Week o' Love: Day 2.

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth.

~Robert Southey

Week o' Love : Day 1.

With it being February and Valentine's just a week away...I thought I'd post a picture and quote each day this week. Hope you enjoy!

Love must be as much a light as it is a flame.
~Henry David Thoreau

St. Louis Art Museum

St. Louis Art Museum = Great Date.

All in a Daddy-Daughter Day's Work.

(22 Jan 2011) A few Saturdays ago we had some fairly good snow on the ground so Bry took Brie out to make a snowman. Brie mainly occupied herself by throwing her sock "mittens" around and trying to eat Frosty's chocolate chip mouth and berry eyes :0), but they had a good time. I can't get enough of watching my sweet Bry spending time with Brie. It warms my heart...and makes me want to document every moment :0)

It turned into Frosty the Snowwoman when
I grabbed her some winter accessories.

I loved that Brie was almost the same size as her snowy friend.

*Apparently Mrs. Frosty became the photo op for our neighbors...
especially for the families from Saudi Arabia. Love it! *

Winter Getaway 2011.

This year for our Winter Getaway we decided to go to Downtown SLC. We used the rest of Bry's Marriott points and got a room on the 16th floor. Or was the 18th? In any case, we had a great view! For lunch we shared a Café Rio chicken salad then picked out 1lb. of Sees' chocolates for dessert...and late-night snacking :0) After checking into our hotel we bundled up and took Trax over to the Gateway for some shopping. That evening we got dressed up a bit and had dinner at the Melting Pot, then got hot coco/herbal tea and fresh baked cookies at the Concierge Lounge and snuggled up to watch "the Pursuit of Happyness"---great movie! The next day we did a session in the SLC Temple and met up with Grandpa Stevenson to do sealings (with him as the sealer). To finish things off we got lunch (soup and sandwiches) at the Nauvoo Café and headed home.

*Thank you to my Family AND to Julie for watching Brie so that we could getaway!*

(click to enlarge.)

trying to get an aerial shot of my baby bump.
Look how small my feet look :0)

(Click on the picture to enlarge...I love this series! :0))

Oh how I love getaways with my sweetie. And there is just something about getting away while it's snowy...extra romantic ;0) Thanks for the good times...sure love you, BRY! :0)

Christmas Vacation 2010-11.

I looked through ALL my pictures and came up with the following. There are more that I'd love to include, but I'm going to be content knowing they're saved on my computer and I can just look at them there, if I want :0)

So here are the highlights from the wonderful two weeks
(30 Dec - 13 Jan) we spent in Utah over the holidays...

*Doing a belated Christmas morning with my fam & Aunt Elaine * Fun and thoughtful presents from family * New Year's Eve party @ Julie & Walt's * Lunch with the Stevenson Family @ Golden Corral * Dinner and catching up with Trent & Natalie and Logan * Watching Brie & Isaac jump on the bed and giggle * Having a Robertson Family Christmas party * Brie LOVING to ride in Aunt Rachie's truck * Rach getting me "pregnancy survival" comfy clothes as an early birthday present * Shopping with Rachie Pooh * Doing a surprise Fiesta dinner for my Dad's bday * My Fam and Julie watching Brie so Bry & I could do a getaway * Winter Getaway in downtown SLC with my Sweetie * Doing sealings with Grandpa Stevenson in the SLC Temple * Sleeping over @ Alan's * Going to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU with Dad & Julia * lunch at the MOA * photo shoot around campus * "Treasure Hunting" @ Saver's with Julia--finding great baby boy clothes! * GNO with my Mom & Sisters * Pizza Party and games @ Dad & Julia's * Seeing Brie so happy around Caio * Making Quatre Quarts cake with Julia * Salads for Graden Family Dinner & watching "Errand of Angels * Lunch at Wendy's with Matt * Frozen yogurt and catching up with Rebecca * Em making us a lasagna dinner in her cute apartment * Playing Scattegories with my siblings * Aunt Rachie sledding with Brie in the back yard * Dinner and Sleepover @ Julie & Walt---Frog Juice, Boggle and Banagrams * "Pizza Party" with the Hamiltons * Soaking up time with family * Everyone's generosity and hospitality * Traveling safely here and there * Alan & Liz letting us borrow their car so we had transportation while there *

Snowball Cookies Recipe.

As requested, here is the snowball cookie recipe. Enjoy!...

Snowball Cookies

· 1 cup of butter, softened - no substitute!

· 1/2 cup powdered sugar

· 1/4 tsp of salt

· 1 tsp of vanilla extract

· 2 tablespoons of milk

· 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

· 1 cup of very finely chopped pecans

· 1/2 to 1 cup of additional powdered sugar for coating

In a bowl - or a stand mixer - cream the butter with the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract. Add the flour, milk, nuts and salt. Mix well until it forms a soft dough.
Roll some of the dough between your hands until you have little balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place each ball on an UNgreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Note: Remember that it is better for you to undercook those snowball cookies rather than overcook them. If they are overcooked, they will be dry.
While the snowball cookies are still warm roll them into the powdered sugar.
Note: I use a small Ziploc bag for this purpose. I place the sugar in the bag and a couple snowballs at a time, then I gently roll them in the sugar. When well coated, place them on a dish.

