A Very Momentous Year Ago...

1 year ago this weekend we legally adopted Brooklyn, were sealed and blessed her. What a special weekend...what a special little girl. We just can't imagine our family without her. She is such a funny kid with the biggest heart. She is so tender and loving towards Kenzie. She is a very happy kid too. Rarely does she fuss or demand things. It doesn't hurt that she is so darn cute too. Thanks also to our very special birthmom and birthfamily. Our birthmom was so unselfish and truly knew what it meant to love someone and do something that not very many people could do. Here are some pics we thought you might enjoy because a lot of you took part in this very memorable weekend. As I look back, I feel blessed to have gone through this experience and it makes me treasure my family which I will have forever. I wouldn't even have to think twice about doing it again. We are going to start a tradition every year where we go to the temple and do sealings over this weekend. We are going tomorrow around 1:30 if anyone wants to join us! We love you Brooklyn!

Brooklyn's Rite of Passage

Brooklyn is officially 18 months and every parent that has an 18-month old looks forward to something special that they can take their 18-month old to at church...NURSERY!!! We have been counting down the days and with how well it went today...Brooklyn was looking forward to it as well. I walked her to nursery and she walked right in, sat down, and never looked back at me. I said, "bye bye Brooklyn...love you" and she didn't even respond. Not even a wave...nothing. Like every 1st time parent taking their 1st child to nursery, I looked in to see how she was doing. She held babies, played with kids, played with playdough and got marshmellows for her snack. What a lucky girl! I saw her make eye contact with me once and then she would look down like, "If I acknowledge Mom then she may take me away from this wonderful place." When I picked her up her leader said that she was a dream child and that she shared, folded her arms for the blessing on the food (we work on that everytime we say a pray...it was nice to see she pays attention to that. :) and never fussed. She said that Brooklyn was more than welcome to come back next week. Phew, huge relief. So, nursery went well for her 1st time. She even brought us a picture back. What a big girl. She is soooo fun and I have to admit, I missed her while she was in nursery. For those of you wondering why Tom wasn't there...he wasn't feeling well. "I'm ready for nursery guys!!!"

Brooklyn playing in nursery. You may ask yourselves..."where are the other kids?" Well, they were on the hips of the leaders crying. What a good girl Brooklyn.

Brooklyn's 1st picture sent home from Nursery!!!

A NEW love

Yes, I have to admit...I have found a new love in my life. It has been a love that has been rekindled this weekend. My love is gardening. Thanksgiving Point put on a gardening workshop from 9-2 today and I went. I mainly wanted to learn some new things because I love being outside and seeing my garden grow. Well, I felt like some of my first dates with Tom and not wanting it to end. I was TOTALLY in my element. So, as soon as the darn snow melts from my tiny garden in our backyard...my peas are going in. I think I am going to try some more cold crops as well.

My other love that has been rekindled is exercise and being healthy. I forgot how much I love learning. I am finding that I am learning a lot about myself this year. So, for me, this year is a year to change and learn. My motto for this year is, "If you do what you've always done then you'll get what you've always got." It is up to me to make changes. No one else can motivate me.

Here's to gardens and being healthy.

Quick Boise Trip

So, we went to Boise for a quick trip. Tom's work got cancelled on Thursday due to weather so he came home and asked what we wanted to do for the weekend. I mentioned going to the pool and he wanted to go to Boise. So, we got in late Thursday night and came home Monday. He wanted to go because there were 2 birthday parties that weekend. It was my Mom, Lou and Brookey's birthday for Feb. and Aunt Jeanie's party. It was a lot of fun. We wish we could have seen more people, but we found our days to be packed with parties and visiting family. We'll get those we missed next time when we can stay longer, or when I can come by myself with the girls for a week or so. Side note: Tom has been working LONG hours the past couple of months to get ready for a Gov't inspection that went on the past 2 weeks. Well, they passed with flying colors and Tom played a huge role in it. Good job Tom...we are proud of you! One of Brooklyn's MANY faces that she pulls. She isn't mad or upset, she just pulls faces at you. What a goofball.

Mom, Lou and Heather.

Lou's Birthday cake. She is doing an internship with the school district as a PR rep. So, hence the school bus. Ben is the driver and the passengers are pictures of Laura when she was a kid. Heather is a fantastic cake maker. She is very creative.

