Christmas!!!!

I feel like Christmas snuck up on us this year.  Probably because Thanksgiving was so late.

Christmas was low-key but memorable.  It helps now that the kids are older and I can see their excitement build as we get closer and closer to Christmas.  It also helps that since we didn't go anywhere this year the tree was packed with gifts that were sent to us.  :)

We somehow got lucky Christmas morning and the kids stayed contained in their rooms until 8.  We should soak it in while it lasts!

 Connor/Troy scored from Santa this year.  Connor quickly realized how to best get his shot in.

I'm so grateful that Santa communicated to Grandma that Barbie was on her wishlist this year.  Phew!  We dodged a bullet on that one.

The rest of Christmas morning was spent playing with all their loot.  We had the missionaries and friends over for Christmas dinner.  I'm getting more and more confident in my turkey roasting skills!  I wish we had a picture of the whole spread - Roasted Turkey with a Maple/bourbon glaze, yummy carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, biscuits, fruit with a yummy dip, a chocolate toffee cake, and a caramel apple pie.  It was all delicious and everyone walked away stuffed to the brim.

Unfortunately by day's end I was down for the count.  I couldn't swallow or talk without my throat killing me.  The next day wasn't much better.  Luckily, that Friday, I had a Dr. appt. and got some antibiotics for the sinus infection and that Troy had the rest of the week off.  

The rest of Winter break was spent hanging out and relaxing.  Brooke was "cast" in an infomercial.  She loved being primped for it and wasn't camera shy at all.

We'll just have to wait and see if she made the final cut.

The kids loved having Troy home all day for 6 days in a row.  They were spoiled with a lot of play and attention.  I loved having him around too!  Especially after I got sick a week later with the deathly stomach flu.  AWFUL!!!  It came all of a sudden, lasted 24 hours, and then was gone.  I didn't leave the bedroom at all that Friday.

Now, I'm we're on crunch time.  We've got just a little over 10 weeks before our new little guy will be making his debut.  I do have a feeling that we may be meeting him sooner than later.  We'll be playing musical bedrooms and painting up a storm.  Can't wait!

Cold Snap!!

 

The week after Thanksgiving a cold front moved in and temps were in the single digits.  Brrr!!!!  Luckily the sun was out that Saturday to somewhat warm up the back yard. And luckily, Troy was around to entertain the kids.

Troy smoothed out a ramp going down the stairs.  Brooke loved it.  Even when on her first run she went off a slight jump and landed in the rocks. 

Connor, on the other hand, had a difference of opinion.

 The previous shots were taken on different runs yet Connor's expression is the same.  Yikes!

He was happy to find a dry spot and watch all the action.  In typical CO fashion, the cold snap didn't last too long and we're basking in the sun today at a wonderful 65 degrees. 

Bonus:
The kids got to say hi to Santa.  Connor's reaction is reminiscent of Brooke's a couple of years ago.  Gotta love it!

November Adventures

Aaron and Robyn

We've had the opportunity to hang out with Aaron, Robyn, Taylor and London a couple of times before they move to North Carolina.

 The kids will miss hanging out with each other, especially Brooke and Taylor, who have been buds since birth.

 We'll miss having such good friends so close, but we've treasured the years we've been able to spend together.

 Thanks Aaron and Robyn for your friendship and for sharing with us so many smiles and good times. Best of luck on your next adventure.

 Excited to come visit you guys in North Carolina.

Gender Reveal Party

In lieu of the normal baby shower, we thought it would be more fun to make a party out of revealing the gender of the baby. We went to the doctor for an ultrasound, but looked away at certain 'critical' moments.

 We then sealed the important shots in an envelope, and gave it to our friends the Davis'. They hosted a party and packed a box with appropriately colored balloons.

 Connor was surprised merely that there were balloons in the box.

 Tracie was very surprised with the gender. She was convinced this one was a girl.

 It was a fun evening with friends, and we enjoyed the surprise. Now we just need to figure out where our little guy will sleep, what color to paint his room, what we will name him, etc. (Brooke thinks we should name him Shark!)

Thanksgiving

We had lots of great company and help for Thanksgiving. Brooke and Connor helped with the pie dough, making cutouts to adorn the top crust.

Connor was also a master sous chef in his carrot prep.

His independence is evident by his constant, "I do it! I do it!"

Tracie's parents came out for the week, and Joanna is a master at crafts. Brooke emulates as much as she can, and Connor enjoys wearing the fruits of their work.

Don't worry, the manhandled dough did not end up making into the pie.

Joanna was a big help all week. Brooke and Connor really enjoy spending time with Po-Po.

Taylor also came out for the feasting and festivities. It was nice having an extra set of arms to help string the lights outside on Friday. We even made time for a potato peeling throwdown.

Brooke was loudly cheering for me, which helped propel me to a narrow victory.

Now the food. We baked pies in the morning after the Turkey Bowl. Pumpkin pie as well as a Spice Apple Cranberry. Last leftover slice being consumed as I type.

On the savory side, the turkey was very delicious. Here it is getting the finishing glaze touches.

Connor was excited at the prospect of devouring all of this food. In reality he stuck mainly to the biscuits, but that just meant more leftovers for us.

We were so grateful to be surrounded by family on Thanksgiving. We really enjoy having people we love over to our house and sharing our love with them both through our company and our fare.

We're also grateful for this cute guy, and we are looking forward to seeing him as an older brother.

Brooke is a great girl. Very smart, personable, and engaging to both adults and kids.

Behind the Times

 I knew that I was slow in updating but I didn't realize that I'm close to a month behind!!!

To begin where we last left off...Troy's mom stayed with the kids while we were in Seattle then stayed the rest of the week to hang out with the adults!  We spent a day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Love that zoo. 

The biggest highlight was feeding the various animals.  It took quite a bit of coaxing to get Brooke to feed the giraffe but by the end of the day she was a pro.

Connor, on the other hand, learned quickly to drop the lettuce close to the fence and the giraffe would lick it up.

 

We also got to feed the parakeets.  At least Brooke did.  Connor spent his time chasing the birds trying to get them to eat from the stick.

The video doesn't do justice.  It was a pretty funny sight to see him chase the bird then get frustrated when the bird ran away.

 

The following week, we had our first real snow.  Just enough to cover the lawn and allow for some playtime.

 Don't worry...we've bought Connor manly looking gloves since then.

 Gotta love hat hair!

If  I remember right, the following day, all the snow had melted and our neighborhood had their annual pumpkin fest.  Surprisingly, both the kids were willing to sit on the big bull.

The following weekend was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat.  Connor quickly got the hang of saying trick-or-treat and walked away with way too much candy.  I should have realized that 1 1/2 Costco size bags of candy would not be enough for our ward.  We had over 30 families move into our ward over the summer.  Crazy!

 Troy managed to convince Brooke to do a simpler jack-o-lantern this year. 

 Both the kids helped to carve and we had a cute pumpkin as a result.

This was the first year that Brooke's school allowed the kids to dress up.  She loved parading around the school!

I wish I could say that I was on top of things and took pictures of the actual Halloween night but alas I did not.  I figured I had enough pictures of them in costume...it totally counts.

That pretty much sums up life until now.  Troy's been gone for 4 days and will be home later this week and I've managed to keep the fort up.  I hit 20 weeks last week which is pretty exciting!  We find out later this week what we'll be having.  Any guesses????