Merry Christmas EVERYONE!

It's that time of year again, and I want to let all of our family and friends know how we have been blessed.


Brian, after 8 years with Protection One decided it was time to move on, and has just found a new job with another security company called Stanley. It will be a new challenge for him, but change is always good, right? He also decided it was time to move on from the "big" guy and lost some weight! He loves the way he feels and loves the amount of energy that he has now on the football field and with chasing the kids around the house. He still enjoys officiating...I doubt that will ever change...but he had the opportunity this year to do some college officiating, which he enjoyed as well. He is currently serving as the Young Men's 1st councilor. He really enjoys teaching the boys in our ward, and they all look up to him. He still enjoys taking care of the yard...and the neighbors yard as well. We did some "friendly fertalizing" of our dear friends...the Ute fans. Something they will never forget!

I also decided to finally lose the baby brooklyn AND baby brison weight. I went to a gym over the summer, got into shape and lost a few! I ran in 2 5k races! I always wanted to run, but never knew how to get into shape to do it. I was so proud of myself! It will definately be something I will strive to continue to do. I am serving as the Young Women's 2nd councilor. I still work at America First Credit Union. I am absolutely loving my children right now. They are so much fun to be with.
Brooklyn is 3, almost 3 1/2 years old. She started preschool this year. It is just amazing to me the knowledge she has learned. She can trace a dotted line! It is so much fun to take a step back and realize that she is carrying on full converstations with me..in person and on the phone. I often think to myself.. "when did this happen?" She is such a cutie. She also started taking tumbling in the fall. She has got the backbend down pretty good, but still needs help with the kartwheel, and if we are lucky, she actually gets OFF the trampoline!

Brison has just started walking and is absolutely the cutest little boy EVER! He gives the most loving kisses, but he absolutely REFUSES to cuddle, which breaks my heart. We found out that he is allergic to peanuts, milk and eggs, which is a big bummer. Hopefully, it will be something that he grows out of. He is starting to say words, he has No down really good, but he also knows dog, mom, dad, shoes, soft soft (blankie), and he is the most adorable little boy when he folds his arms for prayer! He loves his sister and follows her around. He is learning some good wrestling moves also..which proves that he is all boy!

As a family, we have had such a fun year! It all started with my family going to Disneyland in March! What a blast we had. Then, when we got home, we realized we wanted to go back, so the next day we booked another trip with Brian's family. We surprised them at the airport the day they were leaving. It was another fun filled trip! Then, when we got home, we realized we wanted to go back, but this time without kids! So, the next day we booked another trip. We went back for our 5 year anniversary! We had so much fun each time we went! We are looking forward for more trips to come! Gotta take advantge of the season pass!

There were several trips to the dam this year also. Brooklyn loves to jump in the water and just swim around all by herself. Brison does pretty well in the water, and he loves the bath that much more! We enjoy spending time together as a family. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary of our 1st date and our 5 year wedding anniversary and having our children there with us...we just took a look back at our lives over the past 5 years and feel so blessed.

Our family has been through struggles, losses, and sad times, but in the end, I think back and know that because we have a Heavenly Father that loves us, we have been blessed beyond what we can imagine. I am so grateful for this time of year that we can reflect on all that we have and show gratitute for others. I am grateful for the Savior, for the sacrifice that He made so that we can all live our lives with the opportunity to be with our family forever.

I hope that all of you are having a happy holiday season, and may you be blessed, as we have, this year and may your New Year be filled with happiness, and perhaps another trip to Disneyland!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

DAY 3

At least almost everything is sealed...that way I know we are not poisoned. The bread is home made....can you believe that. She must have cut herself while making it because it is red.

So it begins....

I thought they would have learned from last year...but alas, they are Utah fans! No knowledge of right or wrong, or what is good for them either...

Brian said he was concerned this was getting out of control. He's afraid on the last day it will be red flames engulfing our house!

Finally walking!

He has been doing it for a while, just not wanting to take any chances on growing up! He would do it when we would pass him back and forth inbetween us...but now he is getting up on his own and walking all over the house! I'm so excited.....now comes the TROUBLE! Notice the "attention getter" 3 year old....she wanted to make sure that we knew she could walk too. I kept trying to tell her that she learned to walk without anybody else bugging her...she should do the same. It doesn't work.

Family Pictures....take 1

We got together with Brian's family this last Sunday for some family pictures. We have a cousin come and take them for us. After, Brian's brother Shawn was walking around and we had him take a couple more, just because we don't know how good the others ones are going to turn out...the kids were hungry!

Brison and his latest struggles!

