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12.23.2009

festival of lights

got time to write about our adventure last night. we went to the festival of lights (a park all decorated with lights that you drive through and the kids go ooooh and ahhhh over.) with all of my in-laws. after thinking about how it turned out, i think each person had a different experience all together. we met up at a parking lot close to it, and got into the trailer hitched up to the back of a durango. when we got there it was about 34 degrees, and just a slight breeze. the line to get in was amazingly long, and there were two lines. the officer directed us to go to one line, which appeared shorter, and 45 minutes later we learned was actually, the longer line for people from elsewhere to merge into. hmmmm...... so four kids under four dressed like ralphie, in the freezing cold waiting for some lights...... a set of grandparents, two sets of parents, and a teenager also on board... got that picture in your head? now here's what i imagine everyone was thinking....or saying...

Papa: grumble, grumble, whats this line about, grumble, grumble, move! grumble, grumble, communists.....

Ya-Ya: i just want someone to sit in my lap so i can be warmer. it would be warmer for the two of us.... daniel! stop taking my blanket! paige, please come back.....

Jason: glad i'm driving this thing all nice and warm, poor wife, i'll just start moving the truck while she gets in, that'll be funny to everyone, oh and i'll do it when papa is trying to get out so everyone has to jump up and help him. mwah-ha-ha....

Laura: Sit down! rudolph the red-sit down!-nose-noworelseyouareinthecar - reindeer- imeanitthistimepaige-had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it- okayletsgoyouarenotlistening....

Joe: Katie, are you okay? do you want to sit in the chair? No really, do you want to sit in the chair, you can have my chair, more blankets? i can give you mine even though you have six already.....

Daniel (age 12): its not that cold out here, what are you guys cold for? can i have a blanket, its actually freezing now.... whats sticking me up the bum?

Jamison (4): wowwwww, ohhhhh, that rainbow is blue, and that one is GREEN!!! my favorite color is black. RUDOLPH!! look at the PENGUIN! MOM loooooooook at the PENGUIN!!!!

Sierra (3): {shes a little harder to read...} oh that was really pretty. why is paigie running around? ya-ya is nice and warm. i'll just sit here and be content and cute. although this hat bugs me. good bye hat...

Paige (1): weeeee!!! jump, run, no mommy you don't get it. i want to STAND. although you are holding me tickling it won't last long..... i WWWWOOOOOONNNNN"TTTTT!!!!

Claire: zzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZ (slept the whole time!)

Me: well, i'm warm. i am content. i will just be happy for everyone else sake. the lights are beautiful, and although its cold, i am so happy to be with family. they are wonderful and loving. its too bad my butt is numb.

i love my in-laws. promise! we had a good time, joked, made a few memories. and then watched byu make a oregon cry. it was a great night!

12.22.2009

cousins


i'm sure there will be more! we had a little photo shoot with the brewer cousins. too cute!

12.21.2009

warm and snug in nc

we made it safely to nc on friday! it was a LONG trip, but definitely worth it! we have been showered with love and affection, and claire is obsessed with her cousins. everyone is just so generous and filled with love, and we are just having a blast getting to be with everyone.

claire hanging out with papa


claire shared a bath for the first time with her cousin paigey-poo. i think she liked it but was really just confused!


she loves being close to the tv to watch elmo. she is OBSESSED with everything elmo.

joe's nephew has really warmed up to me! he LOVES being tickeled and taking pictures on the cell phone and looking at the them. silly, silly sweet boy. total poser for the camera!

we'll see how much i update this while we are here. i love getting to know joe's family!

12.16.2009

start 'em early







did anyone else's mom do this growing up? we HATED this when my mom put the dreaded curlers in our hair saturday nights for church the next day. it hurt to sleep on and our hair would get all puffy (take a look at lindsay's blog for a perfext example). we all knew what would happen when claire finally had enough hair on top! mom went out and bought a UGE bag of sponge curlers for miss claire and got that thing in easy peasy. last night i was thinking about my fam and how i miss them, especially because we won't see them for christmas, and i wanted to see how much hair i could get in curlers. voila! it was tricky, but i'm sure with practice it will improve. the funniest part? of course they all fell out while she was sleeping, and she woke up with the straightest hair.... even though her hair is naturally really curly!
and happy birthday to fabio (aka dad)! just move out here already! love you!

