Our Big Loser :)

Every year we have a family night in January where we make resolutions--three per person plus three as a family.
In 2010, Dan set a goal to lose a pound a week.  His parents have made some major life changes since they became empty nesters and both have lost a lot of weight and look great, so they were a good source of ideas for him.
He put up a chart in the bathroom and weighed in faithfully each Wednesday.  The first 2 weeks, not much change.  So he bought some dumbbells and started lifting 3 times a week.  He also decided to go walking at lunch every day.  He finally found the guys in the ward who play basketball and started playing twice a week.  By April, he had a bike and started riding after work, inside with a bike trainer (makes a regular bike a stationary bike), or on weekends.  He also started really watching his portion size at meals and was more open to me trying healthier recipes. I've made more fish in this year of marriage then in the five before it!
Long story short, all that hard work paid off!  Other people started to notice when he hit about 20 pounds lost.  And kept noticing as he hit 30, then 40, then 50 (ultimately ending the year at 54 pounds down).  That helped him stay motivated throughout the year.
I'm so proud of him--I've always thought he looked good, but now he almost believes me!
He looks great and feels great and wants to lose another 20 pounds in 2011. 
Go Dan.  You can do it.  Love you lots.

Before:  Dec. 5, 2009

After:  Nov. 21, 2010

Christmas Eve and Christmas!

We had such a nice Christmas season this year.  It was our first Christmas in Houston since 2007.  That meant it was the first Christmas morning we have done in our house as just our own small family.  I loved it! Dan also mentioned how much fun it was this year to watch Megan and Brooke's excitement--they were thrilled with each stocking stuffer and gift.
Growing up, my family would do a fancy, 5-course, candlelit meal for Christmas Eve.  With so many little ones (5 kids age 7 to 18 months), our Christmas eve was a little less fancy but no less filling!

For appetizers we had cucumber stuffed with a shrimp/tomato mixture and shrimp cocktail.  That was followed by our soup (clam chowder), salad (green salad), and entree (ham!) with yummy sides like cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, and rolls.  Then for dessert, we had cake (but we were so full from dinner, most of us had to opt out and wait for that the next day!)  *On a side note, if any of you decide to make a fruit salad from the fat free vanilla pudding and a variety of cut up fruit--avoid the acidic fruits (like pineapple) because they make it taste weird :) Who knew?

After dinner we acted out the Christmas story from Luke 2.  Megan's favorite part was wearing a headband and toga--she insisted on being another "Jo-bus" (Joseph) and we are pretty sure Brooke was a sheep.  Brooke on the other hand refused a toga but followed around the other Joseph (Zach) and Mary (Chloe) quite happily.  Hailey was the angel and my sister Carrie and brother Shad also made appearances as the narrator (Carrie) and the donkey (Shad).  We then sang Christmas carols, my mom read "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids, and we enjoyed just being together.  Megan and Brooke got to open their new PJs and then we went back to our house around 8 pm and put the kids down.  Dan and I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and made our last Christmas preparations.

The girls were up early (as always) around 5:50 am.  We got them to snuggle with us for a few minutes but were heading in to open presents by about 6:05.  Megan was SO excited when we told her that Santa had come and that she could open the presents under the tree.  Good thing Santa is wise and put just a few pieces of candy in each girls' stocking because they pretty much wanted to eat ALL of that candy before moving on to other presents.

Waiting for morning...

Just look at that happy little one...

Megan got a few games this year--she really enjoys matching and has loved both Memory and Old Maid.

Some post present-opening dancing...

And here we are at 7:25--presents (opened.)  breakfast (cooking.) tired kids (check.)

Singing Jingle Bells...

Enjoying the goods...

Santa brought the girls a play tent (they LOVE it), a Disney princess puzzle for Megan, and a movie (Inception) for Mom and Dad.  He also brought Brooke her very own doll--she was so anxious to have it out of its box and in her arms that she hit Mommy in the head in her efforts to encourage faster twist-tie untying!  Once Brooke had that doll in her arms, she didn't care about much else.  Other highlights of the presents were a little Sleeping Beauty doll from Brooke to Megan, a stuffed dog from Megan to Brooke, pillow pets from Grandma and Papa, and new laundry baskets for me from the girls (trust me when I say that was a highlight--my laundry baskets were in quite the sad shape), stuffed animals from Uncle Tyler, the Safety Kids books/cds (anybody else remember those?) from my parents, etc.  Dan's big presents were his 52 inch LED-LCD TV (that he actually got when it went on sale in October) and a stand to put it on (Thanks Grandma and Papa) from early December.  Those were my big presents too :).

After breakfast and cleaning up the house, we headed down to Granny and Grandpa's for some lunch and more presents. We also skyped later with Grandma and Papa to open presents from them. And on Sunday, we skyped with Dan's siblings as we opened each others' gifts. It was a great Christmas and a great weekend!

Sweet Dreams

Megan has the cutest goodnight routine right now. After she says prayers, she turns to either Dan or I and says "I need kiss" and kisses you on the lips or lets you kiss her forehead. That's followed by "I need esk-mos" (eskimo kisses). After the esk-mos, she says "I need buh-flies" (butterfly kisses)--which she needs from EACH eye. Then she wraps her skinny little arms around your neck and gives the sweetest hug and says "Thank you Mommy" or "Thank you Daddy" and proceeds to do the same with the other parent.  It just melts me--no matter how long the day has been.

This made my heart melt too--this pic is from when we checked on the kids on Dec. 22. I was a little surprised to see Megan's bed empty! Apparently Megan was nervous way over on the other side of the room and needed some reassurance from her sis to fall asleep. Amazingly, they really do fall asleep together. We've found them snuggling in the crib a few times since then. Poor Brooke--good thing she can sleep through just about anything!

December Happenings...

On December 11, my sister Carrie (in an effort to cement her role as "favorite aunt"), invited the nieces and nephews to Shad's house for some graham cracker house decorating.

A few things got stuck in Megan's frosting--but mostly she just ate lots and lots of candy...

Brooke sat down and immediately demolished her house (which was hot-glued together no less) so she could eat the graham crackers--hot glue and all.  Mmm.  She also ate the 2 globs of frosting I used to stick some M&Ms in...and the M&Ms.  She's a big fan of sugar before noon.

Christmas dresses--Dec. 12

Crazy, squinty Brooke smile...

Cute Megan... (and cute dress--thanks Aunt Jamie!)

Smiles!

And from Dec. 14--who doesn't love to snuggle up for a nap on the stone fireplace mantle...

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: