John was home most of December, which was so wonderful! It was the first time he didn't have to work some part of Christmas. We took advantage and drove up to my hometown for the day during his vacation. We left here around 11 am to beat the LA traffic and first stopped in Moorpark. We drove past my old house and tried to get the kids excited about it, but really they could have cared less. It was great for John and I to see it. It really hadn't changed much at all, expect for the expensive cars they had parked in the driveway. Driving through our old neighborhood, I noticed how big and spacious everything looked. The homes are not right up against the street and there is space between each home. I guess I have been living in Orange County too long that I am not used to that anymore. I love Moorpark! It is such a nice and beautiful community. I am glad I grew up there.
After checking out the house, we drove through the tiny town of Somis and made our way to Camarillo, where my sister and family are living. Brody was pretty funny because the whole time he was asking us when we were going to get there so he could see Brooklyn. He was so excited. Once we got there and saw everyone, he was as shy as can be. Apparently, Brooklyn was the same. It took a trip to McDonalds for these two to open up to each again. We picked up nuggets and fries for the kids and burritos for us at a popular local taco restaurant and headed to the park to eat and play.
Brooklyn and Brody best friends.
Now one with Brooklyn and Piper. These kids love to swing on the slide bar.
"um Brooklyn, you're blocking the slide here"Darling Easton is definitely a toddler now. . . . . . . but still as cute as can be!Piper is into giving me faces these days. When she doesn't want to pose for the camera she definitely wont."Piper, can you smile for me?""NO!" (I love the bottom in the air shot, such attitude!)
"Alright . . . . Cheese!"This is one of my favorite looks from her."Now, no more pictures Mom! I need to eat my cookie in peace."We brought Brody's bike up so that Brooklyn and Brody could ride around the park. It is a great park for it too. It is flat with lots of pathways that run in circles, which makes it very easy for the kids and us as we try to watch them.
This kid loves his bike and would be on it all day if he could.
After the park, we went over to the Camarillo outlets for some shopping. These are my favorite outlets and it had been so long since we have been there. We hit up only a few stores before it was time to go. John and the kids and I said our goodbyes to Lindsey and the kids, so we could drive down to the LA temple to see the Christmas lights. We have never taken the kids and I think it was a first for John and I seeing them together too. The traffic was horrid that Thursday night into LA on the 101 and the 5. Most of our conversation going down was how in the world it could be bumper to bumper going into LA on a weekday. We were so confused and frustrated, but we finally made it and it was beautiful sight. We walked around the grounds and then the newly renovated visitors center, wishing we had more time to stay and see it all, but the kids were pretty much done and it was time to jammie them up and head home.
It was such a fun day! I am excited that I have more of an excuse to go up there and visit now that Lindsey is there too. Much more visits hopefully to come!
There were no other words to describe it. It was huge! It was a 7-8ft tall, which is a foot or two taller than we have done in the past. But that wasn't really the huge part. This tree was as tall as it was wide. It blocked most of the space between the living room and the kitchen/eating area. When we bought it, the workers referred to it as a "full tree", which I thought meant it wouldn't have any holes and sparse branches. Guess not. We even had to buy another big strand of lights because we ran out half way up. My ornaments looked pretty sad too; not much there. This was the good side of the tree too. So, lesson learned: bigger house doesn't always mean bigger tree. I am going for a small one next time. John and I were both pretty excited when Christmas was over and we could get that tree out of here. We were just dying for all the space back. Upside of it all: we sure do love that amazing smell of pine!
Grandpa Brown came down and surprised us one Sunday in December. We were all still in jammies, the kids eating breakfast with John while I was still asleep in bed. Yes, John is a great husband! The fact that I was still in bed when he showed up at 9am made for perfect slug joke material. I may hear it a lot, but I will still take every chance I can get to sleep in these days.
So, Lee came down to go to church with us as Aneta was gone visiting the Kansas City Burnhams. Church was great as the kids were very preoccupied while playing with Grandpa the whole time. John and I had a very nice Sacrament meeting because we were able to pay attention for once. Amazing. I did have some fun during Sunday School when Lee fell asleep and woke up with a big snort, or some other loud noise. I pretended I didn't hear as I am sure everyone else did the same. I guess next time I will wake him up for fear that it will happen again. :) John also had LOTS of commentary in priesthood as he introduced his dad about how much they look alike. Really, they look alike? I just don't see it. . . . .
Thanks Lee for the surprise visit! We all had a great day. Hopefully you enjoyed our taco night too!
