The First Snow

The first real snow of winter was a couple weeks ago. And even though it wasn't very deep, it was still an incredibly exciting source of entertainment for our little girl.

So excited to get all dressed up in new snow clothes:
Obligatory pose:
Bria just ran around enjoying the fluffy stuff while I played with the hipstamatic app on my new iphone:
She then reverted to crawling, for reasons unknown:
I tried to teach her how to do a snow angel, with little success:
Can you see the bliss on her face?

After playing long and hard, we came back in rosy-cheeked to make some hot chocolate:

Rise and Shout

One great thing about Bria's excitable personality is that she is a great football fan. She's got a mean fightin' face, and she loves to narrate the game while she jumps up and down: "Oh no! He dropped the ball! Oh! He fell down!"
One thing's for sure: this girl bleeds blue.

The Real Rudolph

I just ran across this picture from October when Bria got a mosquito bite on her nose. I've never met anyone so sensitive to mosquito bites. (click on the pictures to get the full effect.)
I think she could just sense her upcoming role in our Christmas film.

For Christmas we . . .

made cookies for Santa,
and made a mess in the process,
but still set them out with a carrot for Rudolph,
were very excited to see what Santa brought (in new Ariel jammies),
got "baby stuff" (from Santa),
opened many presents from our loving family,
including a Si-wa-welly (Cinderella) dress-up (from cousin Sophie),
Nearly injured ourselves competing in Just Dance 2 on the Wii,
Copied Dad's mad dancing skills,
Had a hard time sharing, but looked cute anyway,
Played with cousins,
And ended the night with a rousing round of Ninja Warrior between brother and nephews.
One of the best Christmases to date, for sure.

Christmas Card

In lieu of Christmas cards, we have now completely switched over to Christmas movies. We wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and joy in the new year.

The Fun Parent

Between being in Utah for two weeks and Sam working crazy hours doing freelance after his regular work day, Bria went a whole month without seeing her dad at bedtime. Let's just say things go a lot smoother for the nighttime routine when Sam's around.

"Thanksgiving"

(What's with me being a blog slacker lately? I have no answer.)

For Thanksgiving, Sam and I were thoroughly content to stay in Virginia and celebrate with Sam's brothers' families. We have loved staying put for holidays since we moved, plus my mom was going to be visiting the week before anyway. The day before my mom was supposed to come, though, we got the news that my grandfather had passed away. So, in a grand switch, Bria and I flew to Utah instead. Since we were going so close to the holiday, we decided to just stay for Thanksgiving. We didn't have a typical holiday, but it was a wonderful time to be with my whole family. I didn't bring our dying camera, so I have limited documentation of our two weeks there. Among other things, Bria and I thoroughly enjoyed our Restaurant Reminiscing: J-Dawgs, Caputo's, Market Street Grill, Coney's Frozen Custard, and four trips to Cafe Rio. We also walked around BYU campus, went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum, and I saw the new Harry Potter movie.
The one picture I do have is from a BYU 59th Ward reunion I went to one night. I actually wasn't sure if I wanted to go, since Sam wasn't there, but it was fun to see everyone. Bria wouldn't leave my side the entire night, so at least I didn't feel too much like a wallflower. Also, if I hadn't gone, I wouldn't be able to enjoy this photo documentation of how short I am:
It was a really fun trip, and I'm glad I could spend so much time with my family. All my siblings were there for just a little while, and then I had over a week with only my parents. They hadn't seen Bria in a long time, and they loved getting to know her crazy personality. Maybe one of my favorite things was watching all the old Disney classics my parents have on VHS. Bria's favorites were Cinderella, Mulan, and Peter Pan (which is shockingly non-p.c.-- has anyone else watched it recently?). It was great to get a little break from real-life, but now I am eager to get back into the swing of things, like decorating our house for Christmas and gaining some measure of control over my email inbox.