Christmas

This is Christmas morning. Kris played Santa and handed out all the presents.


Kris was excited to get new softball cleats. His softball stuff got stolen out of the back of his truck earlier this year, so he was in desperate need of new stuff!

Molly sure does love her dad!

Kris' parents got all of his marathon prints professionally framed as a Christmas gift. They look really nice!

This is the print from this year's Chicago Marathon. I think Kris worked the hardest to get this one!

This was my first time to cook Christmas dinner solo. All of the food turned out delicious! We had ham (my first time to cook one!), company potatoes, green beans (with bacon, of course), Iowa corn, dumplins, rolls, and graham cracker pie for dessert. I ate until I was sick..literally!

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas, Kris and I stayed in Houston. Although we missed our families, we enjoyed having the holiday at our house and not having the stress of traveling. The dogs, however, weren't too happy we were home. I made them wear their reindeer ears more than they would've liked.


We went to church on Christmas Eve.

This is us, attempting to get a "family" picture. Obviously it didn't go too well. The decent ones were really blurry. The rest of the pictures either cut Kris out completely, or the dogs weren't looking. As you can tell, Jonah is enthused by all the picture taking.

After church, we came home for appetizers. Then, we watched our favorite, "A Christmas Story," on TBS.

When I was growing up, my mom always let us open one present on Christmas Eve. Kris is opening his one present...he is very excited! (Hope he wasn't disappointed--it wasn't that great of a gift!)

Kris let me open one present on Christmas Eve as well. He bought me a snuggie...as a gag gift of course. I think snuggies are ridiculous and they actually are not that comfortable.

Oh Jonah!

Jonah turned 2 on December 21st. I was really hoping that the 2 year mark would mean that he had matured and was going to be a calmer dog. This picture was taken on December 22nd. Apparently, we still have a long way to go...


He dug a giant hole in matter of one hour, got into the neighbor's yard, and managed to get all muddy. I had to wait until Kris got home to hose him off..he does NOT like being sprayed by the water hose. Kris had to use his old wrestling moves to get Jonah to the ground so that I could spray him. I thought it was hilarious...Kris did not.

Getting ready...

Kris and I are getting ready for the baby slowly but surely. We finally selected a paint color and Kris began painting this weekend. It was a long job, but he did awesome. He wasn't interested in my help because he says I am an awful painter (he is probably right).

Doing the trim is the worst part of painting.

Kris is doing the first coat on the walls. He looks happier than he feels!

Merry Christmas from Brooke & Kris!

Kris and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!!


Some have been asking for baby bump pictures, so here they are! I am currently at 23 weeks.

Things are going along smoothly and as you can see, I am finally gaining weight! The other day someone told Kris, "Gosh, I didn't even know she was pregnant!" He replied with, "How can you not tell. She looks like she has a giant basketball in her shirt!" Nice!

The baby is moving around alot. He likes going to church. He seems to move around a ton when we are there. He is also very active after I eat. We are getting the nursery set up a little bit at a time. I hope to paint over Christmas break.

Molly and Jonah wish you a Merry Christmas, too! (They look a little scared because they are afraid I might make them put on their reindeer ears!)

Here they are looking sweet and innocent, but don't let them fool you. They are not! Jonah is Marley reincarnated! He has been breaking out of the back yard on a regular basis lately. Luckily, he doesn't really go anywhere. He does like to get the neighbor's trash and drag it into our yard as a "gift." Kris currently has the fence rigged to looked like a total red neck lives here! But, that's the only way we can keep him in. (At least for now!)

Snow in Houston!

We got snow in Houston! We didn't get too much, and it didn't last too long, but we got enough for my school to be cancelled early and for Kris' MBA program to let out for the afternoon. The city as a whole got between 1 and 4 inches. Everything shut down and people freaked out...they started preparing like a hurricane was coming. I guess because that's the only storm native Houstonians are familiar with!

The kids (and adults) at school were so excited for snow! We got nothing accomplished because it started snowing almost immediately after class started. We weren't allowed to take the kids outside--which I think is so sad, since many of these students have never even seen snow. However, I was a rebel and snuck some students outside a few at a time to stand in the falling snow. They were amazed that snow could get on your hair and in your clothes. It was great experience for them.

This is a picture of the front yard. We covered up our flowers because they were blooming and we didn't want them to die. We'll see if they make it.

This is a picture of the flowers with snow on them. Flowers and palm trees look funny with snow on them.

Molly and Jonah were allowed to go out in the front yard and play in the snow. Jonah didn't like it and immediately ran back in the garage. Kris had to force him to come outside. They are investigating the "white stuff." Getting them to go to the bathroom while there was snow on the ground was quite a feat. It was too wet and cold for these tropical dogs!