So, little Gus has had some struggles lately, I just thought I'd let people know. About a month ago, I had made Brooklyn her usual peanut butter and honey sandwich. I gave it to her to eat and left the room. Being the kind and loving sister that she is (she didn't want the sandwich) she let Brison attack it. About 5 minutes later I went back to check on them and discovered the sandwich, because it was crumbled all over the floor and all over his face and hands. I put him in his high chair to wait for 5 minutes while I ate dinner so I could put him in the tub. I looked over at him and his lip was swollen and his face was red and his eyes were red. It took me a minute of..what on earth is wrong..before I realized that it was probably the peanut butter. I hurried and gave him some Benadryl and then watched him very closely for the next 30 minutes. Poor little guy. I got a referral to go to the allergy doctor. We went in and did the tests. I thought for sure it would be peanuts that he was allergic to...although I was hoping that it would by some miracle turn out negative. Not only was it positive...he also had a positive reaction to milk and eggs! What the CRAP! He had been drinking milk for about 3 weeks now and had NO problems. I don't know that I had ever given him plain eggs...but he has had it in his food. So, I delt with the delima of taking him off milk and just doing soy..or keep doing the milk. We decided to try just soy and see how he did with that. But, he definately is allergic to peanuts. FUN! I have been carrying Benadryl in my diaper bag "JUST IN CASE".

On Friday, while driving around the house in his little car...he decided to tackle the stairs. Not a good idea for a small child to "drive" down the stairs. Little buddy tumbled and took a beating on his nose. Always nice when family pictures are schedule for a week away!

Not to make everybody think I am a HORRIBLE parent, he also had his first OREO cookie..which was hard for his dad to sit around and watch happen.

Also, just to let you all know...I will always check on him before going to bed...and apparently this was the prefered sleeping option for the night. The kid makes me laugh. He's TOO cute!
And, yes, just in case you were wondering, I did move the blanket from around his head!

Happy Anniversary!

We have officially been married for 5 years now! We decided that we would celebrate this last weekend with a little get a way without the kids. We haven't been on any trips this year and so we thought we would go to a little hide a way. It's a small little place I like to call
Disneyland! It was so fun! My sister Ashley and her husband Mike joined us. Disneyland was all decorated for Halloween. The haunted mansion has been transformed into "Haunted Mansion Holiday" decorated with a theme from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. It was kinda busy while we were there, but without kids...it's amazing what you can do! You can even act like a kid yourself!

My absolute favorite ride is "Splash Mountain". I just love the ride and the music...never seen the movie. However, it's a rare occasion that get me on it that often, because I ABSOLUTE HATE getting wet when I am wearing levi's...clothes..shoes...etc. As you can see, apparently I thought it was hot enough to go on the ride!

Toy Story Midway Mania is the newest ride at Disneyland. It's in California Adventure and is the funnest game ever! It's a 3-D game where you can plan all the old fashion midway games...There were many a time when I actually beat Brian in scoring the most points! AWESOME!The "f" is for "five". Five years that we have been together. Is that all? It seems like a lot longer...but not in a bad way!

I think probably the funnest thing that we would do is decide what to do for the pictures that they took at the end of the rides. Believe me, after a while, we had gone on the rides enough that we had quite a collection. Here are a few!
Tower of TerrorCalifornia Screamin'

BIRTHDAY BOY!

I can't believe it has been a year already! How my little boy has grown up! We had family over for pizza and then presents and then cake & ice cream.

First we had the excitement of the bags...

Then we had the meltdown of having to open ANOTHER gift and not being able to play with the toy he had just opened!

After the present DRAMA was over..we moved to the cake.

We got the crown on and it seemed like it was going to be ok... until Brison grabbed the elastic that holds it on and it snapped back against his neck...

Then we have the aftermath of the cake...didn't quite dig into it as I thought he would, but he ate it none the less! The happy family!!I took this picture on Sunday when we got home from church..

He is starting to be brave and try to stand alone. He will walk with a lot of coaxing.

I just can't believe how much he has grown.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him from when he was little. He was 2 weeks old here. I have just loved watching him grow and learn and get his personality! I wonder what the next year will be like?

Tumbling

In an effort to give Brooklyn something more to do other than watch tv...I decided to sign her up for tumbling. She enjoys it...because she gets to jump on a trampoline. I enjoy it, because she gets to wear a really cute leotard.




Man, what I wouldn't give to be that skinny....granted, she is only 3! Still, her thighs don't touch when she walks! I don't remember what that is like. Speaking of thighs, today was my last day at the gym. My body is in dire need of a break. Not a break as in...i'm going to sit around all day eating bon-bon's...but a break as in...please just work out at home and run on the treadmill for a little bit so that I can heal from the hour long torture sessions! So, I took my body's advice and am taking a break. I told Jim I would come back in the spring and I would not be any bigger than I am now, hopefully I would be smaller. I guess there will be no bon-bon's purchased in the next little while!