Copyright ~ www.fun-tea-recipe-ideas.com

Sheets' Caribbean Christmas.

For our first-family-vacation-with-everyone-present-since-2008-and-before-the-baby-comes trip my family went on a Christmas Cruise to the Caribbean. Thanks SO much Mom & Dad!!!!

Here are the highlights from each day (BTW, you can enlarge each collection of pictures by clicking on them)...

*Brie getting her own seat on the plane * traveling safely to Fort Lauderdale * hanging out with one of my mission companions (Princesse Desrose) *


*The whole family reunited :0) * Seeing Brie and Bompa's cute reunion * Boarding the cruise ship AND sailing (long story short, they almost didn't let me go because they thought I was too far along in my pregnancy) *


*Spending Christmas Eve in the Bahamas on the beach * relaxing * Hearing Bompa read "The Night Before Christmas" * Brie saying, "Tim barfing...Tim barfing...sad, sad, sad!" *


*Getting room service and eating breakfast in our PJ's in our stateroom * having a mini Christmas morning with the whole fam * watching Brie hand out our stocking stuffers to each person in the family * Brie getting so excited about her Olivia doll and book * Seeing Brie in her "Ortega" dress * getting dolled up with the girls for the first formal evening * taking family Christmas pictures in the foyer * singing Christmas songs as we walked around the Promenade deck *


*Attending church services in Ochos Rios Jamaica--meeting our brothers and sisters in that part of the World * helping out in primary with Emmie---the CUTE kids holding Brie, dressed up as stars while rehearsing their Christmas party performance * taking a little drive around the town * Delicious dining each night *


*Turning a bummer into a blessing (we were supposed to port in Grand Cayman Islands, but the water was too choppy so we had to keep sailing.)---girls doing a scavenger hunt for the boys and vice versa * Cooking Show on board * Second formal evening * Karaoke night (Matt sang, "Amazed") * Dutch Chocolate Extravaganza*


Great souvenir shopping * Getting to document my family's "royal dolphin experience" (holding/kissing/swimming with dolphins) while Brie watched and cheered from her stroller * Beautiful view of Cozumel from the ship at night * star gazing with Bry and Em then going to the Lido for herbal tea *


*Doing On Deck for the Cure (Breast Cancer Awareness) with my whole family--Bry, Brie and I being the last to finish BUT finishing and finishing together :0) * Having a bubble-blowing contest in one of the lounges * Last night of fine dining * Karaoke Night 2 (Matt and I sang a duet then Bry and I sang "Unforgettable" :0) *


*Enjoying one last nice meal on board * playing games and chatting during our long wait at the Fort Lauderdale Airport * Rach and Em buying us lunch from Chiles * Chatting with Em on our flight home * Being back in my Parents' home, seeing Brie so giddy to be back at Bompa and Mémé's :0) *

Up next: Christmas Vacation part 2--Utah.

S N O W .

Last Thursday (20 jan 2011) we got a lot of snow here in St. Louis. Since I had no where to go I was excited and decided to center our day's activities around snow. Brie and I had a great day...

She walked around in the snow while I took pictures from the door. I currently don't have a coat or snow pants big and warm enough to play out in the snow :0( But that's OK, tis the season. Next winter!

(the snow suit or "Snow Snoot" as Brie says, is from Mémé)


Next we colored "Frosty the Snowman"


and made paper snowflakes.
That took me back to elementary school :0)




I made snowball cookies for our afternoon snack


we played with gel snowflakes (from Mémé) on the back sliding glass door


Awesome Kate took Brie outside to really play in the snow (not just watching from the door). Thank you, Kate!



We finished it all off with hot chocolate.

What a fun day! I remember when I was little... the first good snow of the season my family would go play out in the snow and then warm up inside with a mug of hot coco. I loved those times and hope to carry them on with my children.

Do any of you have fun S N O W traditions?

Baby Bump: 27 weeks.

27 Weeks.

Here's what the baby bump is looking like these days. Our little guy has gotten to be quite active and it's SO fun feeling him move! I got home from our Christmas vacation and went into nesting mode. I still have about three months to go, but we ran with it and got closets organized, baby supplies out, clothes washed and tucked away in little drawers, etc. I am definitely getting more and more excited about meeting this little guy. So fun!

**I couldn't help but smile while Bry took this picture--I had asked him if he could take a few shots so he snapped away like the paparazzi so that he'd get a good one the first time round and wouldn't have to take more. He knows that I always need at least 3 pictures of something so that I have options to choose from :0)**

Baby Bump: 24 weeks.

While I'm sorting through trip pictures maybe I'll post a few
Baby Bump pictures.

Here's Week 24.

It's About Love.

Some of our good friends are hoping to adopt a baby, and since most adoptive parents are found through word of mouth...I'm spreading the word!! I love these two and will be SO excited for the day when they adopt a baby of their own. They will be such wonderful parents! Click here to view their online profile...and spread the word. Thanks! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are doing well :0)