november with the littles

I really love how easy it is to capture memories using my camera phone.  Although it can be daunting at times to have thousands of pictures at my fingertips, it is also pretty fabulous. 

Brooke wanted to pose with her Daddy near our tin pumpkin, haha. 

A stop at Iggy's, and I can't even remember the occasion :(  Every time we pass by the shop, Brooke asks if we can go get ice cream!  This happens no matter the time of day, so she is officially a girl after my own heart.

Reading stories together...

Sound asleep with her Daddy!  She had asked him to put his arm like that, then promptly fell asleep.  Kevin loves these moments.

My little assistant, haha.  She is always up for doing mirrors and dusting, which is actually quite helpful.

Car naps...

Little dancer...

A beautiful Fall boat ride...

Sunday pictures, where Brooke insisted that we sit on the driveway...

Colbster snuggling Bucee Beaver...

Play date with friends.  Colby thought he was big stuff sitting there with Whitaker and Elias.

And Brooke was strong enough to pull the boys around in the wagon.

And although this doesn't involve the littles, parents need a night out every once in a while :)  We were celebrating Miss Danielle's birthday, and had a great evening with friends.

I can't believe that I am almost caught up to December!  So much happened in December, but I am feeling good about getting everything documented. 

disney on ice

A few months before tickets went on sale for Disney on Ice, Beverly stumbled across some pre-sale tickets.  She tried to call us, but we were putting the kids to bed and didn't call her back that night. When I spoke to her the next day, she said that she had found a great deal on tickets, and bought them for the whole family to go to the show together.  I was excited, especially for Brooke!

We grabbed some In-N-Out on the way...

These little princess-lovers were in heaven. The show was SO GOOD, and told the story of a few of her favorite princesses, including Rapunzel!

Seeing Brooke sing the songs as she watched in amazement was priceless!

It was a great evening, and something I would love to do again!

mom and dad's visit/turkey day

My Mom and Dad came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving, and it was SO good to see them. After the airport pick-up, we took them to Torchy's for some tacos. Brooke was excited for her Nay Nay and Papa to be here. 

That evening, Kevin and I were supposed to be at a Priest/Laurel activity, but I was trying to get out of it. Kevin needed to go in his new role as second counselor in the Stake YM Presidency, and I was supposed to be there as our ward's representative for the YW.   In the end, my parents encouraged us to go and were excited for some one-on-one time with the kids. It was actually really fun to go ice skating together. I don't think I had been skating since we were dating. It as also fun to hang out with these cute girls from my ward. 

Sunday was church, so I took a picture of these handsome fellows. 

I absolutely adore this picture of my parents with my kids. It's fun to see the love they have for each other. 

We did't have a ton of plans for the week, but had plenty of time to just play and chat. Brooke loved having someone to constantly play with, and Nay Nay is great at joining in the imaginative play. She has endless energy, which may be her kindergarten teacher shining through :)

Random pics of the kids playing with Kevin one evening...

On Thanksgiving Day, we spent the morning making preparations for our big meal. Mom helped me with the sweet potatoes, a loaded scalloped potato casserole, and rolls (Rhodes, haha). We had ordered a smoked turkey from a guy in our old ward, so that was all we really had to do.  Oh, and I put together a veggie platter. Oh, and Brooke helped with the sweet potatoes. She loves marshmallows, haha, so it was the perfect assignment for her. 

Before our guests arrived, I took a few pictures of my parents so I could help them create their Christmas card. I was happy with how this one turned out, even though my Dad thought it was ridiculous that I made him take his watch off since the black was distracting. 

I love my parents so much and am grateful that I was sent to them.  My patriarchal blessing states that my parents were specifically chosen to be my parents, and although I am sure this is the case for everyone, I feel like they have always known just the way to help me through my challenges.

Back to Thanksgiving, haha.  The decor...

My Mom brought these cool coffee filter leaves that we decorated earlier in the week.  Then for FHE, we wrote all the things we were thankful for.  After I wrote the words, Brooke pretended to write her own words.  She would scribble in lines as she spoke, and it was the cutest thing ever. It remained me of myself when I would pretend to write cursive as a kid.

Even though it was a beautiful day, Kevin wanted to have a fire to add to the ambiance...

Jerry and Beverly came for dinner, as well as one of Jerry's co-workers who lives in the area.  We had met her and her husband at Easter, and they are really nice people.  Sarah and Nick are both probably in their mid-thirties as well. I wasn't thrilled when Jerry emailed me about inviting her, but I understood why he did it.  Her husband had to work all day, and she would have been home alone. I just selfishly didn't want to feel like I had to entertain her when I had my parents here.  In the end, it was good, except for the fact that she said "Oh My God" all the time.  And Brooke corrected her A THOUSAND TIMES, haha!  The first time she said it, I saw Brooke kind of look at her, but didn't say anything.  After 5 times, Brooke finally said "We don't say that!  We say Oh My Goodness."  Sarah was sweet and just said, "You're right, I'll try to remember."  But when you are used to using a phrase, its hard to cut it out of your conversation.  So, Brooke kept correcting her.  I told Brooke to just worry about herself, but I was also proud that she stuck up for our family rule.  A few days later, I emailed Sarah to apologize for Brooke's constant corrections and let her know why I have coached Brooke on saying "goodness" instead of "God."  I didn't know what she knew about Mormonism, and I didn't want her to think that we don't say God because we don't believe in Him. I wasn't even sure how to explain my stance, but thanks to lds.org, I found a section about using utmost reverence when we speak about God.  I read the email to Kevin that night (after already sending it), and he said that it was a little condescending.  Well, it was already sent, so hopefully she wasn't offended. Two days later, she responded and said that she wasn't offended at all, and that it was something she wanted to work on.  It is what it is, I guess :)

The spread...

