Christmas 2010

Our pretty tree - Brooks picked it out

Brooks got a train/toy table from santa this  year and also some new trains from Mimi & Grandad to add to the ever growing collection.  We have not been able to rip him away from the "Te-Tes" yet.

Opening new clothes from Boompa & Moompa on Chrismtas morning.  Brooks is going to be one stylish little guy this year.

Trying out his new doctor set from Aunt Kathleen.  We promise richard does not bring work home, but somehow Brooks knew exactly how this thing was supposed to work.

Opening presents with Daddy

and then trying on Daddy's new boots before even he could!  perfect fit!

We finished the day with a wonderful dinner with friends, the McDaniels & the Woodalls and their 4 boys combined.  Oscar & Brooks played with the tools and also had a big game of basketball in the basement.

Brooks and his good buddy Elliott posing by the tree for one last pic before it was time to go to bed.  Love the pajamas!

Christmas Morning

A couple of videos of Brooks's christmas morning...more pictures to come but a turkey to tend to for now.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Some more Dirk photos

I dug out some oldie goldie dirk shots -

This is from 2001.

Always a sucker for a belly scratch. Note the high class furnishings.

In 2003 Dad and I spent two nights and three days on the Ozark Highlands Trail and Dirk ran himself into the ground by the end of the trip.

Here he is in the car on the way to the Pecos Wilderness for a four day backpacking trip in 2004.  Unfortunately we didn't know that thigh-deep snow was waiting for us. But eventually we stopped messing with the topo maps and compass and just followed Dirk who always knew where the trail was (supposed to be).

Resting after a day of trailblazing. Note the bear bell.

Winter 2006 had the most snow in quite a while.

Always in the middle of things!

Missing the Dirk Dog

It feels like just yesterday I was blogging about our dog Arnie when we had to say goodbye to him last year.  And this week we had to say goodbye to our sweet Dirk Dog.  This one was definitely more surprising as we thought we would have many more good years with this amazing dog.  Dirk started getting a case of the dwindles about a month ago, and we have been in and out of the vet these last couple of weeks.  Last week we found out that he had a cancer in his belly and didn't have long to live.  On Tuesday night Dirk gave up his fight, and we miss him so much already. 

 

To say that Dirk was a good dog is a huge understatement.  He was the best dog anyone could ever ask for.  Although I only adopted Dirk in marraige, he was so special to me.  Richard adopted Dirk with friends in medical school and rescued him from a life on the run.  After his many escape attempts, a few electric fences, and eating through a few doors and having two teeth pulled, he certainly settled into family life with us. 

Our last day with Dirk Dog

Dirk was the sweetest dog with Brooks and really any other visitors that came to the house.  He loved being loved and often wore his "sweet face" as Richard's mom called it.  He was the ultimate companion, unconditional with his love, never demanding and so low key.  We always thought he would be the best dog to one day bring a new dog home to to train.  There will unlikely be another like him.

Dirk dog loved the outdoors, and we will miss taking him on hikes and snowy adventures.  In the spring we plan to give his remains a tribute in one of his favorite Colorado places. 

Early Christmas Presents and Fun

We enjoyed an early Christmas with Nana and Papa this weekend.  Brooks loved opening a few presents, and I can already tell I am going to have to start cleaning out older toys to make way for the next week!  Brooks is really turning into even more of a toddler, playing "baseball", basketball, building with legos and doing "work."

Our new favorite toys - a construction set from best buddy Xander.  We know Xander can teach us a lot about big machines and these tools will be so helpful for big jobs with daddy.  Thank You!

Weekend Update

Just a fun afternoon with daddy!  They were forcasting snow today but instead we got a beautiful (although very cold) day to play outside.  I'm trying to enjoy these days as much as I can knowing we won't have spring until May!

And yesterday we spent some time working on baby sister's room.  Brooks took his first steps to reverting to a baby in the process! 

Happy Halloween

Halloween 2010 - A Penguin

Brooks with his buddy, Elliott.  Brooks also carried this book around the whole night.