12.13.2009

you know it was bad when....

my visiting teacher stops by after church and asks if everything is okay. is everything okay? yeah, why? oh did i look tired or something?..... lets recap, shall we?

it was great until my former book of mormon teacher came up and asked how i was doing (right before church started. the good lasted all of about two minutes). we've been in the ward for... almost TWO YEARS and he never realized i was the one who made the mistake of scheduling the class for 2 p.m. and sleeping through nearly every class and barely getting a passing grade. until today. how are you sister bowerman, i mean brewer? yeah, that wasn't totally embarassing. he claims he doesn't remember me (joe told him about it. i recognized him the first day of church and almost walked back out. thats how embarassed i was.) did i mention that his WIFE is my VT companion now?

that was nothing. really, it was the rest of it that got to me. yep. i was tired. and so was claire. neither of us slept last night. and she wouldn't take a nap at church. and she kept messing her diaper. and would not. sit. still. for two seconds. and wanted to run and jump and talk and scream and show how cute she is. and bang on the piano and fall off chairs, kick off her shoes, and then steal a candy cane from a young woman, start eating it and then freaking out when she realized her hands were sticky. was i on the verge of tears or screaming at claire every other minute? you betcha.

all of this would be solved very, very easily. i can see the answer. taste it in the air. feel it everywhere around me.

but alas, we have FIVE MORE LONG MONTHS before she can go to nursery.

the worst is that i know a lot of people with kids who have a reeeeaallllly hard time with nursery. claire would handle it better than the 3 year olds. shes pretty attatched to me at the moment, but give her room to romp and shes a happy girl!

i try and enjoy church. promise. we take books, snacks, bottles, i pay attention to her, but its just not enough anymore. the girl has more energy than a nuclear bomb. i know that because it looks like one went off on our pew each sunday after sacrament.

may 3, 2010, you cannot get here any faster.

next week will be better. it will be better because we will be in joe's home ward with extra hands to help. joe's home ward won't know what hit them. maybe we'll just tell everyone shes 18 months and stick her in nursery there?

done venting.

12.09.2009

i can't get enough of this. so in love.
luke and claire

please. just click and watch. it'll make your day.
its like they are already an old couple.
and the way she lays her head on his shoulder.

(claire has an obsession with being "in" things right now.
drawers, baskets, boxes, laundry, legs of a chair, you name it.
pretty sure she convinced him it was fun.
looks like it was)

12.07.2009

about DIED

when i saw this on my friend katharine's blog! claire and her buddy luke had a play date on friday. little did i know it was a real date! i guess these two know what they want and just go for it. my goodness. gotta watch out for her i guess!


already holding hands??? they aren't even two!!!

12.05.2009

how to frustrate your parents

by Claire Brewer

1. climb the chairs and get on the kitchen table, over, and over, and over again.
2. when they pull you down and spank you, cry for a second like it actually hurt, then climb up again.
3. when they put the chairs in the family room on their sides, climb on those then fall and cry because you got hurt.
4. when they stand in the way of the table, run around the other way, trying to be sneaky.
5. try and be cute and funny when you are really misbehaving, saying "hi" and nodding like its cute or something. (it really is. but stop trying to get us to forget what we're talking about!)

claire, i love you! you are too smart! i just want you to be safe. please stop climbing on the table.

love, mommy

ps- while i am frustrated that you have a fascination with climbing on the table, i am very happy you learned your lesseon that the christmas tree hurts when you grab at it.

12.01.2009

whoops...

forgot about blogging again.... not. just been a little busy! we had thanksgiving at our house this year, and what with everything going on.... claire's bday, chris's bday, my parent's anniversary, oh and chris got married, its just not been top ofthe priority list- sorry ya-ya! but to make up for it: some pictures!
this is claire right after the byu-utah game. go cougs!
these two are mostly for claire's yaya. she LOVES her new dress. can you tell?

a few snapshots from the wedding. didn't take many because there were about fifty other people with cameras. i'm sure there will be more to come.


my older bro. probably the happiest i have ever seen him.


this is my young, hottie mom. my cousin called her a young, spring chick. and she was mistaken as my sister once, and as claire's mom another time. miss her a TON already.

i just can't believe how fast claire is growing. she was at 24 lbs., and 32 inches at her one-year check up. she is talking up a storm and finally has two sign language signs down. more, which in general means give me some of what you have, and drink. and shes starting to nod yes and no. which i fully attribute to sesame street. and she totally loves slides! like, gets mad when you take her away from one.
claire's boyfriend luke. total hottie. they give each other hugs and claire just follows him everywhere.

addy is the smartest girl you will ever meet. she's the most proper little girl.