Giving Thanks

Since we were due for an updated family picture (Aubrey joined the Peacock family in June), we decided that Thanksgiving would double as a mini photo shoot.  It worked out pretty great since we had family in town to take the pictures.   

I am pretty happy with how they turned out.  It was a gorgeous day outside, with perfect fall leaves on the trees. Thanksgiving guests included: Roy, Celine, Evan, and Cameron Meador, and Jill, Ryan, and Oliver Kimball.  A family from Jerry and Bev's ward also attended, for a grand total of 22.

Look at this spread!  It was as delicious and amazing as it looks :)  My contribution was the bacon-wrapped green beans and assortment of cookies (not pictured). Bev and Celine did the majority of the cooking and baking.  I am pretty sure they made 4 dozen rolls, and 9 pies.

The girls were both pretty interested in pulling the wagon, but once I put Brooke inside the wagon, the struggle was over, haha.  Kinley pulled Brooke around the house for a solid 20 minutes. Jill decided to get Oliver in on the action, but as soon as she moved her hand he about fell on his face!  Good thing Jill was quick and caught him :)  Later, Kinley wanted Brooke to pull her, but Brooke was not as compliant.  And Kinley didn't want anyone else to pull her, just Brooke, who was being a stinker and wouldn't even try :(

Sweet Aubrey was tuckered out after a long afternoon.  I am pretty sure we all wanted a little cat nap.

We had such a beautiful day and I feel incredibly thankful for the little family I have been blessed with, along with family and friends near and far.  I am reminded daily that I need to count my blessings, which are many!

Meeting "Tanta"

I wasn't planning on taking Brooke to meet Santa her first Christmas (Christmas 2013).  Then, last minute, because I was fearful that I would regret it, we decided to go and get a picture with the guy in the red suit  Well, I am certainly glad that we did, but it was a very long wait for 10 seconds on his lap!  This year, I found out that Santa was arriving at the Bass Pro Shop on November 15th, so I figured we should go then and avoid the crowd.  We certainly didn't avoid any crowd, but it was a fun evening regardless.  

 We spent the afternoon with G + G Meador, then put Brooke in her pretty new Christmas dress and headed out into the cold and rainy night.  She was a bit unsure of the carousel, which I imagine was partially due to her slippery dress.

The Bass Pro shop has a pretty genius system for the Santa visits.  When you arrive, they give you a colored ticket that tells you what time you can line up.  You are then free to browse the shop, admire the displays of taxidermy, watch the fish, ride the carousel, play with toy trains and cars, color, etc. Brooke mostly wanted to watch the fish and roam freely around the store.  She seemed to understand that we were there to see Santa though, whom she lovingly called "Tanta".  I loved it!

Even at our designated "wait" time, we still seemed to wait forever!  We took turns waiting in line, and following Brooke around the store.  After about 45 minutes I think, we were up.  Brooke was happy to walk towards Santa, but as we got closer, she totally FROZE.  She didn't want to go any closer, which was kinda funny, but also sad.  I didn't want to scare her, but we needed that picture, haha.  She sat on his lap, but was very unsure about the encounter. We finally opted for a family picture, which I still love. 

November Snapshot

It started getting a little chilly in November, but thankfully my mom made Brooke this ADORABLE beanie to keep her head warm:)  Makes me smile just looking at it.  The first time I tried it on her, we walked into the bathroom so she could see her reflection in the mirror.  She immediately started laughing and kept admiring herself from different angles. 

 I have about a thousand pictures of her at the park, but she is SO happy there, I just can't help but take her picture to remember all those sweet smiles and happy squeals.

 She is also a HUGE fan of the iPad.  I really don't like her to play on it very often, but it is amazing to me how quickly she learned how to navigate between apps and play the little games.  One of her favorites is this Very Hungry Alligator app.  Her first favorite was the Winnie the Pooh, or "Pooh Bear" app.  She wouldn't say "Bear" though, but instead would growl, haha.  Probably because we were always quizzing her on her animal sounds.

 Brooke continues to love her stroller, and can be seen taking all her babies/toys/ and sippy cups for rides around the house.

We hadn't taken Sunday pictures for a while, so I convinced Kevin that we needed a few :)  Brooke was definitely hamming it up for the camera, and I love this snapshot of her and her Daddy. We love our Brookie girl.

Halloween Festivities

Matching Sunday picture with my girl :)

 Apparently she didn't want to take a picture with Daddy, haha.  Well, the truth is, she was mad because  Kevin picked her up when she was playing with the pumpkin on the porch.

 We attended our ward's trunk-or-treat the Tuesday before Halloween.  We picked Kevin up from work on the way to the event and Brooke was growling and totally in character.  The trunk-or-treat was another story!  She wouldn't growl or make a peep.  I guess she was being shy.

 Kevin and I dressed as safari people.

 She was so happy to run around the parking lot, and basically melted the little Kit Kat she wouldn't let go of.  On Halloween night, Brooke loved all the kids ringing the doorbell.  We took her to a few of our neighbors houses to get the full trick-or-treating experience, but she was really just interested in walking around outside.

 We went to Charlie's house first...

Look at the smile on her face!  I love to see that she was so happy.

 We then sat on the porch and passed out candy.  Brooke loved rocking on the porch and grabbing as much candy as she could get her little paws on :)  I made roasted vegetable minestrone again this year (also a tradition i guess) for dinner, which tasted so good after being out in the cold.

 Halloween was so fun this year since Brooke actually understood what was going on.  Now I am really looking forward to Christmas!

Pumpkin Patch

 Brooke and I joined Beverly, Melanie, and her girls at the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound.  It was a very warm day, hence the reason Brooke is not wearing a shirt under her dress, haha.  My mom gave her this beautiful Fall dress with a coordinating long sleeve onesie.  Even though we had to ditch the onesie, she still looked adorable!  I cannot get over how much she is growing.  We are in full-on toddler mode over here.

 Brooke and Kinley LOVED this little play house, and would have been content playing here forever.

 She was grinning ear to ear when she climbed inside and realized that she could turn the steering wheel :)

 I told Brooke to give the bear a kiss, but she then proceeded to kiss every single wooden Care Bear.   There were 7 or 8 :)

 This was Brooke's first time in a bounce house.  She was pretty hesitant at first, but thankfully the girls had the whole thing to themselves, and Brooke eventually got the hang of it.

 Brooke LOVES her baby cousin Aubrey, or any baby for that matter :) It is so sweet to watch her interact with babies, giving them kisses, touching their faces, and trying to "hold" them.

 The girls were trying to move this wagon, which was hilarious.  Kinley was very determined, and when she couldn't budge the thing, she started moving the pumpkins from around the wagon.  Once those were gone, Brooke actually was able to pull the wagon for a second.  Then Kinley took over and pulled that wagon all over the field, with those 2 huge pumpkins inside!  We found Brooke an empty wagon to pull around.

Since we have gone to this pumpkin patch the last two years, I guess it is now a tradition.  They do such a great job, and Brooke had a blast.  Before we left, Grandma bought her a little pumpkin.  It took Brooke FOREVER to make a decision though, haha.