Christmas Catch-up

Here's the quick run down on Christmas 2010! It was WAY fun! Little Miss Brooklyn sure made Christmas even more fun than we imagined! Here's a picture synopsis of our Christmas celebrations!

This cute girl got to sit on Santa's lap 3 different times! And each time she loved it and tried to grab his beard. We know next year probably won't be as enjoyable so we took advantage this year!

Festival of Trees and Davenport Hotel with Uncle Tate..cuties!

Christmas Eve fun full of "Minute to Win It." Brooklyn was a crabby patty on Christmas Eve (tired and overstimulated) but she did enjoy a gingerbread cookie!

Jordan, Tyler and Kylee gave Brooke a Holly Moose Build-a-Bear. It's adorable and she loves it! Thanks cousins!

One of the many "Minute to Win It" pictures. Good looking brothers!

Annual Gingerbread Houses..usually Curt and I make one together..but we couldn't agree on our designs so we did some solo work and we were both happier at the end I do believe :) Brooke enjoyed the sugar high!

Christmas Eve Pajamas!

Annual Christmas Nativity. I was excited actually have a real baby this year, but since she was already asleep, Tate was happy to play the baby part. Quite a large baby if you ask me!

One of the best parts of Christmas was talking to Uncle Troy! He's on his mission in Poland and it was so fun to hear his voice. He is a wonderful missionary!

Brooklyn was spoiled like crazy! She got dolls and all sorts of toys! Thanks grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Our Christmas Quiche breakfast. Delish!

We thought Brooke would LOVE opening presents because she loves paper..well, there were too many things going on so she didn't love it as much as we thought. But she had fun playing with her toys and watching everyone else open presents.

Grandpa was told not to buy this, but as you can see, Brooke LOVES it! She has had lots of fun with her giant teddy bear. Grandma can't wait for us to move out and take it with us ;)

Great-grandma Murphey took good care of Brooke while we played at Albertsons on Christmas day. This is one of the last pictures we have of Great-grandma. She passed away on January 14.

Supermarket Sweet contenders...after 3 rounds, we were beat! We love our Christmas day Albertsons games!

Brooklyn had fun at Albertsons being pushed around in a cart, thanks to great-grandma and Ernie.

We had lots of Christmas fun and are excited to see what the New Year has in store!

It's a good thing I'm not a man...

I thoroughly enjoyed 5 months of work-freeness. But unfortunately, money doesn't grow on trees and our bank account was only going the wrong direction. I began looking more seriously for a job in December. Curt ran across an ad in the newspaper classifieds. And less than 2 weeks later, I had a job offer. I am working at the Good Samaritan Society, a long term care center.
And since Lisa told me I should blog about my job, I am following through. I work part-time (2 days one week, 3 days the next..and so on) from 6am-2:30pm. I have now had 4 days on my own (after 5 days of orientation), and so far, it has gone pretty well. But I really am grateful that Curt is going to school so he can provide for the next, oh 40 years or so.
If Brooklyn didn't have the world's best babysitter, I really don't think I could have gone back to work. I'm so grateful that my mom is willing to watch her so Curt and I can have less debt at the end of his school. It is such a blessing. My parents are sacrificing so much (personal space, food, time, energy..you name it) so Curt and I can have a better future and we are soo grateful to them!! I love that I know that Brooke is in good hands while I'm gone, and I love getting home at 2:30 so I can spend all afternoon and evening with her. It's also nice that my job is 5 minutes away from home..I know that I can be home quick if I need to be. In short, I don't believe I was cut out to work full-time for the rest of my life, but I can do part-time for a few years to keep things running. I definitely love motherhood and it's what I want to do forever! But in the meantime, you can find me at Good Sam's (a couple days a week anyways)!