Preschool

My daughter started preschool this week. I just look at her and can't believe that she is big enough to be going to preschool. What happened to my baby?

The teacher, Miss Callee, is doing a 'cars' theme this year and all the kids are getting a 'license' to be on display at the school. I asked Brooklyn the questions on it, and here are her responses.

What is your name? Brooklyn

What is your birthday? July 15

What do you want to be when you grow up? Big and strong

What is your favorite food? Ice cream

Who is your favorite friend? My mom

What is your favorite color? Yellow

I though it was cute. She is a smart cookie...

Catch up..again. Sorry!

I know my last post was in the middle of July. It's really sad how fast time gets away from you. Brison has started taking steps. He can walk if you are holding at least one hand and he CLINGS to you as if his life depended on it. He will usually take a couple of steps and then his legs collapse underneath him. We are working on it. He also...somehow...started climbing down stairs. I'm glad that I haven't ever seen the transition from the top to the first stair...I think I would have a heartattack. I guess they all have to learn somehow..right? He climbed up on Brooklyn's 4 wheeler and watched me push the "magic" button and now he will ride it down the hall and back. He has to wait for somebody to turn it around..and he has so much fun. He has also started cheesing it for the camera! Pretty cute!

Brooklyn is just growing like a weed and learning like crazy...and totally turning in to a girl. And, apparently she has gone deaf. She will ask me if she can have some juice, milk, or anything that isn't water and I will tell her no. She will IMMEDIATELY turn around and say to Brian..or anyone in the area..."My mom said YES!" It's amazing! I don't even know that she has learned the concept of lying..but she's starting out great! She is also turning in to a drama queen. If she has something happen to her where she is mad or get's embarassed..she will storm out of the room and go into her room and slam her door. I can't wait until she's a teenager! She also has started to show the first signs of jealousy with Brison. Gavin was over playing the other day and they were getting along fine, and playing and Brison had woken up from his nap. I brought him into the living room and he was sitting on the couch and Gavin came and sat down by him and Brooklyn started pulling him by the leg to get him off the couch and to pay attention to her..and Gavin was still talking to Brison. She slipped and fell on the floor and stormed out of the room and ... you guessed it .. slammed her door. That's the first time I have noticed jealousy. I guess we'll see how it goes. She also is a dare devil. A couple of weeks ago we were boating. She has been doing so good when we go out. She will jump off the boat and swim around and not have to hold on to anybody! So, me, being the idiot that I am, decided that she should do the kneeboard by herself. We pulled up to the shore and I got out with her and got her on the board and they put the boat in gear and started pulling her. I told her to hang on and I let go and she went about 20 feet...turning back and looking at me in horror. She was just scared to be that far away on her own...in the middle of the dam. Because of her looking back, she lost her balance and she fell off the board. She started crying and had this HORRIFIED look on her face. I was swimming to her and she was holding on the the kneeboard..but she was just SCARED. I had never seen that look on her face. I felt bad. We have been out since then and she went on the kneeboard with me..although I don't think she was too happy about it. I just don't want her to be scared of it at the end of the season so that she won't do it next year. I guess I'll have to wait to put her on ski's for a little while.

Brian has been on his diet for about 8 weeks now and has lost about 60 lbs. He looks amazing! I know it has been hard on him...having to sit around and eat an apple while the rest of us enjoy a warm pizza...but it'll be worth it and he knows it.

Football season has started again and he is excited about that. He had his first game on Friday and Saturday started little league again. The summer is a killer because there are no games...and just the anxiety of August and knowing they are starting again. He has a lot of friends and he really enjoys being on the field.

I have had to quit the gym for a little bit. I have had shin splints for about 6 weeks now and it was getting to the point where I couldn't walk without wincing. I took a full week off without running and then I ran 3 times last week. I was feeling fine, but then Friday I was hurting a little bit. I think I know what is causing it...so I am going to test it out this week. I was really happy when I ran on Monday after a week off and was still able to run without stopping. Allison went with me on Thursday and I think I wore her out. I just looked at her and remembered being in her position...not quite in shape ( although she is not OUT of shape...just not able to do exercises after running 1.5 miles) and I don't want to get out of shape again. I'm nervous about winter...because I HATE being cold. I know that I won't get outside and go running in the morning. It's a good thing we have a treadmill!

Our friends were here this last week from Arizona. The Martin's are a wonderful family with Pata Martin, Gramala, Aunt Tawnie, and silly Dave ( because stupid is a bad word). It was awesome to have them here and to visit with them again. They come up every year for Campus Education Week. They love us enough that they drive EVERYDAY to BYU. Dinner is just a little later than usual because it takes so long to get home. Brison loved Pata and Brooklyn was spoiled...as always.

Sorry this was so long. I'll try harder...I mean it!