Happy New Year?

Well our New Years' plans changed a little bit......We were supposed to go to the Evos for appetizers and cocktails and maybe a little late night scrapbooking! (we have spent the last 5 or 6 New Years with them but last year Marren got sick and we weren't able to hang out) So we had a good outlook this year-nobody was sick........yet!

Last night around 5:00 Scott said he felt sick-he thought it was something he ate but when I got sick around 10:00 we knew we had gotten a flu bug. Well both Scott and I were getting sick all night-it was miserable!!!! We have been wiped out all day then later this afternoon Brookie started to go down-now she has the flu bug! The ironic part of this is we called the Evos to tell them once again our New Years was a no go, they told us Marren had the flu!!!!!!!!!! So both families are wiped out this year.......We will try again next year!

I am very thankful for all that 2008 brought (especially continued good health for Brooke)and look foward to many more happy times in 2009!

I don't think we will make it to midnight tonight, since typing this is making me tired! But tomorrow is a new day and new year full of new hopes and goals.I have to really think about my resolutions ......... I always have the eat healthy, workout more..yadiyada!! But I have some personal ones I would like to work on too!

I hope all of you have a very happy and healthy 2009!

Here are few pictures of Brooke celebrating New Years-they aren't the greatest but she was a good sport since she wasn't feeling that well!

Traditions!

Every year Kailynn and I build a Gingerbread House after Christmas. Scott helps with the structure of the house and then the girls decorate it! We are getting more and more creative every year. It is always lots of fun!

Wii had a wonderful Christmas.....

Everyone told me that when you have children Christmas is an even more magical experience. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to discover that......because they were right it was awesome! Since we got home late from our fun Xmas Eve event we got up around 8 and were met by Kailynn who was anxiously awaiting us at the stairs. We opened our stockings (my favorite part) and opened our gifts. Santa brought lots of goodies including a pink kitchen for Brooke. Brooke had so much fun going through her stocking, checking out her kitchen and testing all her new toys!
We are calling it the Wii Christmas since most of the gifts centered around the Wii. We got Wii games, remotes, Wii Fit, and Kailynn got her very own Wii! The rest of the afternoon we lounged around and Tien and I prepared an "Italian" dinner! We were all stuffed! The West family came by for a visit and dessert. We feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends to celebrate this special time of year with!

Merry Christmas .......Eve

Christmas Eve is always a fun event for us. Scott has a large family and they have a fun Swedish Christmas celebration. This year it was at Aunt Sammie's house and there was 30 people there! It is such a fun time catching up with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. They serve yummy Swedish food, sing Christmas Carols, and they even get a visit from Santa. This year Brooke was able to participate in some of the fun. She got to sit on Santa's lap (as you can see from the picture she needed Mama to be with her and she still wasn't sure)and even entertained the crowd during the carols by showing off her best dance moves! It was a wonderful evening full of lots of happiness and laughter!

What a difference a year makes......

The morning of Christmas Eve Brooke and I headed over to visit our friends Krista and Katelyn. (Katelyn and Brooke are exactly 1 month apart). We watched Backyardigans, played with our baby dolls, unwrapped our gifts and shared some cherrios. Krista and I had to laugh because we each got the other girl pajamas and they both said Sweet Dreams on them (great minds think alike) It is nice to visit with our good friends. Watching the girls grow together has been a fun experience. I will say it was a lot easier to take pictures of them last year ( I attached one too-it was fun to see what a difference a year makes)

Christmas ......a little early

We decided to start a new tradition and drive home Christmas Eve and wake up at our house this year. So knowing we wouldn't be able to see some our family...we celebrated Christmas with some of our family on the 23rd (Toby, Tien & Kids came too). We stopped off at Scott's parents for tasty lunch and a visit with Larry, Carolyn, Aunt Liz, Great Grandma Mary, Aunt Mary, and Uncle Bob. Of course Brooke was spoiled with gifts! Then we headed to my mom's house.... My mom made a yummy Prime Rib dinner and the kids enjoyed opening their gifts and showing off for the great grandparents. My Nani (my dads mom) has not been in the best health this year, so it was so nice to see the smile on her face as she watched and held her great grandchildren. This was the first Christmas without my Grandma and the 5th (I can't believe it!) Christmas without my dad. They were greatly missed but I know they were sitting somewhere with a cup of coffee watching their loved ones!

Brooke was busy as usual and REALLY enjoyed the appetizers.......in fact you can see her eating in almost every picture!

Holiday Happenings!

It is such a busy time of year but it always fills my heart to be able to catch up with new and old friends at this time! We have been to a few Holiday parties and have had a few visits from friends..........It is so nice to be blessed with such wonderful people in our lives.

What have we been up to????

School's Out-A much needed break.........I LOVE my class (Hi Alexander and Matthew!) and my job but I am happy to be home spending time with Scott and Brooke (and being semi-lazy!)We had pajama day the last Friday. My friends Kristi, Kati, and I dressed as triplets-yes we have an obsession with the Twilight series and the main character Edward)


Ryan and Jaclyn turned 32 (old farts!) We went Mikunis and celebrated. It was so nice to be able to go out for an adult evening and enjoy each others company!Soki bombs made it fun too!



We went to our annual West Sac Christmas party-always a blast. Carrie is a great hostess and seeing all my girlfriends makes the evening memorable! We try to get together every few months-not nearly enough

We exchanged gifts with the Evos....they got Brooke a real golf club. OH MY GOD IT IS SO CUTE!!! Brooke loves playing on the putting green with daddy's golf club and now she has her own......and its pink too!! Jaclyn is always so clever! We feel so lucky to have such close friends in our lives-we can't imagine our lives without them. The girls are too cute together and Brooke loves her some Trevor (don't get any ideas they are NOT allowed to date)

Today my good friend Liz came over with her daughter Caroline. She is so cute! Liz and I went to college together and have remained good friends since. Sad for me she lives in North Carolina, so I don't get to see her much but they are applying to be transfered back to Travis Air Force Base. I really enjoy spending time with her and I am keeping our fingers crossed that they can live closer!! We had a nice lunch and a great visit-it is nice when you picked up where you left off (this time just with added "kid talk")

What's next????

We are leaving to go home tomorrow for a whirlwind visit with all our family (both sides) and we will be heading back up to Rocklin on Christmas Eve...........We realling want Brooke to wake up here. We are really excited for Christmas this year-the magic of the whole thing is amazing!Don't fret I will add pictures of all our events!

Sweet Treats!

Jaclyn and I wanted to start a tradition of baking cookies for Santa with the kids. We decided to give it a try this year. I prepared the dough the night before and baked a few cookies to get the girls started. I set up the table, made the frosting, etc. The girls actually enjoyed it. They loved putting the icing on (you can tell from Brooke's picture she also LOVED eating it!) and dumping the sprinkles too! You should have seen them..........there was frosting everywhere! Then we let them roll out some of the dough (we had to assist with that) and cut out the shapes. We put their beautiful cookies on a plate and will keep them safe for Santa! It was fun experience and a nice tradition to start with good friends!