Snow Day, Santa, Tree Decorating

On December 4, our neighborhood had its annual snow day. They bring in a pile of snow for the kids to play in, serve hot chocolate, have pictures with Santa, and hay rides. We had a great time at it this year with Dan's parents.

*note the shorts--it was about 80 on "snow day"...

Mmm.  Who doesn't love soggy snow...

Brooke, that's who--why did we make her stand on the cold, slippery ice?!?

Megan showing off her penguin tattoo...

The whole fam with Santa--maybe next year I won't have to sit on his lap?

Decorating the tree, Dec. 5

Megan (and Bunny of course) were very concerned that some ornaments came apart from their hooks...

Brooke sporting the stretched-out-neck-from-when-my-sister-tried-to-yank-my-shirt-off look--very in this year...

The best pic we got--Brooke (not looking) and Megan (crazy face)...

Merry Christmas!

Papa and Grandma come to town!

Our very large ward was divided in November. The two wards in our building became three and we are part of the newly created ward. We are sad to lose so many good friends in the other ward, but it's been fun to watch our new ward take shape.  Our ward's first meeting was Nov. 21 and the week prior to that, our newly called Bishopric was busy staffing the whole thing!
I was called to be the Primary President (aah!) and Dan received a calling too. And then the Bishop pulled him aside that first week and said he wouldn't be sustained that day. We were a little confused and then the next week, in the middle of the craziness of primary, Dan said we needed to meet right then with a member of the Stake Presidency. (And I said--NOW?!? Are you kidding me? But my amazing counselor Nicole assured me she had things under control so I could step out for a few minutes).
Long story short, Dan was called to be the second assistant in the High Priest's Group. And since he was NOT a high priest, he needed to be ordained. So on Sunday Nov. 28, we called his parents and they booked a flight so Dan could be ordained by his Dad. They were here Wednesday December 1 to Monday December 6.
We had a great, quiet visit with them. Dan and his Dad both worked on Thursday and Friday so his Mom and I and the girls enjoyed our regular days together. We went to the park and the library and ran a few errands. In the evenings, the adults would play games and chat and just enjoy being together.
We had a yummy dinner with my parents and siblings and Aunt Terri on Friday night and (of course) enjoyed some fajitas at Pappasito's another night.
On Saturday, we spent the morning biking (the boys)/walking (the girls). Then Dan and his Dad went to Sam's and we got our Christmas present from Dan's parents a little early (more to come on that)!
Sunday was a really nice day--all went well with the ordaining and setting apart (my Dad even made it for the ordaining in between his sacrament meeting and tithing settlement). Before we knew it, it was Monday and Ken and Jane had to leave! We are so glad they got to have this little visit with us--we loved it and so did the girls. They both love Grandma and Papa. We hope they come again soon!

Walking around the duck pond in a nearby neighborhood... (Dec. 3)

Megan, Papa, Grandma, and Brooke... (Dec 3)

Two happy, HAPPY girls torturing/feeding the ducks (we had to stick Brooke back in the stroller--in her zeal to feed the ducks, she nearly ran straight into the water!)...

And this picture is for me--I think ducklings are ADORABLE.  Just look at them!

Thanksgiving Weekend...

We got to start our Thanksgiving weekend Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 24).  Dan got home early, I hurried up to make the potatoes and rolls, and we headed down to Sugar Land to spend some time with my best friends from growing up (Jenn, Kat, and Kate).  We hadn't been together since Jenn's wedding 3 1/2 years ago and we had so much fun talking and laughing and catching up.

Jenn, Kat, Amber, and Kate

Thursday we got up early to see the parade before heading down to my brother's place for "the meal".  We played games and finished the dinner prep and had our yummy Thanksgiving at 1 pm.  Then we played games and napped and watched football and Dirty Jobs and talked and had a great afternoon.  We had many yummy pies and ice cream and headed home for bed.  All in all, it was a great day.  We are always grateful to spend Thanksgiving with family, but we were especially thankful this year to have my Mom with us--she was looking great and feeling great and has recently passed the halfway mark of her chemo treatments!  Yeah Mom!  We are amazed at her progress and are so thankful for all the prayers and love on her behalf.

