Christmas

(Thanks Rie for the pictures)

The always-glamorous Christmas morning picture.

Bryn loved Christmas One on one time with uncle Jae

Bryn LOVED exploring my parents house

I love this little girl

What a wonderful Christmas!

Bryn's Birthday

Pretend like I posted this on December 30th Brynlee celebrated her first birthday while in Utah. We had a little party at my parent's house with my family and a few of Brynlee's Hawkins cousins. I was so glad we were with family to celebrate!

Bryn loved the attention and loved the cake! As luck would have it, Brynlee got her very first cold on her birthday. She had a runny nose and little red cheeks, but thankfully she was still in a good mood.

Christmas

I mainly relied on my sister's camera while I was in Utah, but I didn't get copies of her pictures. I've been waiting to post her good shots. In the meantime, these are the only shots I've got:

Four generations.

We spent Christmas day with my family and my Tueller grandparents My beautiful, photogenic sister Marie.

Bryn's new bus. Thanks to Logan for pushing her all over the house.

Bryn liked the balloons for my Dad's birthday way more than any toy she got.

And that's it. Unless Marie forks over her pictures.

Field Study Reunion

FYI: I tried hard to condense it, but this is a really long, reminiscent post, and probably only interesting to my fellow field study friends. Consider yourself warned. While in Utah, I got together with some good friends that lived with me in Tonga and New Zealand for Fall 2006 semester. It was wonderful to see them!

Since then, I've been thinking so much about how blessed I was to be a part of that trip. It was the semester right before I met Josh and it truly taught me so many important lessons.

I lived in such beautiful places:

New Zealand

Tonga

Met such remarkable people:

Family in Ha-apai

Family in Okoa

Made wonderful friends:

Family in Whakatane

Good ol' Butch

Robyn and Jane

Did some crazy fun things:

The Shotover Jet

Through the Canyon

Aukland's freaky bungy thing

"Camping" at the base of the Frans Josef glacier, without camping gear. Not on purpose.

But we survived the freezing night.

Bungy jumping in Queenstown

Just far enough to dunk my head into this river.

Played on the Buller Gorge Swingbridge. A little too wobbly for my liking.

And did some difficult things:

(Living a month in Tonga. Enough said. I'm a wimp.)

First night with Jane in Ha-apai. Scared out of my mind. Bathing in hand-sanitizer all day long.

Finding strange creatures in the sea. And then eating them. With the natives watching your reaction. (Difficult, but really awesome actually).

Octopus. The catch of the day. I lived with a fisherman while in Tonga.

This field study gave me awareness and appreciation. It tested and stretched my character. I grew tremendously as an artist and a person. I still reflect on the memories of my time in Tonga and New Zealand and the many lessons I learned.

Thanks to my dear friend Robyn, for the reunion lunch, and for reminding me of what an awesome experience we had!

First Year

And there you have it. Bryn's first twelve months.

The plan was to pose her for a picture every month until she turned twenty five, but I think we'll stop here.

One Year Old

Bryn doesn't waste any time removing her hair clip. Then trying to eat the hair clip.

Smiling at her toys

And finally smiling at the camera. Good girl.

Bryn's first birthday was on Dec 30th. Here is Brynlee at one year old:

-Loves pretty much any food we eat. Especially pasta, cheese, and pancakes

-Is a very confident walker and climber, which makes church/errands/parties quite difficult because Bryn takes off and wants to explore.

-Loves to cuddle and "give loves" where she lays her head on our shoulder, her blankies, toys, furniture, etc.

-Is good at doing "nice touch" to off-limit things, instead of tearing, ripping, and tipping over like she did earlier on. -Always tries to put things in our mouths, like her fingers, toys, pacifier, or soggy food from her mouth. Then she giggles when I shake my head and say "yucky." (Fifty times a day).

-LOVES having books read to her or looking at books on her own.

-Not really talking much, but she can understand certain words and simple commands. Like "sit", "stay", and "roll-over". The dog commands are a joke. But you knew that. -She's a beautiful, happy, smart, silly child and we love, love, love her. What a joy this first year has been for us. It has been amazing to watch her develop and learn new things everyday. How blessed we are to be Bryn's parents!

Hawkins Parties

We were able to get together with Josh's family a couple times while we were in Utah...

This is my favorite picture! Little Bryn loved talking with her Grandma Hawkins. Hanging out with Halle and Eliza. Someday we'll live closer to Bryn's twenty Hawkins cousins!

Acting out the Nativity on Christmas Eve. Bryn was just an extra.

Grandma Hawkins gave Bryn these cute pink slippers

Playing games

Reading books by the fire.

I LOVE going to Josh's parent's home because it's out in the country with beautiful, open space. It's so relaxing to cuddle up in their comfy chairs by the fireplace, after a good meal!

I love Josh's family and I wish we could have spent even more time together!

We're Home!

After a nice week and a half in Utah we are home. What a wonderful trip! I have lots to blog about including Brynlee's First Birthday! More pictures to come soon.

December 29th

DECEMBER 29TH, 2006

Josh and I went on our first date. (No picture, unfortunately). It was a blind date, although we had technically seen each other ten years before. I remembered him. He had no recollection of me. Ha ha. DECMEBER 29, 2007

Notice the ring on Josh's left finger.

We had been married for five months, and we went out on a fun date to celebrate the one year mark from our first date.

DECEMBER 29, 2008

Notice the bulging belly. (How could you not?)

I was pregnant and December 29th was Brynlee's due date. Josh and I spent the day playing basketball with my family, performing a rousing song and dance routine for FHE talent, and then going into labor that night at my parent's house. (Bryn was born the next day). DECEMBER 29, 2009

Notice the cute girl ... wearing Valentine's Antenna in JoAnn's. We played with family, went to the Draper Temple, played with silly Brynlee, and reminisced about how are lives have changed in the last three years!!! Bottom Line: We are blessed. And we like the 29th of December