It took a couple of months before our new ward decided to give us callings, but we couldn't be happier with what we got. I got called back in October as the 10 and 11 year old Activity Day Co Leader. My friend Lindsey, who lives a few houses down from us, is the other leader with me. It is wonderful! We have so much fun with the girls! Almost all of our 11 girls are active and they are all so sweet still. :) Love this age because they still love us and think we are cool! Oh and what did John get? He is the 12 year old Sunday School teacher. This is his dream calling too and the kids LOVE him!
So, for the month of December, we went to an assisted-living facility close by and helped them decorate for the holidays, sung Christmas songs, chatted with the residents, and spread holiday cheer. This was the 2nd year the girls did this and they were so excited when we were going to do it again. I have such great girls, what an example!
Brooke decorating the tree. Her family is moving out of state this weekend and we are going to miss them so much!
Silly Hannah.
Sweeties Camden and Hallie
Trying to make the tree presentable. One of the residents was very particular on how she thought things should be done and they were definitely contrary to what our director was telling us. It was very fun, though, and it was great to see the girls interacting with them.Awesome earrings Danielle!Here we are when we were all done with our 2nd tree. Brooke, me, Zoe, Danielle, Hannah, Sofie, Camden, Hallie, and Sister Krietl. Cheyenne and Lindsey we missed you!It was a great service and one we will all remember. We also did the 12 days of Christmas for a newly baptized family in the ward. We had each girl take a day and bring a piece of a nativity set over each night with a note describing it's meaning. It went well, even in torrential rain, and hopefully the family loved it. It was a great start to the Christmas season!
Our little girl is growing up so fast! I am trying to make it stop! She is just too cute and I am mauling her all day because of it. I am loving this stage of her life right now. It just seems, for the most part, to be easy and fun. I took her to the doctor in the beginning of last month and she is doing great. She is still on the same growth curve with her height at 2'11" (77%) and her weight is 27.5lbs (60%).
Here are some of the high and low-lights of Piper:
- She is a good eater, but eats little meals more frequently through the day. She doesn't really like to eat her veggies unless it is the only thing on her plate and she is hungry. She doesn't like to be pinned down to eat for very long and will want to get up and push away from the table. After she is cleaned up, she loves to come up to John or me to have little bites of our food until is it gone. So, she actually eats better when she is not tied down. She doesn't really have a favorite food, but if she did it would be chips and salsa. She loves stealing daddy's chips, anything spicy is usually good with her.
-Ever since we moved, her sleeping hasn't been the greatest all the time. She (and Brody) got in a habit of waking up around 2 or 3 and coming to bed with us. Totally my fault since I am a zombie at that hour and don't really ever remember bringing her to bed. She will, though, fall back to sleep usually no matter what time of the morning it is, as long as she is snuggling with one of us and if Brody is not in the room.
-One of the reasons the two's are terrific is because she has such good language skills. She doesn't get frustrated if we don't understand her. She is very smart and knows about 100+ words. She usually says 4 to 5 word sentences. She picks up everything we say and repeats it right then. You can almost see her mentally absorbing the words we say when she repeats them back. I am amazed at her because Brody was never this advanced. Here are some of the funny phrases we love from her.
"Yee Ha Cowboy!" whenever she is pretending to ride a horse or seeing someone riding. "Oops E Daisy" "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" "Oh, I know"
-She can be feisty though, which doesn't quiet make the two's terrific. If she gets mad, she will just go ahead and whack the heck out of you, usually Brody, but sometimes me. Obviously, I don't take it; maybe that is why she has recently turned to biting since she can't get away with hitting. She is great at that too, leaving full mouth teeth marks. Great. Luckily, none of this behavior has made its way out of the Brown house affecting other children.
-Piper LOVES to sing. Her favorite songs are ABC song, I am a child of God, London Bridges, Jingle Bells, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She can sing all of these by herself and will do so if you ask her. I sing to her at night before she goes to bed and we always start off singing ABC's, then I am a Child of God (all 4 verses), and then usually Teach Me to Walk in the Light, and, if time permits, I Love to See the Temple and Love is Spoken Here. At Christmas, we threw in Silent Night too. It is very fun for the both of us. She also loves to dance and her awesome moves are shaking her arms and running around the room. Here is video of some of her singing.
