New Year's!

Dear Kate and Riley,

The holiday celebrations continued on through the New Year! We really lucked out and had almost all of the O'Farrell clan come out to CA for Ashton and Braden's baptisms and to celebrate New Year's. We missed Austin, Jill and Jake but were so happy to have all of the other O'Farrell cousins in one place (and love that Uncle Adam can fit us all in his house!). So New Year's Eve we headed down to San Diego, took advantage of our last chance at a dirt cheap hotel room (goodbye Marriott!) and spent some quality time with the O'Farrells.

Zach LOVED being with his cousins and they are all so cute with him. I loved that he is old enough to go off and play and I could just sit and visit with the adults. We had such a good time and it was great for Zach to get to see his cousins be baptized. There are four boys who all got baptized this year and I am grateful that Zach and his brother will have great examples just a few years ahead of them. I know that when Zach is 13 or so and these boys all start going on missions it will be great for our kids to see. I am so thankful for strong, faithful family members who provide my kids (and me) with great examples! We always have so much fun with Dad's family, I can't wait until we can all get together again.

Shooting hoops with the cousins and Papa Frank

Zach and Camryn were best buds, its SO cute!

Feeding the ducks which was apparently one of the most exciting things he'd ever done!

Zach ROCKED Myra's pink scooter. I still wish Santa had brought him a scooter.

Ashton and Braden had a tae kwon do birthday party. It was so much fun and they were so nice to let all the cousins participate! Zach got pretty in to it!

Braden and Ashton got to cut their cake with the ninja sword, pretty cool!

All of the cousins (minus Jake) after the baptism

Uncle Andrew, Dad, Uncle Adam, Uncle Gregor

The sisters in law-- Stacy, Tracy, Amy and me. Aunt Stacy and I are due about 6 weeks apart

Love,
Mom

Grandma and Papa

Dear Kate and Riley,

The Christmas fun did NOT end on the 25th at all. The day after Christmas Grandma Janice and Papa Ross came for a short little visit. It was Christmas all over again! Grandma and Papa really outdid even Santa and now I'm afraid Zach thinks Christmas comes twice a year!

It was really fun to have Grandma and Papa all to ourselves and we had some great weather. We had our own little Christmas and spent the day at the Aquarium of the Pacific. We also got a babysitter and went out on a double date which was a lot of fun. Zach already can't wait for Grandma to come back after baby brother is born.

There was some serious crazed present opening going on this time, this kid got down to business

The giant dump truck was a big hit and it didn't take him long to also learn "DON'T HIT DA WALLS!" (dump truck has now been banished to the patio after Bella the dog suffered a few too many run ins with them)

Papa Ross got some pictures for his office

Grandma Janice got a snuggie! It was a hit.

Aquarium of the Pacific

Thanks Papa and Grandma! We had so much fun!

Love,
Brooke

Christmas!

Dear Kate and Riley,

I really want to catch up before this baby comes, so here's Christmas day. Santa came on Christmas eve and although Zachary may not have understood, MOM was so excited I could barely sleep. Dad and I decided that Zach needed to at least have some milk before diving into the mess of candy and junk that awaited downstairs. I got the video camera ready and we told Zach that Santa had come and it was time to go downstairs. He got really nervous! I think he thought that Santa was actually THERE so he made Dad carry him down the stairs and then didn't want to get set down.

Once he realized Santa was NOT actually downstairs and that there was a mountain of presents just for him, Zachary really got into Christmas. He LOVED every present and wanted to stop and play a little with each one before moving on to the next one. He even wanted to open all of mom and dad's presents. He just kept saying "PRESENTS!" it was so much fun.

We ate a big breakfast and played for a while then headed down to San Diego to Uncle Adam's for the day. Zach had a blast playing with all of his cousins and their new toys and we all got to go "swimming" in the hot tub. For our first Christmas on our own, it was a good one.

Even mom's water bottles were exciting!

McQueen bubble bath-- a true hit

And the cars, oh the cars. So many and each one was exciting, "OH! RED CAR! ANOTHER RED CAR!"

And the biggie-- the hotwheels ramp. Buys me an extra 30 min. of sleep every morning!

Love,

Mom

Christmas Eve

Dear Kate and Riley,

Christmas Eve is when it really start to set in that we were on our own this year! The Hansen family have a lot of Christmas Eve traditions but none of them worked very well with just three people so we did our own thing.

We went to Boomers during the day for some put-put golf and that evening we went to the Massies for dinner, a few presents and some dessert. It was a fun little low-key day.