Our fam plus cousin Chloe before the parade.  It was overcast and windy but not cold.  Just about perfect weather.

The whole crew minus Dan behind the camera...

Brooke checking out the lovely downtown streets...

Brooke's favorite part--HORSES!  She would yell "nay-nay, nay-nay!" the whole time they went past.

And of course--Santa and his sleigh at the end...

And last but not least--Pancho Claus!  ("Who?" you may ask--I think he's unique to the Houston parade--he comes by with a crew of guys in zoot suits riding in a lo-rider--awesome :) )

I didn't get any pictures of the spread this year, but here's Megan all tuckered out after such a big day!

Family Pictures...

While Jamie was here visiting, she took some pictures of our family for us.  We LOVE how they turned out--thanks Jamie!  If you need a great photographer in Connecticut--check her out!

Here are a few favorites (taken Nov. 21, 2010):

The Blue Hat

My sister Jamie had 3 girls who all wore this outifit, and now my two have used it as well. Brooke wore it to greet Jamie when she came to visit in November!  You can see their cousins here.

Here's Brooke on Nov. 19, 2010:

And Megan on Dec. 4, 2008:

Pre-church Pics

I love these sweet pink outfits on the girls.  We took a few pictures before church on Nov. 14 (Aunt Carrie's birthday!).

Brooke was napping prior to this and was not a big fan of the pictures!

Daddy helped her feel better :)

Craft Crafty McCrafters

I've gotten to do a few crafty projects over the past few months (most spurred on by Super Saturday, but that's next post).
Here's a few finished products:

Valence...I'm mostly happy with it.  If I'd actually splurge for a nicer curtain rod I'd probably like it better.  I also debate whether or not to line it.  But I dread taking it all the way off and putting it all the way back on one more time (there were some issues during the sewing that scarred me). 

I am really happy with the colors.  They match the couches well and I like the stripes.

The pillow is what I'm REALLY happy with.  Same colors as the valence, but (obviously) a different pattern.  Once I put them out, they basically blended with the couch which I think means they look like they belong!  I never loved the black/zebra stripe pillows of the same size that the couches came with.

These frames used to be a gold-ish shiny color and had shiny pictures of kids playing in sand or something like that.  My mom gave them to me thinking I could do something with them someday and voila!  Ribbon holders.  They match the bathroom nicely.  And the carefully placed flowers hide where I broke a few pieces of the frame as I disassembled them to spray paint.  Go Team.

The only problem with ribbon holders is that they get full fast and they always look a little crazy with all the combined shapes/sizes/colors (this messes with my Type A desires for symmetry and neatness!).  But they work great. 

The Zoo

We went to the zoo on Nov. 9 with playgroup.  We had a small group that day (just 2 moms and 4 kids), but we had a great time.  The weather was great--warm but not too hot!
I wanted Megan to have a friend, so I picked up our friend the "other Megan" on our way out--I'll admit I was a little nervous to take two 3 year olds and a 16 month old by myself, but it went great!

Nice and cozy in the Malibu back seat...

The aquarium...

A monkey and a giraffe!  oh, and 2 Megans

The seals...

Brooke was not one to miss out.  She would have stayed at the seals all day--she kept running back to them even as we walked on.

Silly girls with the big monkey...

Helping Brooke keep up..

We met up with our friend Kristina!  Kristina, Megan, Brooke, Megan

Showing some love to the goats at the petting zoo...

My personal favorite--a 6 week old baby elephant--I thought it was adorable!

We discovered that the stroller seats 3 comfortably if needed! (Brooke fell asleep as we headed out)

Little Sisters

Megan and her friends definitely love their preschool time. And while the cats are away, the mice will play--5 of the 6 kids in her class have little sisters at home. And when their Moms are teaching or helping, they get to hang out with their own friends!

Here's Megan before heading off on Nov. 3

Here are the little sisters on Nov. 3. These girls have very strong older sisters and (probably as a result) they are all easy going--they are so easy to watch!

Speaking of being "little", here are Brooke's 15 months stats from Nov. 4:
Weight=25 lbs, 2 oz, Height=31.75 inches (that means Megan's only got her by 4 lbs and 5 inches!)