-She is a little mommy. She LOVES her babies and always has one tucked under her arm. These babies get taken everywhere. It is pretty much like a blankie to her to help her feel secure. She also loves to mimic me by cleaning with napkins, telling Brody when he is wrong or needs to do something, and tells John to leave me alone when he is trying to tickle or wrestle. She is super sensitive about this and really does get mad at John by telling him, "stop daddy stop!" She just doesn't like to see her mommy get hurt! -Piper loves her new bike. Her legs were a tad bit too short for the pedals when she first got it and was only able to move backwards. Now, though, she has grown a bit and is working on getting better at it. And there is Brody, always wanting a picture too. Piper gets pretty mad when he sits on the back of her bike like he is. She didn't notice too much this time, being preoccupied with her bell. -Piper still loves shoes! Notice her painted toe nails. Daddy did them for her on her birthday. She loved it! That is one way that you can get her to talk to you to, just compliment her shoes or clothes or hair. She loves to show off her pretty clothes and talk about them. Man, she looks old here! Some other things about her:
-She loves playing with, following, and mimicking Brody. He will tell me something that he has done and then she will say, "Me too!" I know it is her way of learning and wanting to be like him, but it drives him nuts. She will also say that in nursery when the leaders call out, "ok, now who is poopie?", and they tell me she will always say, "Its me!" It usually isn't her, which is the funny part.
-She still loves to read and it is hard to cut off the book limit with her wanting a ton of books before bed.
-Her favorite shows are Caillou and Wow, Wow, Wubbzy and she knows all the characters. Her favorite movies are the Toy Story movies and her favorite characters are Jessie and Bullseye and, of course, Woody and Buzz. She also loves and goes crazy for Tangled whenever she sees it, but I think it is mostly because she saw it for her birthday.
We love our sweet Piper! She is our cuddle buddy who will almost always be willing to give you kisses and hugs. She is sometimes TOO attached at the hip, but I guess I can't have it both ways, so the cuddling wins out! We love you, our big girl Piper!
Yes, you read it right. I realize that it is the new year now, but I am still trying to catch up from the year before. Bear with me, it is a new years goal to get my blog done quickly and stay up to date. So, back in the end of Nov. on Thanksgiving. . . . . . .
We went up to John's parents house to celebrate with the family. Lee and Aneta have, in the past, gone to the Midwest to spend the holiday with the rest of the Brown kids, but this year they stayed here with us. John's brother Tyler and family stayed in town also to celebrate with us. We had a great day and stuffed ourselves full of delicious dishes.
Before Tyler's family arrived, Piper got to open her birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa Brown.
Oh what could it be?
A new bike!
The kids also couldn't wait until dinner to dig into Grandma's famous rolls. I don't blame them! Almost ready for dinner. It looks great Aneta! The kids table. Brody refused to look at the camera for some reason.Gotcha Brody! You can't run away from me.After dinner and some serious relaxing for us and playtime for the kids, it was time for desert. I did the pies this year, sorry no picture, and while most of them looked and tasted great, I had a few mishaps. We almost lost the pumpkin to a tumble and I accidentally overcooked my "reheating" of the apple pie, causing it to look less than perfect and much more runny then usual. Oh well, I can redeem myself next year.
Grandma had gotten these amazing cupcakes for the kids since it was Piper's birthday. The pink one was hers, while the boys all got their favorite color, blue. They are definitely not worthy of being called a "kid cupcake" though, as the kids would not appreciate their absolute goodness. I have had these before and I would say, hands down, they are the best cupcakes I have ever had. After dessert, Piper got to open her present from Tyler and Kristi and the boys. She had many helpers wanting to know just what was in that bag.Oooh! A pretty pink purse book!What else could there be?A lady bug book just for me.One happy girl!We were so thankful that we could spend this day with some of our family and enjoy reflecting on how lucky we are and how much we really have. I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family with two beautiful good children, and an amazing husband that thinks the world of me and all of us. We were so blessed to have a home to live in and job that John enjoys and allows me to be home and close to my kids. We feel so blessed to have all of you as friends that help inspire, encourage, and bless our lives. It had been a great year and on to new adventures next year!
Now one with Brooklyn and Piper. These kids love to swing on the slide bar.
"um Brooklyn, you're blocking the slide here"
Darling Easton is definitely a toddler now. . . .
. . . but still as cute as can be!
Piper is into giving me faces these days. When she doesn't want to pose for the camera she definitely wont.
"Piper, can you smile for me?"
"NO!" (I love the bottom in the air shot, such attitude!)
"Alright . . . . Cheese!"
This is one of my favorite looks from her.
"Now, no more pictures Mom! I need to eat my cookie in peace."
We brought Brody's bike up so that Brooklyn and Brody could ride around the park. It is a great park for it too. It is flat with lots of pathways that run in circles, which makes it very easy for the kids and us as we try to watch them.
This kid loves his bike and would be on it all day if he could.