Getting in a little extra reading before trick or treating begins. 

on a mission with his basketball-looking candy basket. 

Brooks and his friends after the first house.

Politely taking candy from strangers - what a great lesson!

Halloween 2010 was a huge success.  Brooks kept his costume on for 4 hours and i think would have even lasted longer.  He loved going up to the houses and was very polite in taking candy and "saying" thank you with his sign language.  Only one man thought he was a girl.

congratulations amy!

Congratulations to Amy & John!

we had a wonderful time celebrating this wedding with atlanta friends in columbus, ohio two weekends ago.  it was Brooks's first wedding ceremony and reception, and he had a great time!  i didn't take many shots from the weekend - i guess we were too busy having fun!

Fun at Steak & Shake with nana and grandpa phil

Breakfast in bed at the hotel

our favorite!  moving brooks from one hotel room to another after the reception in this metal "hospital-style" crib.  we even ran into friends in the elevator and brooks slept through it all.

the picture of the weekend - my mom had no idea her former self was running for congress in ohio! 

congrats again to amy & john - the wedding was fabulous and we know your new life together will be a thousand times greater!  we love you!

pumpkins

while we haven't yet found a pumpkin of our own, we have had two fun outings where brooks has had the chance to play with pumpkins.  wow - he loves them!  he thinks they are balls (#1) and this weekend in dallas was trying to throw and kick them around the arboretum!

at the fall festival in our neighborhood a few weeks ago - horses, pumpkins, blacksmith, etc

Brooks in a teepee

pumpkin patch

Brooks also likes to sit on the pumpkins - his way of trying them out

this weekend at the arboretum in dallas - about 40,000 pumpkins to choose from

kicking the pumpkins like a soccer ball

maybe my favorite!  carrying pumpkins from one patch to another

cutest little pumpkin man - pardon the random pieces of hair sticking out by his ears - the weather in dallas was more humid than we are used to and brooks had curly hair all weekend!

Can't wait for halloween this weekend and Brooks's first real trick or treating...stay tuned

Words

so, as with crawling and walking, Brooks has been a little behind the train in acquiring in his words.  he has been saying "Yeah" to just about everything for a few months with the occaisional mama and more often, dada, thrown in.  But since he started his little pre-pre-preschool one day a week he has starting showing an interest in talking a lot more! 

and in addition to "yeah," Brooks has finally learned to say the word "No."  What a joy!

Wild Wild West

End of summer brought us on another great road trip with Nana & Grandpa Phil - this time to Nevada, Utah & Arizona.  Who knew you could get between those three states so many times in just 5 days!?! 
We started in Las Vegas and went to the Hoover Dam & drove around beautiful Lake Mead. 

Day 2:  Zion National Park and a great drive through Utah's rugged terrain.  Richard & I would love to go back to Zion and do some real hiking, but for this trip we just did the scenic drive.  The drive took us through a great tunnel that was the longest in the US at the time it was built in the early 1920s (i think).

    

  Day 3:  Grand Canyon - the North Rim (much less visited than the South Rim).  This was my first trip to the Grand Canyon and it was even more spectacular than I expected.  We walked a few of the rim trails and enjoyed the amazing views from the Grand Canyon Lodge, built in 1927. 

 Day 4:  Richard was only able to join us for the long weekend and we toured the South Rim out of Flagstaff, Arizona on Saturday on our way to Lake Powell.

 Day 5:  Lake Powell, Page, Arizona.  We rented a ski boat on Lake Powell and had an awesome day!  Lake Powell is like nowhere else I have ever seen - it's desert but beautiful and the boys were even able to waterski. 

Brooks, the superstar traveler, even took a 2 hour nap while we were speeding around the lake. 

The Rainbow Bridge - the largest natural bridge in the world.  Richard & Phil took the hike up close, but it was a little far for Brooks! 

We had such a fun time exploring this new part of the country.  Thanks Nana & Grandpa Phil for a great adventure and all of Brooks's new patches for his bag.