Epic Non Motion Pictures

So we obviously haven't kept up with the blog but I thought instead of blogging about every little thing we've been doing for the past four months, I'd just send out a grand picture montage summing up most of our activities. Just to mention the highlights:

Bry's getting a lot bigger and talking a lot more saying pretty much anything you say to him. Brooke has started pre-school and is having a blast.
Brooke has also lost her first tooth. We wanted to keep it when it fell out but as it turned out she swallowed it while eating lunch and I definitely wasn't going to go looking for it:-)
Shan's now a primary teacher (5-6 yr. olds) and I am in the Young Men again (teachers quorum)
We finally got a second car (Honda Odyssey). How liberating!!

To sum up we've been keeping ourselves very busy, but are having a lot of fun. Hope everyone's well and enjoy the pics!



Welcome back to our blog!



Brooke went medieval on us at Thanksgiving and just kind of dove in with her massive turkey leg



And this is how Bry ate at Thanksgiving




Brooke's become somewhat of a fort master in the last 4 months and builds one almost every day now



And Bry loves cars and trucks and plays with them all the time



Here's the beginning of what became a Christmas photo shoot for Brooke. I've included some of her other poses for your enjoyment:-)

Happy-go-lucky

Stayin alive

Christmas Morning Surprise

The look she's not ever allowed to give to any boy

Zoolander

We also got to go to Seaworld in San Antonio this December and Brooke got to ride her first little roller coasters

Brooke loved SeaWorld since she's such an animal lover at heart. The dolphins were her favorite followed by the sharks, and then Shamu

"Hmmm.....Where could the big shark be???"

Brooke really wanted to put this picture in to show everyone who Shamu is

Cute Mommy/Daughter moment

Uncle Scottie and Bry at Christmastime

Kissing Cousins....literally

Shan and the kids setting out cookies and carrots for Santa and the Reindeer on Christmas Eve

Brooke ready to take off on her new pink scooter that Santa got for her

Bry chasing his new Thomas the Train toy on Christmas morning

The three cousins

Bry looking all festive with the red nose from Aunt Meggie.

Bry is now interesting enough that Brooke uses him as a toy in practically every single one of her games

Brooke also has taken up cooking with Mommy pretty regularly and helps her whenever she can

Brooke showing off a bumblebee she made from a kit she got from Aunt Erin. When Brooke realized there were extra stickers she decided to fully dedicate herself and "become" her art

Shan has also decided to give Bry all of his haircuts and we've found as long as he has a sucker to keep him occupied he'll actually sit still for it

Mealtime = Playtime

Our cute little girl snuggling her kangaroo bath loufah affectionately named Kangy

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed kid who marks up his face to look like an evil dictator. Does anyone else see any warning signs here?

She just keeps growing

"Who needs a car? I have all my transportation needs taken care of right here."

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Bry's sadly been a little sick (along with the rest of us) for the past little while and has had to go back on his nebulizer. As you can see he's grown accustomed to it.

Me and Miss Livvy at Christmas. I love this picture.

Time for a snooze:-)

The Jedi/Hogwarts Halloween '09

So Halloween has come and gone and I thought I'd put up a few pictures to commemorate its passing. Brooke decided a few months ago that she wanted to be Hermione Granger and Bryant (Kenny) decided that he wanted to be Yoda because Bryant (Kenny) likes Star Wars so much. Brooke is now really good friends with our neighbor's daughter and they decided to go trick or treating together. It was a lot of fun and pretty much exactly what you'd expect from two little girls dressed up in costumes, out on the street and hopped up on sugar: running, skipping, screaming, playing tag and giggling. Anyway it was a really great time and an excellent kick off to end of the year holidays!



Happy Hogwarts Halloween!

Braids were our chosen method to give Brooke that Hermionie-ish scraggly poofy hair. In the end we had 16 braids which Brooke loved having to play with.

"Presenting my daughter, Coolio"

One poofy haired Hermione at your service

Who knew the mysterious key to all of the Jedi's powers were a steady diet of lollipops?

"Mommy it's the emperor! Don't worry, I'll take care of him! AAAAHHHHH!"

Brooke with her new Texas neighborhood best friend Minnie Mouse.

(Skip)-a-dee-doo-dah!

And now here's the riveting story of two fictional fantasy characters who crossed paths one Hallows Eve. I will warn you this story is not for the faint of heart, but does demonstrate a valuable lesson about who would actually win if Hermione and Yoda ever actually got in a fight.

"Hi! My name is Hermione:-)"

"I'm one of the most powerful witches in the world except I have yet to find the spell capable of reining in my ridiculously large hair."

"And this is what I think of Jedi Masters who are short and green."

"I sense a disturbance in the Force. Dare to disrespect the Jedi Order someone has."

"Teach the poofy haired girl a lesson, I will with my awesome proportionally accurate lightsaber. "

"Oh Yoda, you reached beyond your means and now I have you and your lightsaber cornered. When will you learn that the Harry Potter series is vastly superior to anything that has ever come out of the Star Wars movies? "

Although generally a peacemaker, Hermione then turns to the most vicious wizarding spell to get rid of the Jedi once and for all. "Avada Keda......................"

"In despair I am. Stayed on swampy planet, I should have."

"Lift myself up, I must, and harness all the power of a true Jedi. Take that Hermione!"

"Escaped I have and demonstrate, I will, the strength of a true Jedi"

"Won, I have, but what prize will come to the victor of the great battle?"

"Get to be carried around everywhere by Daddy, I will, while sucking on a cherry DumDum;-)"

Moseying on Ahead

So a lot has happened in the last few months including a dental school graduation, a cruise, a family reunion, the Shakespeare Festival, dental licensing (in two states:-), decision to move, and finally an alarmingly rapid job and house hunt which has all led us to arrive at where we are today which is: TEXAS!!!! That's right! Shan and I have been planning for awhile to move out to Texas after dental school and our original plan was to work in Vegas for a year and then move to Texas, but due to some unforeseen events occurring in our lives we ended up accelerating our original plans and we now live right outside of San Antonio in a town called Cibolo. We found a great rental house that we are loving due to the increased living space and larger backyard and I have gotten a job as a dentist with a large practice that focuses almost exclusively on treating children which I have found can be challenging but quite rewarding. We actually only arrived here about a week and a half ago but we are already loving our new ward and neighborhood and looking forward to experiencing all that this area has to offer. As far as the last six months go, my original plan was to post individual blogs about all the events but lets face it, I'm not gonna do that. So I posted a few pictures as a summary blog post below this post. Enjoy!





Brooke and Bry searching for any secret passages in the new rental house






Bry now loves apples. He eats at least one a day with no signs of slowing




Grant and Alyssa had us over to make carmel apples to help make the Texas transition a little easier

"This carmel apple is going to be SOOOOO delicious"

Kisses Brooke received from her brand new friends the ants. She accidentally stepped in an anthill within an hour of moving into the new house and got a total of 45 bites.

"Wow this Texas place is different! It's like a galaxy far far away."

Brooke trying on a spacesuit at the children's museum in San Antonio

"All this moving has worn me out."

"First thing to do when moving to a new place? Get the Food!"

"Y'all come back now ya hear!"

The last six months

A final picture with Nate, Jamie and Luke before we leave





















"If your gonna do something, you should do it right!"

























Just a little pre-game stretching






















Shan above the city on our 7th anniversary!









Bry has become quite the climber. Not many toddlers can scale a 3 story building

Bry loves to fly!

Bry's first haircut

Fun at the Shakespeare Festival

Visiting Grandpa Ken

Fun at the Family Reunion

Brooke hamming it up on Country night at the reunion

Howdy Pardner