Special Elmo

The Thanksgiving holidays were a great success. We got to hang out with Shane's family in Las Vegas - Brooklyn had a blast with her cousins and her grandma and grandpa. We went to an amazing play place where Brooklyn was able to climb and slide to her heart's content.


While we were there Megan and Melanee (Shane's sisters) and I got a little crafty. (Well, truth be told, the crafts were planned by them, I just got to join in.) We had a blast and made lots of Christmas ornaments, as well as an advent calendar made from matchboxes. You put little treats in the drawers and take one out for each day in December leading up to Christmas. Once Brooklyn finds out that there are m&m's in the drawers, I may have to hide this, but for now it sits proudly on my counter as one of the craftiest things I have ever done.


The other thing I made (while we were making ornaments) was a tiny little Elmo for Brooklyn. She has been a little obsessed lately, and you can see by the picture how happy this "Special Elmo" (peshoo emo) makes her. I tried to take a picture of Elmo, but Brooklyn was crying so hard because I took her Elmo away that I didn't have time to turn my flash off. I would have taken a picture after she went to bed..but she took it to bed with her. It's not the best looking Elmo on earth, but it's certainly recognizable to an 18 month old with an affinity for furry red beasts.

Amazing Andrea

My AMAZING photographer friend Andrea did a little photo shoot with Brooklyn the other day, here are a few of the results.

Good Morning Baltimore!!

Sooo.... a couple of weeks ago we got the travel bug again (well actually this trip had been planned for quite a while), and we flew out to Baltimore to visit mi hermana Sarah, her husband Jon, and Little Olivia. While there we also visited the great cities of Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, PA. Here are some pictures to show what a blast we had.



The REAL ruby slippers (you know, the ones that went to Oz and back).

Check out my nice walking boot. At least we got to use handicapped parking spots, which amazingly made things a whole lot easier.

It's a pretty amazing experience to stand beneath the Lincoln Monument.

Good 'ol pumpkin patchin.

Brookie and Daddy.

Gotta love those faces she pulls.

Love love love.

Brooklyn doing the "Rocky" at the top of the "Rocky steps".

Brooklyn sort of doing the "Rocky" in front of his statue. No, she hasn't seen the movies, we had to sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" and she would pop her arms up on "beam".

We got to see our awesome friends Brittney and Ryan and Jackson while we were there. Never mind that they had to drive hours in the rain to meet us at the place we went to accidentally. That's what good friends are for, right? (We also got to see Benton and Brittany, but no pictures.)

Cousins in the costumes.

Just a little extra for your enjoyment. Shane and I were "old people" for Halloween. Unfortunately we couldn't get a picture of our whole selves. It was pretty good.

Cutest Lady Bug on the Block

Brooklyn got to trunk-or-treat with our ward on Friday night and trick-or-treat with some friends on Saturday night. Can I just say that I had no idea that taking a sixteen-month-old trick-or-treating could be SO fun and so ridiculously cute. By the end she was a pro, running from house to house sticking out her hand and saying "treat". My favorite part of every house was when she would get to the door and knock...and knock...and knock...until someone answered. One guy even started knocking back on the other side of the door before he opened it to see a little lady bug pounding away.







She made out like a bandit. This was only one night's worth of candy (okay, so her bucket is actually rather small). Needless to say, Shane and I have had our fair (or unfair) share of her candy.

Macadamia Clusters and Other News

Okay, so who has had the Chocolate Macadamia Caramel clusters from Costco? They are heavenly. Try some. Just be aware that they will be gone within about 24 hours...so don't plan on keeping them stocked in your pantry.

In other news...I broke my foot last night. I was walking to my car, thought that it was farther away but saw it right in front of me and tried to stop/turn. I landed really awkwardly and heard that wonderful bone-cracking noise. The break isn't terrible and should heal in about six weeks, but I have to stay completely off my foot for now. The hardest part is trying to take care of Brooklyn and hop/hobble around the apartment on crutches at the same time. She thinks my crutches are fascinating and keeps trying to get in front of me and grab them while I walk -not so cute. She has also learned the word for crutch - cute.

Sad things about breaking my foot right now:

1 - I will have to drop out of my dance class that just started a few weeks ago (sad day Natalie, you are an awesome teacher)
2 - Brooklyn and I have to stop our recently resumed morning walks (it's finally cool enough to enjoy getting outside in the morning)
3 - My family is coming down and we were supposed to go to San Diego next Saturday...not sure if I won't be able to go, or just limit what I do
4 - Shane and I are flying to Baltimore in two weeks to visit Sarah and Jon - we're also planning on going to D.C. and Philly while we're there - we're still figuring out what our options are for that
5 - I'll be on crutches for my birthday

Happy things about breaking my foot right now:

1- Shane got to hang out with us for a few extra hours today while we went to the doctor and got settled at home
2- Shane now gets to do the bulk of the cleaning at home
3- Shane gets to do the grocery shopping =)

Just kidding, only number one was good. I feel bad adding extra duties and stresses to Shane's already hectic life at his job and as young men's president in our ward. But he is bearing it like a saint. Anyhow, I've never broken a bone before (unless you count the time I rolled over my thumb on a banana chair and had to wear a rockin thumb cast for a few weeks), so this will be a good learning experience. And Brookie and I will get a lot of quality (movie) time at home together. If you live in the area and are ever bored, come over and play. I promise we'll feed you ice cream. Or maybe even those to-die-for Macadamia Clusters. =)

Our Little Reader

Brooklyn can read! Well, okay, she can't read, but we have so few books that she has memorized some of the simpler ones. She can actually "read" both of these books all the way through, but she was in a frustrated mood today, so we only got through parts of them. Enjoy!

Note: Sorry about the awkward videography, but I had to sit close enough to turn the pages...

Wub yoo

Shane got the first "wub yoo" from Brooklyn last night (after which I made her say it to me three times as payment for not saying it to me first). I just thought it was a blog-worthy moment.