A Very Merry Christmas!!

We must have been very good this year because we all got everything we wanted for Christmas. Santa must have turned a blind eye!! The only thing we didn't get was an offer on our house for sale, but I am sure that will come with time too! When we put our house on the market in July, I never thought we would be here another Christmas, but everything happens for a reason, and it turned out great that we were still here. The girls got a lot spoiled, which may change in future years, but it was so fun to do it just once!!
We started Christmas Eve by riding Trax downtown to eat at Little America like Steve did when he was little. It turned out to be quite pricey and not great food. The girls were jsut too excited to sit still and be quiet so it was quite an adventure. We made treats for Santa and opened Christmas "nivies". (Claire for nighties, so cute!) Paige was a little upset since hers was a little big and she didn't get matching slippers like Claire. Her tantrum really made me want to make her sleep naked!! We had a hard time going to sleep, Paige was too excited and Claire was scared of Santa coming in our house!
Paige woke us up at 8:30 (very early for the Vincents!) by telling us we would never believe it! Santa came and he ate a lot of bread we left out for him. (Santa gets bored of cookies, and mom wanted cherry chocolate bread!) It is amazing how fast it is all over! The girls were thrilled!! We heard a lot of "Oh my word, this is just what I wanted" and "I can't believe it!" Steve did quite well shopping for me on his own and I think he was pleased with his new alarm clock and wallet (even though he would have liked it better with a Chick-fil-A gift card in it!! (More on that later, I am quite behind on blogging!!) We were able to spend the afternoon with my family and the evening with Steve's sister and brother-in-law who were a little lonely this Christmas. Their son Brady just left on his mission last Wednesday! After all our fun, we were eager to get some sleep. Despite their claims that they weren't tired, the girls were out before I could walk down the hall and Steve and I weren't far behind!

Vincent Family Christmas

Last night we had our family party for all the Vincents. We met at JoHanna's Kitchen for dinner. Not a very fancy place, but something for everyone and never very crowded so we could stay for a while to open presents and visit. The cousins were so excited to see each other, they always play so well together. We took our annual cousins picture for Grandma's Christmas card. In this years card we have (from left to right): Victoria, Tavia, Ashley, Brady, (second row): Christopher, Rhett, (bottom): Claire, Katherine, Paige, Tessa, Walker. This was a bittersweet picture since Brady (the oldest cousin who everyone adores) is leaving on his mission to France next week!

I was quite impressed with my girls eating (they are terrible eaters!) But apparently teddy bear pancakes were the trick! The cousins had all drawn names and exchanged gifts. Paige got a Princess GameIt, a handheld video game with several Disney Princess games on it, and Claire got a FisherPrice camping set complete with camper, fire and sleeping bags! Both girls were so thrilled we didn't see them for the rest of the night. In fact this morning, we had to pack them with us to take in the car to preschool to help with the separation anxiety. Since Steve's parents can't get out very well, they give the grandkids money to pick out what they want. Paige was so thrilled with her cash that she wanted to pay for our dinner! In fact, she pouted under the table when I took it away and told her we would buy something else with it. So sweet!

I also just had to post this picture. Katherine and Paige were born four hours apart on their Grandma Great's 93rd birthday. Even though the girls don't see each other very often, they are so quick to pick up where they left off the last time. They are such cute girls!

Thanksgiving

We spent the holiday this year with the McClures. As tradition, we got all dressed up and went to Little America for brunch. My dad had gone early to get a spot in line so that we wouldn't have to wait with kids. So by the time we got there, we walked right to our table in the Idaho room. A perfect quiet spot with some room for the kids to play in the corner without bothering anyone.

The only drawback to this spot was that we passed the dessert table before we got to the food. Paige was enthralled by the bowl of maraschino cherries at the ice cream bar, but I insisted that she eat real food first. However, after filling her plate with mashed potatoes and mini corn dogs, I gave in on the way back and let her fill her plate. It's her thanksgiving too and if I can eat a dozen croissants for dinner, why can't she have a bowl of cherries? We also found the chocolate fountain, a new item this year, and as you can see it was a hit! We had a great time dipping strawberries, marshmallows and macaroons.

I am so grateful for the time we were able to spend together as family. I love being with my sisters and am so grateful to my sweet dad for keeping family traditions. I am also so grateful for my nieces and nephews and the close relationship all the cousins have. It was so hard to pull them apart at dinner we went upstairs and let them run! We also met up the next day for a movie together. By the way, Enchanted is not just for kids! I thought it looked dumb but knew my girls would love it and Steve even loved it! On top of everything this Thanksgiving, I must say that I have the best husband ever who rarely complains and does almost anything to make me happy.

