WHAT IS THIS WHITE POWDERY STUFF?

On Wednesday, it got very cold here, I was so excited to put a fire in the fireplace and cozy up. Then, I walked by the window and saw this strange white stuff falling from the sky. What could this be? I know I've seen this stuff before, but where? And what is it?

I was so amazed that it was sticking to the fence and our flowerbeds. I was so excited! It was snow I remembered. SNOW! How could this be happening in Houston!! Is it possible? The snow made the whole city in a happy giddy mood. People were shouting Merry Christmas on the streets of Downtown to eachother. People were bundled up and all chatty and happy. I thought, I once had a coat, where is it? Oh ya, it is packed in a box never to be seen again as long as I'm living in Texas. Dang it. Then that evening after all the excitement seemed to be over from the flurries that afternoon, we heard quite the commotion going on outside our house. People were screaming and yelling. I had to see what was going on.

When I opened my door, I couldn't believe my eyes! What's this! I then heard what all the commotion was about, all the neighbors were outside yelling "It's SNOWING it's SNOWING! Grab a jacket!" I head children laughing and suddenly the neighborhood was bustling with people out on their front lawns with cameras and excited faces. These people had never seen anything like this. I can only imagine being a child growing up here with no hope of ever seeing snow. No wonder they were so happy!

The snow collected on the rooftops and the grass. It was a very exciting moment for me. Though it wasn't much it was enough for me to remember what Christmas should feel like in the winter. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!!

BRYSTAL'S NEW SLIDE

We got this great slide thing at a garage sale for Brystal and we put it in the backyard. I would go out there and try to get her to play on it, and she didn't really like it. THEN we brought it inside, and she thought it was the funnest thing ever! She now loves to go down the slide. This is a funny clip of Brystal playing on the slide.

NEED A CPA?

Call 1-800-Nathan. He just finished his last CPA exam and is all finished! After more than a year of studying and taking 4 tests, he passed them all with flying colors and is now a CPA. We celebrated tonight by getting desert at IHOP. I think Nathan deserves a big pat on the back for all his hard work. He is such a great hard worker and a wonderful husband. Congratulations!! I love him.

A DAY IN THE PARK

Our friends Andy and Missy Wegener
Came to visit us here in Houston for the weekend. We had such a great time with them. We went to an awsome Texas Barbecue Restaurant on Friday, then on Saturday we found this really great art festival downtown at this park. They had a couple streets blocked off where artists came and did some chalk art and did made art on the streets. It was really amazing. Plus the park itself was really beautiful right downtown as you can see the city buildings in the background. We had lots of fun rolling around on the grass and just enjoying the nice weather.

Brystal crawled down this hill so many times till she got to the edge of the pond, then she would scream her way back to the top as I carried her up so she wouldn't crawl herself into the pond.

On the Go.

Here she is looking at some ducks. Yes those are ducks. From far away I thought they were turkeys, but when I got close I realized they were just really big ducks. They waddle right up to you for some food.

Some of the art, this must be a dog.

This picture is sideways but it's cool.

A Shark! and a half done octopus.

Nathan and I had a chance to cuddle up a little bit. It was nice.

Missy's upclose and personal interaction with the ducks. I didn't feed them, I was scared.

Andy having a conversation with the duck. I didn't have any conversations with them, I was too scared. I mean look at that thing!

Brystal is being silly crawling all over her daddy. She really did have fun playing in this grass.

Family cuddle time!

We have such a cute family.

Brystal is so close to walking, she can do it she is just scared the minute we let go of her. She'll be walking soon though.

We had such a fun day. It was a beautiful day and it was so fun to have the Wegeners be with us.

TWILIGHT MOVIE REVIEW

Last night I got to go see the Twilight movie with my good friend Sarah. We went to the midnight preview. When we showed up we saw tons of people, and the line was out the door to get in. Of course most of the people there were hormonal teeny boppers, and we did get called Ma'am by one of them. You know your getting old when a teenager calls you ma'am. Great. Anyways, I was a little tired, but I would have to say that this movie was totally worth going to bed at 3 in the morning for. Besides a few akward moments and the teenage acting by Bella's friends, I would have to give this movie 2 thumbs up. I would watch this movie again and again. And now I can't wait for the next one. It was very clean, and entertaining and they didn't take out any of the good parts of the book. So for all you people who haven't seen it, you should, it was great, and I had so much fun going last night!

FLIRTING

Brystal is practicing her flirting skills in this video. This just came out of nowhere and she just started doing it. So sorry about the nudity in this video, but how could I resist taping her. She is so cute batty eyes and all.

