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.

Halloween . . . finally

Our camera is on its very last leg, so we pretty much only take pictures with Sam's phone, but then I never remember to upload them. So, here we are, almost two weeks later with the Halloween post. The story of Bria's costume is that I originally really, really wanted her to be Dora the Explorer, and Sam and I would be Boots and Swiper. But, it just didn't pan out. I couldn't seem to find the right clothes, and I realized it was just going to look dumb. So, last minute, I ditched it. I finally just asked Bria what she wanted to be (maybe I should have taken that into consideration in the first place?) and the answer was a very emphatic "BALLERINA!" So I went with it.
Bria's Halloween actually lasted for quite a while. Her first event was a trunk-or-treat with Marc and Jenn's family while Sam and I were on staycation. Her 15 year-old cousin Amanda dressed up in her actual ballet costume (she's a great dancer) and took her around. Jenn texted me this picture, and I almost died on the spot, she's so adorable.

We had a mid-week pirate dance party, just to get in the spirit of the holiday:

Then we had our ward's trunk-or-treat.

Bria was giddy and wired with excitement. I was a chef.

And Sam was Mr. Clean.

We also went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with some friends.

Bria and Kennedy quickly got a hang of things, running up and grabbing candy, then immediately shouting "NEXT HOUSE!" Eli just liked to play it cool.
Afterward they inspected their loot, and some up-late, hopped-up-on-sugar fits kicked in. In fact, those sugar fits lingered for several days until I finally just threw away all the candy. The next day when I was in a serious sugar withdrawal I kind of regretted it, but I think it really was better for everyone.

Last Comic Standing

I found my camera! Which also means I found this great video I took at the beginning of September. Bria has two jokes, which I got her to record for prosperity. The first is a classic, and the second isn't really a joke, it just sounds funny. We ask her "what does a pickle say?" and she replies, "I used to be a cucumber!"
So, without further ado, enjoy the cuteness:

Bria Appleseed

Last month we reprised our role as apple-pickers. We headed out to the same farm as last year, Crooked Run Orchard in Purcelville, about an hour and a half north west of us.

We stopped at Marc and Jenn's house on our way out to pick up Myles and Colin. Bria's enjoyment of an activity increases exponentially if any of her cousins are involved.
The pickings were actually quite slim. Can you tell there are no apples in those trees?
We even climbed some trees trying to find fruit at the top.
Our efforts were fruitless. Ha.
So we called it a day and just bought some pre-picked apples.
We also picked up some pumpkins and freshly-pressed cider.

A fun way to appreciate the beautiful harvest season.