Love,

Mom

Catch up

Dear Kate and Riley,

How did I get so far behind!? The holidays passed like a whirlwind and my laptop (with all my pictures on it) died. And now I feel so overwhelmed I don't even know where to start. I guess we'll just do one event at a time...

Santa Train

We bought tickets to go on the Santa train in early December. We headed out to Irvine Regional park one night and stopped for dinner where Zachary conveniently vomited all over mom. In a restaurant. It was embarrassing and disgusting. Needless to say we had to turn around and go home without seeing Santa or riding the train.

Thankfully we were able to make it back another weekend and had a great night. Really, it involved Will, a train, Santa and a bounce house, how could we go wrong!?

The dads and boys waiting in line for the train

Riding the train to see Santa

Still a little shy with Santa

Zach and Will, getting them to sit on Santa's lap was not so hard but getting them both to look at us was impossible!

The bounce house-- best part of the night! This time they had to turn off all the lights and practically start deflating the thing to get Zach out!

Love,

Mom

Santa Success!

Dear Kate and Riley,
The holiday celebrations are in full swing this year and we are having a blast. Zach and I have been shopping, listening to Christmas music in the car, obsessing over Christmas lights, and reading Christmas books.

Tonight we had our ward party which was a "breakfast with Santa". We all came in our pj's, had breakfast for dinner and got to meet Santa! I was nervous because of Zach's experience last year but it is surprising what an understanding of presents can do for a child's fear of strange men dressed in red suits! We have waved at Santa at the mall a few times and talked a lot about sitting on his lap and telling him what he wants. Zach always says "cars, choo-choos" when we talk about Santa, this kid knows what he wants.

I think the only thing working against us was the long line and other kids getting scared. The longer he waited and the more kids he saw freak out, the more nervous he seemed to get. But, he did just fine! He was definitely nervous but he sat on Santa's lap and replied "yeah" quietly to every question. I don't think he got out any of his wishes but with some coaching we think Santa understood what Zach wants. It was really sweet and just more proof that my baby is growing up.

We think we'll even give him another chance to talk to Santa next week.

Love,
Mom

Zach and his buds Dane and Will were SO cute in their pj's! This is about half of our play group who are all blond 2 year old boys. They are too cute.

Zach started out listening intently to Polar Express

But his attention span is only so long

Then Will found him and it was all over. These two are too cute lately, they love each other so much.

He was nervous but not crying! I was a proud mama!

Happy 3rd Birthday

Dear Kate and Riley,
How is it possible that three years have gone by? We decided to celebrate your birthday yesterday since Sundays are a little chaotic these days. We went and bought some toys to donate, I always love getting to pick out some girly things for you since I only get to buy Zach trains and trucks and it looks like that's all I'll be buying for the next few years.

After that we stopped by the cemetery. There is a new marker next to yours with the words Families are Forever across the top and a scripture from 2nd Nephi on the bottom. I have a feeling those parents chose that spot for their baby because they were comforted by the pictures and words on your marker. I was sad for that family but happy that they chose that spot right next to you two, it made me feel good to think that maybe that family in their grief saw that spot and knew it was the right place for their baby to be.

Zachary wanted to sit down on the grass by your stone. I thought it was strange but he actually sat very quietly and I had a few moments of very peaceful reflection. I was amazed at everything that has happened in the past three years. There was another very new grave there and the very sad parents were there grieving. I thought back to three years ago when we probably looked much like that couple, so sad, so distraught and wondering if we'd ever find joy in our lives. And here I sat, just a little ways down from them, with Zachary in my arms and your brother in my belly. I thought about how my heart still aches for you and yet it is so full of joy and gratitude for my baby in my arms and my baby who will hopefully soon be in my arms. How I have such a greater appreciation for them than I ever could have before you. We have found peace and joy.

This year alone I know three other moms who have lost babies. I have had the chance to talk to each of these mothers, to share things about my journey with them, to understand them when others may not have, to listen and hopefully comfort them. I think that shows that something positive and uplifting has come from your lives here on earth. I have a feeling that you are doing great things in heaven as well and it makes me happy to know that.

I love you, I miss you. A day has never gone by that we don't pray for you and thank Heavenly Father for letting us briefly have you in our lives and in our arms. Zachary doesn't quite understand but it was a precious moment yesterday when I sat with him, we looked at the picture of Jesus on your marker and told him about his sisters, how they are in heaven and with Jesus and how some day we will all be together again. He sweetly said "yeah" to everything I told him and I know some day he will understand.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration in heaven.

