As many of you probably already know, President Hinckley, our beloved Leader and Prophet passed away yesterday at age 97. (Click Here to see the news story) Despite his age, it was a shock to me and I had to spend about 45 minutes crying my eyes out to come to grips with it. He was my hero! I loved him so much because of the hundreds of times his words and smile, mannerisms and incredible attitude have touched my life. I actually just gave a talk last week in church and of course quoted him. Here is the quote: “ I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. He continues: There never was a greater time in the history of the world to live upon the earth than this. How grateful every one of us ought to feel for being alive in this wonderful time with all the marvelous blessings we have. … And on top of all that is the Restoration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with all of the keys and authority, with all the gifts and blessings, w...

Yesterday we went in for Brooklyn's 4 month Doctor check up and she even more off the charts in height than last time at 27 inches , is a wopping 17.1 lb (97th Percentile) , and about the 98th percentile for head circumference! I counted her rolls yesterday and she has between 25 and 30 luscius, juicy rolls, (depending on what you consider a roll) including neck rolls and back of the knee rolls! She is healthy and strong - and in our humble opionion the most perfect, wonderful baby on the face of the earth! (We're not biased or anything) Here are some photos of those gorgeous rolls we are so proud of! All thanks to the BYU Creamery (AKA Mommy)! She's flexing for ya! P.S. These are the Biodegradable diapers I use now that I found at the Health-Food store! They are Biodegraadable - so they take 20 years to decompose rather than 200 (Huggies, Pampers etc. take 200!), are Chlorine free, work just as well as other diapers, and basically are healthier for baby and the ear...

Every 2 Months the Tub shrinks! September November January!

We went to the Chattanooga Acquarium, both the freshwater and saltwater parts with two of Fred's daughters, Dawn and Amber and their kids. It was so fun! The freshwater part is largest freshwater aquarium in the world! Here's the group (Minus Fred who is working on Photo-shopping himself in!) You can pet the sting ray and sharks in one part! Brooklyn enjoyed watching all the colorful fish! My mom is in Mexico at the world Turtle convention right now, so I thought of her at the aquarium as we looked at dozens of different kinds of turtles! You see any this big Mom?

I know, I'm going a little blog crazy today, but there are just so many great photos from Christmas I want to share. I had to make an entirely separate blog for this series though because I think it is the CUTEST! Thanks Dana for taking such great shots!

Well, I'm back in warm, wonderful Chattanooga. People are walking around in shorts and t-shirts down here! Brooklyn sweat through the first night home because I didn't take the fact that it's 10 degrees warmer, even inside than in Calgary! I did the ritual wrap of 3 or 4 blankets on her and a hat. last night, I lighted the load a bit and she slept a lot better. Of course I miss 'home' though. Here are some more pictures of our fantastic Holiday! I was embarrassed about how much luggage I had. 2 huge suitcases, each weighing 50lb. With the normal Christmas presents, baby stuff and 30 lbs of D-Daddy peanuts though, I had a good excuse! Dad was thrilled and even asked if D-Daddy could send some more up his way so it was worth it! When Brooklyn Got Blessed Our Date! Thanks Brianna and Vic for being such great Babysitters! Last Christmas Trey gave me the coat and this Christmas gave me the hat and mitts to match! My Twin-Cousin Kendall! Happy Baby! This was our Chris...

Before I left for Canada, the wonderful women here at McCallie threw a "Sip'n See" Party for Brooklyn and I. I loved the Sip'n See idea as this way everyone got to hold the baby and enjoy her, so the attention wasn't on me so much. It was so much fun to visit with all the other women on campus. Thank you all for your incredible generosity and friendships and thank you especially to Cissy, Gail and Laura for organizing it! Paige

Trey left Calgary this morning at 5:00am to get his 7am flight back to Chattanooga. I get to stay with my family for another week. Amazingly, all the girls are able to stay until the 6th or 7th, so it's our sisters week together - just missing our big sister Brooke! Last night, for new years, the "adults" came home after a massive Chinese food feast in China Town to do New Years goals together. Trey made sure we did it together while he was here. It's a family tradition to get together and write down and share our goals together each year. It's an awesome experience and I can't wait to get going on my goals! One of them is to do a weekly Blog, so you all are beneficiaries of this tradition already! My Dad and Trey are going to do 3000 Chin ups, Dana's going to start a business, I'm going to swim 1000 Laps and Mom is going to save the world's turtles to name a few of our gaols! Brooklyn was well taken care of by her 3 aunties this holiday! My Dad...