Roller Skating!

It was actually ice skating, but Brooke called it roller skating all day long. Today we started a tradition, going ice skating on New Year's Day! I told Rob that if we went he would have to help Brooke because I would be concentrating hard enough just to keep myself up. Well, I was right. Rob helped Brooke the entire time we were skating. Brooke just loved it. She didn't quite figure it out but when it was time to go she cried because she wanted to stay and go around a few more times. We had a lot of fun and maybe one year I'll be able to get away from the wall (we can all dream :)!

Happy New Year!

What do you get late at night, with two tired girls and a camera? A couple of goofballs! Here Brooke and I are passing the time until the New Year (it took a really long time)!

Just for fun!

Brooke got a "dancing" skirt today and wore it all day and even to bed. Here are a couple of photos of Brooke just being Brooke! I love that girl!
(Rob and Brooke...just hanging out)

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas morning was awesome! Brooke loved it (she is feeling a little sick) for the most part and was excited to open her presents! Julie, Nick, and Trevor came over for breakfast. Julie makes the best cinnamon rolls. We spent the day relaxing, eating, and taking naps. It was so nice to be able to stay home and spend time together. We hope that everyone had a MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS! We love you! One of Brooke's presents was a tea set. We spent a lot of time pretending today!
Brooke gave Rob a couple of dvd's.

Brooke gave me a dvd too (great minds think alike).

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Christmas Eve!!

Christmas this year has been wonderful because everything is done for Brooke, and she is starting to understand it. We love teaching her about the true meaning of Christmas along with the magic of Santa and everything that goes along with that. Last night, Rob and Brooke left cookies out for Santa. This morning when she woke up she first thing she asked about was the cookies and milk. Santa even left her a note thanking her for the delicious cookies.


I hope Santa liked the skim milk.

On Christmas Eve, the last couple of years we have just stayed home as a family and done our own little program. We had a turkey dinner (I ruined everything I touched...just ask Rob) and then did the navitity story, read some Christmas books, and sang some songs (all by the warm and toasty fire). We ended the night with a few family photos by the tree.

Christmas Tree and Cold Weather!

It took us a while to put our Christmas Tree up, but I loved how it turned out! This year the tree was real. Every year Rob and I have a debate about fake vs. real and at least for this year...real has won. Brooke loved helping put the ornaments on and she had the honor of putting the star up, with Rob's help.
The same day we put our tree up we ventured outside for a little fun, but boy was it cold. We only stayed outside probably 10 minutes (Brooke was bundled up) but by the time we came back in our noses and hands were frozen! Winter had finally arrived in Utah, and hasn't let up. On Monday, I went to work and it snowed at least 9 inches in about an hour and half. It just dumped snow, it was beautiful to watch!

Brooke roasting a marshmellow with Rob, trying not to freeze.

GingerBread!

A Christmas tradition we had growing up was making gingerbread houses and gingerbread men. My mom would make gingerbread men every year when we were in elementary school for our classes on our birthdays. I know it wasn't on my mom's top 10 list of fun things to do but they always made me feel extra special on my birthday (our friends were so impressed that our mom would do that for us...she's the best!). My mom also made the best gingerbread houses, from scratch. I loved it! So this year Julie and I decided to make them for our birthdays. Let's just say that we have a lot of work to do to get to my mom's skill level but hey, at least they were standing! Trevor dropped a piece of my roof, hence it looks like it went through an earthquake, but I loved how they turned out.