Love,
Mom

Lesson Learned

Dear Kate and Riley,
Zach taught me an important lesson about Christmas last night. Since this will be our first Christmas at our house on our own I have been feeling a little sad that Zach will be missing out on the big tree at my mom's and the nice Christmas decorations. I tried to convince Dad that we needed a new bigger Christmas tree (since ours is tiny and sparse) and felt like I could justify buying some new, nicer ornaments to take the place of the 99 cent ornaments I bought years ago when I was single.

Lucky for Dad pregnancy laziness kicked in and I decided we would just set up what we had. I thought I could go buy some new ornaments if the tree was too bare. So last night Dad went and got the Christmas stuff out and we set up the tree. Zach's excitement was heart-melting. He was SO happy about our little tree. He doesn't know or care that its only a little bit taller than he is. He didn't care that most of our ornaments are cheap and kind of tacky looking. He was just excited for his OWN tree (we didn't put one up last year). He exclaimed "OOOH!" over each and every ornament either proudly shouting out what it was "SNOWMAN!" or asking us if he didn't know, "WAH ID DIS?" Every time he looks at it he just exclaims "CWISTMAS TWEE!" and he will NOT let us turn the lights off, ever if he's awake they are on.

It was such a good lesson for me in this busy time of year. Its not about the biggest, best or most expensive. Its about our little family spending time together and making memories. I will always cherish the memory we made last night while Zach helped us decorate "Zachy Cwistmas Twee!"

Today he tried to HUG the Christmas tree when we came home from running errands. I think this is going to be a great Christmas.

Love,
Mom

Turkey Week

Dear Kate and Riley,
I guess nothing very noteworthy happened between Halloween and Thanksgiving! We just got back from a week in Wisconsin to visit Grandma Janice and Grandpa Ross at their new house in Waunakee, WI. I never, ever thought I would be spending any time in Wisconsin, let alone that my parents would live there! It was a very very different place from CA or Houston and it felt strange to have my parents things in a house that wasn't "ours".

We spent a week with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Jenny and Uncle Chris were there for part of the time too. It was fun, we missed Summer and Ali, but Zach liked being the center of attention and it was a little less chaotic with only one 2 year old to entertain. We came prepared for the worst but Wisconsin decided to go easy on us our first time and we had mild (?) weather-- 30's and 40's were the highs. Someone at church even said a prayer of thanks for the warm weather! The wimpy Californians did NOT think it was warm but the locals were out in their t-shirts and enjoying the fact that it was 20 degrees higher than the average for this time of year. We had no snow which was only momentarily disappointing and I think I realized more than ever that I HATE the cold and I hope we never ever have to leave CA.

Because of the "warm" weather we were able to enjoy some fun hikes and walks and Zach even spent time at the park with Papa Ross. Thankfully someone was brave enough to face the elements for the sake of entertaining the 2 year old. Thanksgiving was nice with just the 7 of us, probably the smallest I've ever had but nice.

On Saturday we headed out to the Wisconsin Dells which is a resort area where many of the resorts have indoor water parks. We spent the day at an indoor water park which was actually pretty fun! Zach of course enjoyed himself but I think the big kids did too. The Dells is a place unlike any other, really hard to describe unless you see it for yourself. Wisconsin was just so different than what we're used to.

Grandpa Ross carving the turkey

Jenny learned how to make pie crust (but I'm pretty sure our friend Marie actually made this one!)

Grandma Janice made her famous rolls-- 5 years of marriage and I still can't get them as good as mom. Maybe in another 20?

Zach sneaking rolls before dinner. This is probably the most you'll see of my belly.

The group, minus the pregnant girl (hey if I take the pictures at least I don't have to be in any of them!)

Friday hike, I loved him all bundled up

Mom all bundled up, not quite as cute

The girls

Jenny and Chris
the hike was short and perfect for Zach until we came to the end-- the cliffs of death. Not exactly crazy 2 year old friendly. I think grandma and I each had five heart attacks before we left this spot.

Wisconsin Dells-- Kalahari indoor water park!

One night we went up to the Capitol in Madison to look at Christmas lights--except there weren't any. It was FREEZING but still pretty to see the capitol all lit up.


The Zoo!
Our last day in town we went to the Zoo in Madison. It was free so we figured even if it was too cold, no big loss. There were a few indoor enclosures to warm up in between walking around in the cold so it was a successful outing.

Zach and Grandma in the monkey house. The chimps were funny and so close! (and it was heated in there, I didn't ever want to leave)

The fun thing about a small zoo was how close we got to the animals. I don't think I've ever been so close to a tiger!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We had fun! But we're glad you are coming to us for Christmas.

Love,
Mom