Cousins

Cameron and Ella climbing trees at Memaw's house.

Snowy Saginaw

Round two of winter weather has officially hit Saginaw. We missed the first round while we were down south. So, Cameron was super excited to play in the little bit that had accumulated.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We sent Santa an email and asked him to come early to the Briley house so that he didn't have to try and find her all the way down in south Texas. Luckily Cameron had been such a good girl this year that he granted our request.

Getting our cookies ready for Santa

Fireplace poses

Super special surprises for the big guy in the red suit

A pillow pet, just what she asked for

A full stocking

Dad had the biggest gift

Thanking Santa for her gifts (aka Cassie Nelson)

A pet snuggie for Emmy Lou

Merry Christmas from the Briley's

We would like to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas. We are truly blessed because of the wonderful people in our lives. We look forward to a new year full of hope, love, and kindness.
Love to all,
Eric, Carlynn, & Cameron

Night out on the town

Cameron and I went to see "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" at Casa Manana theatre. We dressed up in our pretty dresses and met a few of friends for an evening out. It was so much fun to see her expressions as the play unfolded. We were even able to get a few autographs from the cast members after the performance. Mrs. Claus was kind enough to do a picture with her too.

Posing in her pretty dress.

Mommy & Cameron

Logan, Emmy, Sophia, Cadence, Hudson & Cameron

Cameron and Hudson waving their light-up Santa wands.

Mrs. Claus & Cameron

To Market, To Market

Cameron is all about writing things down on sticky notes now that she has learned to read and sound out words. Eric mentioned this morning that he would be heading to WalMart for groceries. So our little one, traveled back and forth from the kitchen to her desk to make an accurate list for Daddy on his shopping trip.

For those of you that don't read "5 year old", I will translate.

lunchable, ice cream, apple, milk, creamer, poptarts, bread, and popcorn chicken

Needless to say, Dad only made it back with the milk, creamer, and poptarts.

Gymnastics

Here are some new pics of our girl doing gymnastics. Sorry they are a little blurry as I took them with my phone.

Gentlemen Start Your Engines

Eric and I from time to time feel the need to feel a little high class. What better way to do that then to go to a NASCAR race? I mean, where else can you say that you were one of the elite patrons (meaning we had all are teeth). We met up with some family friends from San Angelo and had a great time tailgating before the race drinking cold beverages. The best part was the patriotic tribute to the Fort Hood soldiers and their families. At race time, a HUGE helicopter landed on the infield and the pacecar emerged from its back end. Kind of like it pooped a fancy car. We had awesome time and awesome seats and that wasn't just cause we had sleeves on our shirts and no mullet.

A Super Incredible Halloween

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a long haired girl in an oversized Incredibles costume. Yes, I know that the Incredibles had skin tight costumes that aided them in defeating the villian, but when you order a costume designed to fit a 4 year old and your child is a small 5 year old, this is the result. We thought she looked adorable anyway. We also got tons of mileage out of this costume. She wore it for her birthday, 2 days of gymnastics, her class party and then on Halloween. Best $25 I've ever spent. And based on it's size, I'm thinking it may still fit four years from now.

Posing with our scary Mr. Pumpkin Head

All smiles at SHS trunk or treat

Getting the good stuff to satisfy her sweet tooth.

"Enough pictures, Mom"

Loving on Cherry the Devil Dog (our neighbor's dog)

Training Goldie

Giving Goldie a belly rub. Not the most flattering picture of Goldie.


All smiles from our two long haired girls.

Cameron has loved training her new dog. She and Goldie have been working on "sit" and "stay". It is so funny to listen to Cameron get this stern voice and give her command. Then of course she rewards Goldie with tons of scratches in all her favorite places.

Happy 5th Birthday

Cameron celebrated her 5th birthday on October 11th with some of her most well dressed friends. Being the frugal family, we decided to get as much use out of her Halloween costume as possible by having a costume themed party. We had a house full of princesses, a bride, a witch, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, a football player, a cheerleader, a golfer, and a few superheros. We had a great time decorating bracelets, playing pin the nose on the pumpkin and of course eating cake. Oh how the time has passed too quickly. Five years went by in the blink of an eye. Eric and I are so blessed by our sweet Cameron.