Sarah brought fresh corn and baked beans, Bev brought her famous broccoli salad, and Jerry marinated the tri-tip for us to grill up.  I was honestly a little disappointed in the smoked turkey though.  I have tasted his turkeys in the past, and they have always been fabulous, which is why I was fine with spending $80 on a huge turkey.  But, it was't really as great as I had hoped or remembered.  But, I didn't have to cook it, so that was pretty nice. 

Colby's favorite part was the corn, haha. 

The day after Thanksgiving Kevin had to work, but the rest of us went to the movie theatre to see Disney's  "Moana." The moment I took Colby out of his carseat, he was lunging for Papa.  My Dad was hesitant to carry him because his balance is a little off at times, but Colby kept trying to get to his Papa (which my Dad LOVED).  So, he gave in, and I stayed at his side in case he stumbled.

This was Colby's first theater experience, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  He sat still on my lap for the first 30 minutes or so, but then just wanted to get down.  I ended up staying in the hall with him for the remainder of the movie, but at least I was able to watch bits and pieces of the movie.  Colby just scooted himself up and down the sloped hallway.

Brooke loved the movie, and the popcorn.

A few other random pictures from the week: Merida (AKA Brooke) serenading us on the piano...

She loves her dress -ups that Nay Nay buys for her. I think she has 11 now!

On the way to the airport, we stopped at Iggy's for some ice cream.  Brooke was so excited to show them her favorite ice cream shop, and Colby is always up for a treat, haha.

It was a great week together, and since we don't have another trip scheduled to see them, it was hard to say goodbye.  They really are the best parents, and the best grandparents to my little ones!

family picture time

Do you know how amazing it is to have a friend who is also an amazing photographer??  It's pretty dang fantastic!  Danielle took our family pictures in the Spring, and has taken pictures of both Brooke and Colby.  She offered to take some Fall pictures, and I was super excited.  I wanted something different, and was really wanting a white fence, or white wall of some sort as the background.  We couldn't really find a location that matched my vision, but then I saw some pictures on pinterest that looked perfect.  The link took me to a photographer's website, but the location said something like "Tarrant County Ivy."  I sent Danielle the pics to see if she knew the location.  Sadly, she didn't, but suggested that I email the photographer.  I sent the email, but received a response that they only disclose locations once you book with their photographer.  Ugh!  I understand, but yet again, I wasn't in need of their photographer.  I relayed the message to Danielle, who put her super sleuth skills to work.   Within 15 minutes, she had figured it out...TCC Downtown :)  We weren't sure where exactly on campus the pictures were taken, so I decided to drive over and figure it out. I headed over to the main campus, but on the drive over, Colby fell asleep.  I was aimlessly driving around towards Sundance Square, when I saw the tall ivy wall from the pictures.  It was a few blocks from the main campus, and was part of their Health Sciences department.  Score!!  I parked, we walked the grounds, and were officially ready for picture day :)

Finding the outfits we wore was a whole other story, haha!  I originally started with a pleated navy and white polka dot dress for Brooke, and a navy plaid shirt for Colby, but the rest of the outfits were not coming together.  One night, as I was showing Kevin all the stuff I had purchased, he threw out the idea of doing more formal pictures since he liked his navy suit.  I liked the idea, but I also didn't want to start over!  I looked in Brooke's closet and found the jewel collar dress that I ordered from Crew Cuts last year, and decided that could be the jumping off point.  After a trip to Nordstrom Rack, I had a dress for me (on clearance even!), new shoes, and a tie for Kevin. Then I had to make two other trips to find a sweater for me, and one for Brookie.   I was just crossing my fingers that Kevin was a fan because I was seriously sick of shopping for outfits.  I texted Danielle that I was probably overthinking it, and she confirmed that I probably was, haha.  But i'm so happy that I listened to Kevin's suggestion (and that he liked the tie) because I love the slightly more formal pictures. 

I love the smile she captured on Colby.  And when Brooke laid her head on my lap, I told her to sit up for the picture.  Danielle told her that she could lay her head back down, and the picture was so precious.  It helped a lot that my kids know Danielle, and that she made us all feel so comfortable. 

I love my babies so much!  They are both at such a fun age right now, and I really hope that they will always want to be friends. The picture of Brooke and Kevin melts my heart.  She adores her Daddy, and she has him wrapped around her little finger. Like I mentioned, we took these at a Health Building.  When Brooke saw the 3 on the glass, she as so excited because "it was three, just like me."

I totally bribed Brooke with a gift that she could open at the end of pictures if she was a good sport.  Well, I felt like she earned that present, so I let her open a Belle Barbie ($7 at Kroger), which may or may not have made an appearance in the last picture or two, haha. 

The night before pictures, Kevin asked if we were going to do the ballon picture tradition with Colby.     We were in Brooke's room when he asked me, and he had been looking at her ballon pictures on the wall.  I told him that I figured Danielle could take some shots of just Colby as his official one year pictures, but that we probably didn't need to do the exact same thing we did for Brooke.  But then we both thought we might regret it, so on the way to pictures the next morning, we stopped at Party City for a gigantic balloon.  And I'm sure glad we did :)

Colby's picture is now proudly hanging in his room, just like Sissy's one year picture!