SHAKY MAD FACE

Well it's been awhile since I've updated, not to much going on around here, but here is a random video of Brystal a few weeks ago. It is sad, yet hilarious. Brystal went through this stage where she would clench her fists and her face and shake. We've all seen babies do it, and we all think it is so funny. Unfortunately she doesn't do it on command anymore like she used to. This was the only clip of her doing a good one and it is at the very first of the video. This was taken just before bed time so she was pretty tired and grumpy. The funny part was that she was still doing the shaky face regardless of how mad she was, she did it on her own too, I didn't even tell her to do it.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Last week at playgroup we went to Old MacDonald's Farm. It was such a fun place to go, that I'm sure Brystal will love even more when she gets a little bigger. She played in the big sandpile, picked a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, pet the animals, rode a train and even rode on a pony! It was so fun!





I held her hand on the pony ride, she really didn't know what was happening, just that she was sitting on something and it was moving.










She was so cute and so good, she wasn't even scared.






We'll be back here again real soon!

I'M A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY!

Happy Halloween! Today we went to the ward party and had nachos, then had a trunk or treat. Brystal wasn't in the best mood, I don't think she felt so good, she had a cold and a slight fever, and this sweaty costume didn't help. But we managed to go trick or treating afterward with Josh and Kimi and their kids.

She was so pooped when we got back. She just layed here on the floor when we got back.

She had her first candy experience. A dum dum.

THE CHILDRENS MUSEUM

Did I get your attention? Good! Well, this last weekend, my good old cousin Kimi and her family came to visit us. We spent one day at the children's museum downtown. This is a great place for kids, we had such a blast. Our first stop in the Children's Museum takes us to Mexico. Here Brystal dresses as a little Mexican chica while dining on her plastic taco and spanish rice. Mmmmm.

She seems a little confused as to why she is wearing that ridiculous hat and scarf.

She got to play on some Mexican instruments.

Here is a giant statue completely made out of telephones!

In the science room, Brystal got to experiment with slime and electricity.

Here are some cute baby chicks that whenever Brystal put her hands on the glass they would come running toward her hands. She liked this part.

Here we are at the grocery store. They have a whole room that is designed into a grocery store with the actual wrappers of the stuff they sell in the grocery store, and all the plastic fruit, veggies, meat, cheese, milk, and even ice cream. They give you a little shopping list and you go around and pick out the things on the list and put them in your basket. Here she is filling up her basket with a few of her favorite fruits, applesauce and raisins.

Here we are in the checkout line.

This picture didn't really work. It was hard to hold her over like that and get her to cooperate. Oh well.

Her favorite part was the toddler room, they have a little area that is blocked off for babies. Since she is still too little to do most of the things in the museum this little area was right up her alley. Here she is driving a car.

Look out people! I have a feeling we have a reckless driver on our hands here!

READING A BOOK

There was this room that had computers and a book corner. I sat Brystal in the bean bag chair with a book and she just sat there and read, and would have sat there all day if I let her. She was so cute that complete strangers walked by and thought she was adorable and started taking pictures of her. Of course they did, she's adorable.

THE BEST OF BRYSTAL

Can you believe it? Brystal is 1 year old now. This has been the best year of my whole life. She has been such a blessing from the very beginning, and brings a lot of joy into our family. Here is some flashback of Brystal month by month, Look how much she has grown and changed.

1 day old
She came into this world cute, and she obviously stayed that way. I knew she was a good baby from the moment I layed eyes on her.

1 week old
She was an angel. She was so tiny, and barely fit into her clothes.

1 month old
Smiled. She was still so tiny and loved to listen to her daddy sing primary songs to her.

2 months old
Learned to roll over from front to back. Also found her thumb which she has never forgotten about still.

3 months old
Was blessed this month, went on her first plane ride.

4 months
started to get a little chubby finally. She slobbered alot.

5 months
had rice cereal for the first time. Started watching Baby Einstein.

6 Months
Started rolling over and sitting up. Always a smile on her face.

7 months
Learned to dance, and to drink from a sippy cup.

8 months
Got her 2 bottom teeth at the same time. She could clap and wave bye bye.

9 Months
Finally gets piggy tails. She would always suck her thumb after each bite of food she would take.

10 Months
Starts big girl food, and learned to crawl!

11 Months
Starts to stand up, and says daddy, loves food and books, laughing.

12 months!
Loves her mommy and daddy, and sophie. She can now say Bubbles. She loves to make us laugh, she can do patty cake, and mark it with a B for Brystal. She makes her mommy and daddy so happy. We can't wait for another year of this cuteness. How can you resist her?