First Hunt

Our first hunting adventure started on Friday morning in Academy. I was at the register to check out with my 4T camoflauge shirt and the smallest pair of camoflauge rubber boots I could find when the sweet looking little old lady in front of me commented on how adorable my little boy was going to look in the items I was holding. The look on her face was priceless when I told her they were for my little girl. She almost gave me a look of contempt that I would dare dress my daughter in these things. (Note to others: Do not go to Academy and think that you are better than others. It is Academy, not Neiman Marcus) Little did she know, it didn't phase this country girl. I just smiled and said Cameron is our little hunting buddy. Again, the look of contempt.

Anyway, Cameron was super thrilled to have the perfect outfit to wear hunting. (See, still girly) While in San Angelo, we took her out to Cousin Tom's ranch and she had a blast looking at cows and goats and riding on the bumpy, rocky, so called roads. After a few test rounds fired off from Mom's 20 gauge, Cameron decided "that wasn't too bad" and we were off to dove hunt. She was a real trooper. She stayed right by my side picking up the dead birds and the not quite so dead birds (twitchers). She would even spot them in the air and yell "Shoot, Mom!" It was an amazing first hunt with my hunting buddy.

New Puppy

We have a new furry baby at our house. She's soft, golden, and only weighs 70ish pounds. The kicker is she's only 8 months old. Our new golden retriever, Goldilicious aka: Goldie has come home to stay at the Briley house. After her first day here at home, she only managed to tear up one of my plants (roots and all) and the cover for Eric's BBQ grill. Not bad considering I thought my backyard would look like war zone in Afghanistan when I got home this afternoon. She's really a sweet girl and loves to play ball. I think she may have the Briley hunting instinct too. She was ever so close to catching a poor neighborhood cottontail. That little bunny didn't know what the hell was going on when Goldie came at her so fast.

Cameron is so pumped to have an animal that is her very own.

Class Pet

Cameron's new school has a class pet and we were the lucky folks that were able to bring him home for the weekend. Boomer, the guinea pig, has been a great houseguest. He loves to eat veggies and is quite cooperative when a overly excited 4 year old wants to hold him. Cameron is such a lover of animals that this was probably the best weekend adventure we could have ever had. I'm sure we'll volunteer to bring him home again before the school year is over.

Go Rough Riders

Nana has been on the hunt for the perfect cheerleader outfit for Cameron that matches our school colors. It is much harder than you think to find Cardinal Red (not maroon and not red). At last she found one and mailed it to us just in time for the first football game of the season. As we made the trek up to our seats, we were stopped by at least 4 different people asking where we'd gotten the suit. An obvious hit among Rough Rider fans.

Cameron not only looked the part that night, but she acted the part too. She spent the entire first half yelling DEFENSE and Let's Go Riders. When the streamers came flying from the sky after the first touchdown, she concluded that God must have sent them.

Thanks, Nana, for making the first game of this season a memorable one.

Random Pictures from this summer

Here are some random pictures from this summer that I just now got around to taking off of the camera.

Cameron the last day of swim lessons finally brave enough to jump in.

Swinging at Memaw's house. She learned how to pump her legs in order to keep herself swinging.

Cameron and Hannah's annual picture sitting in our living room. Hard to believe that it's been almost five years since their first picture was taken together in this same spot.

Original picture of the girls the first summer they met.

Making Cake Balls

Cameron and I were home alone today so we decided to bake. (Yes I know, amazing we didn't burn the house down.) Ever since she went with me to a retirement party at my school, she's been wanting to make cake balls because the ones Joni made for the party were SOOOOO YUMMY! Cameron did an excellent job mixing the batter and sprinkling the cake balls after they'd been dipped in almond bark. Here is a link to the allrecipes website if you'd like to make them yourself. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cake-Balls/Detail.aspx?prop31=1 We used a strawberry cake mix and strawberry frosting. The ones covered in dark chocolate taste like a chocolate covered strawberry. It was a great mommy/daughter day!