Anniversaries

November is such an emotional roller coaster for me. It is the time I start to get excited for the start of the holiday season. I often feel selfish having sad days this time of year, I have so much to be grateful for.

Anniversaries are usually thought of as fun and exciting, but not the one we have today. Four years ago today was the day my sweet mother passed away. I miss her so terribly. The past four years without her have been so hard, yet also such a growing experience. One I would never wish on anyone however. I can't imagine what my relationship with my dad or my sisters would be like without an event like this to pull us more tightly together. We lean on each other as our rocks through our hard days and have come to realize that everyday together is a gift.

Since it is Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for the 24 years I had to spend with her. Yet the selfish part of me is not satisfied with that...I want more. I think the hardest part is that I didn't truly appreciate her until she was gone.

I am so glad to have the knowledge of eternity. I teach in Primary that faith is believing what you can't see. I know she is watching over us, preparing our mansions in the Celestial Kingdom. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of her. Everyday I try to live my best for her. I want for us to be together again so much! I named my baby after her so that when I look at Linda Claire I think of mom's sweet hands passing her through the veil. My sisters and I always ask each other, "What would mom say or do?" I am so glad to see some of mom in each of them. I watch myself raising Paige, who really has a personality much like my own growing up and it makes me only appreciate mom even more. I am so glad for the ways she has directed my life. She knew Steve was my eternal companion before I did. She raised me to be polite and proper and Christlike. She forced me to take those darn piano lessons for years, which pay off every Sunday.

My good friend Melissa and I were talking about this earlier this week (incidentally her father passed away three days after mom, Why didn't we know each other then?? We could have been so therapeutic for each other) We decided that the grieving process only gets harder. I find myself forgetting the sound of her voice and her contagious laugh. I miss all of her idiocyncrasies that drove me to ground myself from her! I miss her quirky advice and I miss her Misty Mauve fingernail polish. I miss the way she called me BrookieLynn. And I miss watching her love my babies. I miss our daily phone conversations about nothing. But most of all I miss her beautiful smile.

I LOVE YOU MOM! TODAY AND EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!

If roses grow in Heaven, Lord please pick a bunch for me and place them in my mother's arms and tell her they are from me.

Tell her I love her and miss her, and when she turns to smile, place a kiss upon her cheek and hold her for awhile.

Because remembering her is easy, I do it every day, but there’s an ache within my heart that will never go away.

Rainboots and Hold Your Applause

Can I first just say...

How stinking cute are these boots???

I found them at Payless when we were looking for new tap shoes for Paige and totally fell in love with them! Claire did too, especially since she can pull them on herself. When Steve and I were first dating, my cute nephew-to-be Rhett always ran around in bright yellow rainboots and these just reminded me of him. So I had to buy them. In fact I bought two pair, (it was BOGO) so Paige has some too!

Anyway, Claire woke up one morning last week saying she was "Shoaked". This means her cheap-o diaper leaked and her pants were wet. I took them off and changed her, but didn't bother to put more on. Does that make me a negligent mother? We dropped Paige off at preschool and then went to the clubhouse to work out. No one is ever there and Claire just lays on the couch and watches a movie. However this time, she insisted on wearing not only her pink argyle rainboots with her jammy shirt and diaper, but also her Minnie Mouse hat from Disneyland so she could be a "cowboy girl". It was too cute not to catch on film!

Paige came home from preschool last week with the Brag Bag. This gives each child an opportunity to bring a show and tell and a treat for the class. She chose to take this giant lipstick she got for her birthday that was full of stickers and stamps and Hostess chocolate cupcakes, like those are smart to keep in the house when I am on a strict eating regimen! When I picked her up, I asked her about the brag bag. She told me, "Everyone was like WOW!! And I just said, Thank you, Thank you! Hold your applause!" I busted up laughing. Apparently it is a line from Meet the Robinsons that I haven't caught on to yet. Now both girls say it constantly because they know I thought it was so funny!

More Halloween Fun...A Little Bit Later

I played around a little with the settings on my camera and LOVE how this picture turned out!

Kind of SPOOKY!

We spent Halloween morning trick-or-treating at the Salt Lake County Building with our cousins, Keaton and Karlie. The girls were so thrilled to be "twitches" (twin witches) but we missed our other cousin, Addy, who was also a witch. She was at her brother's Halloween parade in Eagle Mountain.

The kids got so tired going from office to office, we had to take a break. We came home with over 10 lbs of candy! (Steve and I are kind of into weighing things lately!)

