Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho! Santa arrived to the Brooks home once again this year. There were a couple of times that were touch and go for Bella but Santa pulled through and brought presents. The elf left us on Christmas Eve to report back to Santa. The kids were very excited to see all the presents under the tree.

Bella got the unicorn she wanted and a lot of other girly toys. Finn got lots of cars and trains. After having breakfast and getting dressed up, we went to Marty & Maria's and had a good time playing with Juliette, Grace, E-ma, E-pa and Uncle Kevin. The day after Christmas we spent the day playing with our new toys. Finn loves his cars and train set and Bella is learning her new electronic games: Wii and DS.

Only 364 days til next Christmas!!

Jingle Bells

I can hardly believe it is Christmas time of year. We've visited Santa, put up the tree and decorations, and now patiently waiting for Santa. He has sent Patrick, our family elf, back to watch over the kids again this year. He's left a couple of gifts for good behavior, let's hope it keeps up! This video is how I found Bella one night sound asleep.

Here are some other photos from our decorating and fun in the snow.

Visiting with Santa

Making snow angels

Decorating the tree

Happy Halloween!

October was jammed packed with pumpkin picking, carving jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating! Here are some of the pictures from our month and a little video of our trick-or-treating.

Cutting out the pumpkins to make Jack-o-lanterns

Here we go up the street

Making our last stop at John & Sue's next door.

Haircuts for everyone!

The school year has begun so it's time for haircuts! Bella got her hair cut short, it looks really cute. Finn wasn't really to thrilled with the idea. Even Kelly got a haircut too!

Happy Birthday Bella!!

Ok so we've been slackers with the blog, actually I have (Kelly) The entire month of August was a flash! We had lots of fun with our beach vacation. Then it was Bella's 4th birthday. She got to celebrate it twice: once on her birthday with family and then a Scooby Doo birthday party at home with friends later in the month. She got lots of presents and had a great day. Here are some pictures from it.

Bella & Finn on the beach

Finn showing his belly

Bella surrounded by presents!

July 2009!

July was a busy month for us. Each July starts with Kelly works on a patriotic dessert for the 4th of July. This year was a funfetti cake in the shape of a flag. Bella helped put the final touches/fruit. We had family over and Grace and Bella enjoyed some pool time with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jackie. Smores and fireworks were the perfect end the night!

Day trips to the Waterpark to see Daddy.

And an engagement party for Jackie and Kevin.

We finished the month off with a night out for Speranza & Jimmy's wedding.

Road Trip North Carolina!

Kelly and the kids took a trip to North Carolina to visit Kristen, Matt, & Turner. The drive was long but both Bella and Finn did really good. We stopped for an annual trip to the UNCG bookstore and then arrived on Thursday to the Boone residence. We had a very relaxing weekend!

Finn and Turner played nice together, other than the otherwise sneak attack steals from Finn.

Bella really enjoyed seeing Kristen. Kristen showed her how to catch fireflies, she got her to eat her dinner with an enticing piece of watermelon and blew bubbles in the yard while she tried catching them.

Sara and Owen came over to play in the pools. The boys had fun going from one to pool to the other. They had a great time and it was perfect for the hot day.

All and all it was a great trip and we are happy that we went. Bella cried the morning we left because she didn't want to leave her new BFF Kristen. I promised her that we would go back again and that maybe even Kristen will come visit us ;) We made it back to NJ safe and sound and just in time for a Father's Day dinner with Daddy!