Red Rum, Red Rum

I really miss living close to the mountains. I can see mountains from our house, but they are in the distance. On Saturday, we drove up to Estes Park. It is about 30 minutes away, it is surrounded by Rocky Mountain National Park, it's beautiful there. It's almost like a mini Park City. Downtown has lots of fun little shops. We ate yummy fudge, taffy, and candy. It was quite cold there, so we look forward to going back up there when it warms up a little.

One neat place we visited was the Stanley Hotel. It's an older hotel, some people say it is haunted, they do ghost tours. A very cool part of the history of the Stanley is that Stephen King stayed there and it was his inspiration for the novel "The Shining". He actually began writing "The Shining" while he was staying in Room 217. I think it looks a lot like the hotel in the movie.

The Stanley Hotel

Cool staircase in the Stanley Pretty

Science Fair

Last Thursday, was Science Fair Night at Braxton's school. The 3rd grader did a class project, "Does Hand Sanitizer Really Kill Germs?" The students split into 3 groups, those that used sanitizer, that washed with soap and water and those that didn't use either. Of course, my son, volunteered to be in the dirty hands group. Anyway, they swabbed their hands and rubbed it on a petri dish and then went to the science lab every day and checked for germs. The hand sanitizer group had least amount of germs growing in their petri dishes. So, yes, hand sanitizer does kill germs. They also had some hands-on activities. The kids got to see and touch cow livers, kidneys and hearts. We also got to look through some telescopes and look at the moon, Orion's belt and Mars. Very cool.

Tornado in a bottle

Christmas 2009

Since we were getting ready to move at the end of December, we decided to have a nice, low-key Christmas at our house in Kaysville. On Christmas Eve, we did go to Wyoming to visit Ryan's family. Braxton got his interactive dinosaur, D-Rex, Santa actually left a note for Braxton saying that D-Rex couldn't fit in his bag, so he left D-Rex on the roof. Ryan climbed up there and sure enough, D-Rex was up there. Emma got a stroller and a doll. She would hug every present that she opened. It was very cute.

Excited Girl

Cookies for Santa

D-Rex

She loves her new baby

Christmas mess is the best mess

Emma's 1st Birthday

On December 15th, Emma had her 1st birthday. What a great day. I still can't believe that she is a year old already. Where did the time go? Emma has brought so much joy into our home. This joy has really made me forgot about the heartache and frustration that occurred last year. I can't really remember what life was like without her.

Opening presents with Braxton's help

Emma loved her cupcake, but she didn't enjoy having frosting all over her hands and face. She is such a dainty girl. I just remember Braxton being covered in cake and frosting on his first bday. Emma would not have any part of that mess.

Home Sweet Home

Here is a picture of our house in Wellington, CO.

I have not been in the house yet, but Ryan is really excited about it and I sent my mother-in-law on a special spy mission to check it out too.

Last Day of School

Today was Braxton's last day of school at Kaysville Elementary, well, until August 2011. I went to his class after school, just in case it was going to be hard for him to say goodbye. When I walked into the classroom, he had a line of kids in front of him giving him hugs and telling him how much they were going to miss him. It was very sweet. I couldn't help but get a teary-eyed when I saw what good friends he has. Third grade has been so great so far. I have really seen so much growth these past few months. One of the things that makes me sad about moving is that I can't take Braxton's teacher, Mrs. Timothy, with us. I just love her. She is a wonderful teacher and Braxton loves being in her class. Maybe if we're lucky, she'll decide to teach 5th grade in 2011. (I can dream)

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Well, maybe not for Emma. She did enjoy watching Santa from afar, though.

PS: The picture is not that great because my scanner isn't working and I had to take a picture of the picture.

Alive and Well

It's been a long time since I have blogged. So, I will just check in.

My mom was here for a few weeks. We had a great visit. I tried to convince her to stay for Christmas, but she didn't think that would be a very good idea. I am sure my sisters would have come down and kidnapped her in the middle of the night if she would have stayed.

After many years of service, our computer has finally bit the dust. So, I am without a computer during the week, it's amazing how much I miss having one. I actually had to look up a phone number in the phone book this week. Wow. I am hoping that Santa will have room in his bag this year for a computer for the Brophys.

We are moving in three weeks. I am still in denial about the whole thing. I am sure when the moving trucks show up in our driveway that I will be slapped into reality. I really don't want to leave my friends and neighbors. But, I am excited about meeting new people and exploring Colorado. I guess it does make it easier knowing that it's not a permanent move.

Just Like Heaven

The Brophy Family, November 21, 2009, Bountiful Utah Temple