there with her and soak up every bit of it.
Though the blog has been a bit neglected, I must say it has so been worth it.
I mean look at these 'cheeks' I've been spending my days with :)
Tomorrow we are leaving for a quick family get-away for the weekend and we couldn't be more excited!
This is usually the time of year when the last thing we can think about is going out of town. But I am so glad we are! Just thinking about the memories we are going to make with our little Harper gives me that Christmas morning feeling!
When we get back though, it's holiday crunch time! We are nearly two weeks away from Christmas :)

xoxo
-Brittney

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

IDAHO THANKSGIVING 2015

We had such a great Thanksgiving with family, friends, and all the delicious food you could imagine! Just what Thanksgiving should be.
We started the weekend with a 13.5 hour (normally 12 hour) road trip to Pocatello, ID. Ugh!
This time of year is not in our favor when driving. Although I LOVE the snow, traveling in it is
a bit unpleasant. But we made it safe and sound!
We had a fun few days seeing our loved ones who we miss so much. 
As you can see, Harper and little miss Sutton (who is shockingly a month older than Harper) were the cutest being reunited!
It still amazes me that my best friend, Brittney :) and I had our baby girls just one month apart!
A lunch date with Rachel and baby Alice to our favorite spot was a must!
Though we froze our buns off (no joke - it was 20 degrees out), it was so fun taking Harper to the Christmas lights parade downtown!

This little is a trooper and did such a good job traveling long distance in the car!!
We now have the Christmas decorations out and the tree is up. We are ready for the best time of the year!
Cheers!

xoxo
-Brittney

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK

Thanksgiving week!
It's here and it came so so fast! (kinda like I expected).
We've had a busy last week with celebrating Brandon's 31st birthday (nearly all weekend long - of course!), Christmas card pictures with the fabulous Candice, and then hosting Friendsgiving at our house. So much. But yet so fun!
A few pictures from the last week :)

31 balloons with 31 reasons we love him.
Birthday dinner at The Hub with just the three of us.
We had a family birthday dinner the night before at our favorite restaurant, The Table.
One of the two tables for Friendsgiving :)
And here we are, just t w o days away from Thanksgiving!
We are so excited for the great food, family/friend time, and a little bit of relaxation. But first {tomorrow}, we will be making our 12 hour drive to Pocatello, Idaho! Wish us luck for a long day of traveling with a 16 month old. She has always done great traveling before (she's been on many road trips/flights), but she is of course more active than ever and we are praying she will stay entertained! Once we arrive all will be good :) Pocatello shows snow in the forecast and I am so so excited for it! That's one of the things I miss most about home, snowy winters! There is nothing more magical and breathtaking than the city covered in perfect white snow.

Thanksgiving throwback to last year with our little {4 month old} Harper :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

xoxo
-Brittney

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Christmas FOLLOWS Thanksgiving

I've always been 'that' person.
I've had a rule.  No celebrating Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving. No Christmas music. No Christmas decorations. No Christmas festivities. (I'm sounding a lot like scrooge...) Until that Friday after. Because we need to honor Thanksgiving and not blow right on past it to get to the Christmas holiday! And as soon as Thanksgiving passes, it is 100% Christmas season! Cheers! Right??!
...Well all that being said. I've felt that way until...now. And now my foot is in my mouth.
Having a child who is excited about all things.. I now get it. Her joy and the way she lights up makes for me to wish this time of year would never come to an end.
Bring on Christmas and let's embrace it all as 'the holiday season' :)
A couple weekends ago I was getting the itch to put up our tree and Christmas decorations (but I didn't).
Since we are hosting Friendsgiving this year it was imperative that I leave the fall decor up just a little bit longer :) BUT come Monday (Friendsgiving is this Sunday) fall is coming down and Santa's workshop will be taking place over here before we book it to Idaho for Thanksgiving!
And on that note... g i f t s. I would like to just burry my head in the sand on this one. I haven't bought one single Christmas gift. Nope. Not one. And we're looking at only five more weeks 'til Christmas Eve! With lots of festivities and major 'to-do lists' crammed on in there as well.
So this is another reason as to why I'm jumping on the 'start celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving is over' bandwagon! I'm just running out of time :)
I can't be the only one right?! I know so many feel so strongly about how the holidays are celebrated.
Christmas FOLLOWS Thanksgiving. It's just the HOLIDAY SEASON!

One of the highest priorities on my list right now... To find new family stockings for us! I never got one for Harper last year so it's time we all upgrade :) These ones are really speaking to me. #christmashearteyes

Happy Holidays!!

xoxo
-Brittney

Friday, October 30, 2015

OUR TABLE || HALLOWEEN SNACK MIX

Hip hip hooray! It's here! Halloween marks the first holiday into the 'holiday season'!
Two of my favorite things about the holiday season are food and fun festivities. And I love even more when the two are combined!
So here we have it. With today being Halloween Eve, what better time to share this festive Halloween snack mix concoction that of course too can be nibbled upon all Fall. Mmm... Mmm... Good!!
Ingredients:
Muddy Buddies - recipe here
Pretzels
Cinnamon Life
Whole Grain Goldfish
Craisins
Peanut M&Ms
Reese's Pieces
Candy Corn (of course!)

The sweet and salty combination is calling your name!
I mean it sure did call mine because this mix is now g o n e. Yep. Time to make a second batch :)

I'm so excited for this weekend and all of the fun that is to come! Costumes, candy, and good friends. 
Happy Friday + Happy Halloween {Eve}!!

xoxo
-Brittney