Kenzie, Aniston, Brooklyn, Hannah, Ryan, Kennedy and Austin. Missing: Hailee and Justin and Baby Ewing (due in less than a month!!!)

NERD ALERT!!!! Dad put nerds on the table and the kids just swarmed.

The 3 girlies that are just about the same age eating together. They sure will be a lot of fun when they get older. They play really well together now, but wait till they communicate better! Oh boy!

Addison Jacklyn Rose Barker...less than a month old. Kim and Caleb's new baby girl. (my cousins) She is soooo sweet and such a pretty little girl. I think she has more hair then both of my girls COMBINED. :)

Aunt Cammie...she doesn't like her picture taken so this is one of the few pics I have of her actually looking at the camera. We love you Aunt Cammie.

Aunt Jeanie and her birthday cake.

We to Aunt Jeanie's B-day party. Kenzie was giving Great Grandma Rosy BIG loves. Happy Birthday Aunt Jeanie! It was great to see everyone!

Brooklyn, Jenn, Kennedy, and Kenzie. I love how Brooklyn was just chillin in her seat.

Brooklyn LOVED this hat. Yah, kinda ghetto, but Mom said that all the kids love this hat and so when it broke she had to fix it with duct tape.

Brooklyn and Grandma Faye. She LOVED this hat.

It's a "b" in her mouth...that is what she calls this bat puppet

Last weekend's events...

Last weekend Tom's cousins came and visited. They have 5 boys. What an eventful weekend!!! Brooklyn kept a distance and just watched a lot of the time. She's never seen such a crew! Kenzie was right there in the middle of it all and loving it. It was fun! Thanks for coming to visit us Heidi and D.J. and crew. Brooklyn likes to stack things then eat on them or drink from them. Goofball.

Kenzie has been sleeping with her feet hanging out A LOT latelty.

Look at Kenzie's foot

D.J., Brenden and Colton asleep on the couch

Brooklyn and Kenzie got rides in the the wagon from Brendon.

Did I hear a bird?

Well, the video I wanted...was too big to download so here are a couple that are cute. The other video was so cute because Brooklyn kept making faces at us. They were quite comical. Bummer! Here is some video coverage of Kenzie making her bird noises and Brooklyn eating. We are raising goofballs!

The Quarantine has been lifted...

It all started about 2 weeks ago when Kenzie caught a cold. She had a bad cough and it quickly passed onto Brooklyn over the weekend. Brooklyn's escalated to throwing up and diarreah with an ear infection on Monday. Poor thing. She wouldn't eat or drink. All she wanted was to be held and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. At night we let her hold a bottle. She held onto the bottle like it was a stuffed animal. It was so sweet. Well, 2 nights ago Tom and Dan gave her a blessing and she made such improvements. Yesterday she only threw up a couple of times and today she started acting like herself. We know that the Lord was watching over Brooklyn and that He was just waiting for us to ask for His help. Once again, we are humbled and realize that the Lord is at the helm and we need to have faith in Him always. Well, Brooklyn was so tired from being sick that tonight she put herself to bed at 7. She pointed to the fridge for her bottle then pointed to her room. Tom said she didn't fight him to go to sleep. The quarantine has been lifted. Hopefully, the Hall's will stay well for at least a week. It has been a rough winter.

Our little climber. Brooklyn has been teaching her...

I think she's such a cutie...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Kenzie. She is so sweet. She has been giving Brooklyn extra loves and is so concerned for her sister. Side note: look at the teeth FINALLY coming in on the bottom! She's getting her 1st tooth...at 10 months! Better late then never.

Brooklyn in the tub. It was so sad to see her. She usually LOVES the tub. She just kinda sat there and moved the water around. Kenzie kept stealing her toys and she let it happen. Soooo unlike Brooklyn. It was so sad to see.

Do I REALLY want to encourage teamwork?

Wrestling...

Brooklyn took the nightlight and tried to plug it in under her bed.

Look what she found under Kenzie's bed....more Beegees!!!

Kenzie giving loves to her duck.

Brooklyn and Kenzie LOVED just rocking back and forth on this chair. They would sit down and it would rock forward then stand up and it would rock back. They worked pretty well as a team to achieve this task. This is scary...they work TOO WELL together.

Brooklyn took Tom's hat and kept taking it on and off.

This is Brooklyn's little buddy that comes over a couple times a week to play with her.