I'd been wanting to take Carmella to downtown Ft. Worth 

to see Santa for a couple of weeks now, ever since the ward

Christmas party that Santa failed to 

show up for. I decided to wait

till all the kids got out of school so Adelaide and Ivy could

go too. I'm so glad I did. The girls had a fun time with Santa

and Ivy was surprised to find out that Santa knows a 

thing or two about My Little Ponies. He even knew who her

favorite pony, Derpy is. He made each of the

girls feel special as they talked about what they 

wanted for Christmas. He was a really great Santa!

Of course after talking with Santa we had to stay to play,

and take a few pictures around Sundance Square.

Merry Christmas,
From the Poyfairs

Trick or Treat!

Halloween was pretty great this year. Carmella dressed as Queen Elsa, and totally lived the part. She spent a good amount of time freezing anyone who disagreed with her. 

She pooped out about 3/4 of the way through trick or treating. As we were turning to go up to another front door she said "Not another house!" I pretty much carried her from there. 

Adelaide was Dorothy. She was a little unsure about this particular costume, until I told her she would be getting a new pair of sparkly red shoes. Then, when I said we could take Jazzy to be Toto, she was all in! She kept asking people why they didn't have any treats for her dog. Jazzy may not have gotten any treats, but she sure got a lot of attention. 
She had her share of petting,and snuggling with everyone.

Ivy was sort of the star of the show. She kept ahead of us, leading the way, and clucking at nearly everyone. I heard several people say hers was their favorite costume. 

 Emilie went as a troll this year.  We worked together to make her horns.
I think they turned out pretty good. She got to take two of her 
friends with us last night. They had a great time. It's sad to me that she is getting so big.
I think her trick or treating days are numbered.

After we took the littles home, I took the big kids over to our friends haunted house. The girls were so excited to go. Till we walked in that is. We all went in together. I kept going on through lauging and having a great time. I turn to say something to the girls, and they are all gone!
I called for them, but I heard someone say they got scared and left.
So, I finished off the haunted house alone. It was a good one this year too! I guess the big kids, weren't so big afterall!! 

This is the "Mom you said one more picture, five pictures ago" look

Coming Up for Air

I haven't posted anything for a while on here, and it really is not like me to be radio silent for so long.
I feel like I can't move on with this blog until I address the elephant in the room. It has been extremely hard for me to move on with my life since my brother Thomas died. He passed away unexpectedly at the end of August, actually it was the girl's second day of school. I left in a rush to be with my family, and many things here at home got dropped or put on hold at that time.

Since being back home I have struggled to settle down into normal life again. Things are getting better now. I fight myself most days to get out and be around people. My instinct is to hide away from the world and lick my wounds. I have been committing myself to do things with people. That way I have no excuse, I have to get out; I have to smile and chat. I have been scheduling things at my house during the day. Filling up my rooms with other moms and children, with laughs and smiles, and noise. It helps me to forget, for a while. I dread when everyone leaves, the emptiness of my house is too much. I hate when it's time for me go home from being out with people. I don't quite know what to do with myself.

It's getting better though. I don't cry all the time anymore. I can get myself up and moving without much of a struggle anymore. Life keeps on moving, and it's taking me with it. I feel like I have been drowning, slowly sinking below the surface, but now I can feel myself rising up again. I have broken through the surface of the water and taken a breath.

I'm moving forward, and with that movement comes updating our family blog.
More to come soon,
I promise.

Traveling with the Poyfair's.

The Poyfair's have been on the move for last few weeks. It's summer, and that means vacation time! 

Emilie has been visiting my folks for the summer, so instead of being five to one, our numbers decreased to 4:1 for a while. It was a glorious renunion with her when we arrived bleary eyed (after a 20 hour drive) in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Since then we have hiked, sunbathed, shot guns, and shopped. Met up with old friends, ridden a Ferris wheel, and taken countless walks. 

We drove to Newport Beach, CA for our traditional week at the beach with my parents.

We ate ice cream, smelled stinky fish, climbed on rocks, and jumped off the lifeguard stand. We built sandcastles, wore gallons of sunscreen, still got a little burnt, and took a million pictures.

Back at the Old Sneddon Place, we jumped on the trampoline, played horse shoes, hot tubbed, and roasted marshmallows.

We had a wonderful time! We made tons of new memories, and it has been the perfect end to our summer vacation. Now, we are packed into our van,

headed back home to Texas. We'll get there sometime tomorrow, then we'll jump right into back to school preparations. 

Life never seems to slow down for long, but I don't think I'd want it any other way. 

Happy summer!!!