One last cute shot of the girls and my spooky Ghost Mom pumpkin. Dang, carving is so messy, but we managed to save some seeds for roasting, which was so yummy!

Trunk or Treat

Saturday started out as the worst day ever. In fact I think I had my first anxiety attack! We had a showing and the girls had a costume birthday party for their friend Isabelle. On top of that I had chili to make and pumpkins to carve! At the last second, Claire's red Dorothy shoes wouldn't fit. So I made a mad dash to Target, praying the whole way that they would have her size. And they did! I love that store! Claire came home from the party covered in Root Beer, so it was a crazy dash to wash it in time for our ward party. I was so frazzled to get out of the house in time for our showing that I didn't shut the front door! (Steve told me that later at the party, which was just the icing on the cake that made me burst into tears!!) However, the trunk or treat, I must say I absolutely LOVE this tradition! I remember Halloween going from house to house and freezing our butts off, but this totally eliminates that! Quick and painless!

One of my favorite costumes at the party was my friend Marti and her little girls Haley. Haley is one of Claire's friends from nursery and was diagnosed with cancer earlier this summer. I have so admired Marti and Nic and how strong they have been through this trial. I cry every time I think of it, but they have been so amazing! They totally played it up for Halloween. Marty & Haley dressed up as Morticia and Uncle Fester! Haley would tell people who she was and throw her head back and laugh! She is such a doll and we are so glad she is on the downhill slope with her treatments and will be back to nursery soon!

Family Night

This week for Family Night, we took the girls to a "surprise location". We know of a cute pumpkin patch not far from our house. The owners are in Steve's boss's ward and we have met them on a few occasions. They are a really neat family with a handicapped daughter. We have heard that the money they make from the pumpkin patch helps to pay her medical bills, so it has been our tradition since we met them to help all we can by going back every year. As we pulled up, I heard squeals from the backseat. "I should have guessed we were coming here!" Paige has been dying to go since they put up their signs on 12600 South. Claire grabbed the first pumpkin she could lift, while Paige went on the hunt. I was looking for something tall and skinny (just like myself) and Steve was fascinated by the new load the truck was bringing in. Paige finally decided on the biggest pumpkin in the patch, I swear this thing weighs 20 lbs!
Even more exciting to the girls was the line of old tractors they have lining the corn field. They have removed the keys of course, so it is safe for the kids to climb on them and what a perfect photo op! As we were leaving, Claire tripped and fell flat on her face, crying like crazy! Her little teeth were chattering since it had gotten so cold and the only thing to cheer her up were promises of a "bubble tub" when we got home. I don't know what I was thinking, but I mentioned putting the pumpkins in the tub with the girls since they are so dirty! Not a smart move since they thought that was a great idea! I helped them to forget the suggestion with promises of hot chocolate instead.
More pumpkin fun to come...We still have to carve the spooky little things. (or huge in Paige's case)

First Snowfall

For the life of me, I will never understand why they call Utah the land of four seasons, since every year it jumps right from summer to winter, leaving us a fall that lasts two weeks. Well, Sunday morning, the girls were so excited to wake up to snow! They simply couldn't wait to go out to play. However, by the time we had eaten, cleaned up breakfast and put on all of our snow gear, the snow had almost completely melted. This was quite the process since our snow clothes have been packed away for at least six months. Also, I am so loving how the Old Navy snow hats that Santa brought the girls last year double as sun visors. I guess the more of their little faces the hats cover, the less likely they are to get cold. Of course, Paige thought it was all my fault that the snow was gone since I had made her watch "a million shows" while I did the dishes. Nevertheless, we managed to find a shady spot by the pool that had a little bit of snow left. It was mostly grass, but a little snow. We gathered all we could and made our first snowman of the season, complete with bark mulch for arms. We put "Frosty" on our porch in the shade, but just like the story says...Frosty melted, leaving nothing put a wet puddle, two sticks and two broken-hearted little girls.

Test Drive

For several months now, I have heard talk about "blogs". And now that I have high speed, I have to admit that I have truly spent hours linking from one to another to see who I can find. After some pressure from friends, a lot of "I'll do it if you do it", and just plain curiosity, today is the start of our new family blog. We have entitled it "A Bunch of B.S." You can take this to mean Brooke and Steve, as it is intended of course, or true BS due mostly to what on earth am I going to write about on a blog??

Most likely our blog will contain stories about our two little girls, Paige (5) and Claire (2). I will be more than happy to share those cute little happenings that only a mom can find so humorous.

Here's to many interesting memories to come!!