Merry Christmas!!

Yes, I know Charlize is MUCH bigger now than she is in the picture, but I just LOVE this picture!! I don't like waiting for family pictures until Fall. I *LOVE* green! In fact I just loved these pictures sooo much its going to be hard to come up with different outfits and locations for next year. Just in case you missed some from before, I'll add some more of my favorites below! :)

November 2010

Fallon June was born to Eleanore and Austin on November 7th (11-7 and Elle's birthday is 7-11).

What a smiley, sweet baby girl she is with LOTS of dark hair! All the other babies in our family have had very little and light hair so its a complete change for us! An hour after walking into the hospital she was born (it was really fast and Elle went all natural! You go Elle!!)

We couldn't take Charlize into the hospital with us when we went to visit so a day or so later we went to their house so she could see her new baby cousin.

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The University of Wyoming was playing UNLV in Las Vegas November 12th. My super good friend Gwen came down with Tim and a group of friends to cheer them on and we got to come play! SO EXCITED to see my friends! We had alot of fun! Um, the football team wasn't nearly as entertaining as the rest of us but we were there to support. And we were able to catch up with Teri for a bit!
We had an interesting incident as were were getting a 4th meal at In-N-Out where some disorderly people were in an argument. We were leaving and actually getting in the truck when the cops showed up, parked behind us and yelled at us to get out of the vehicle. Umm, actually pretty funny cause Nate and Tim got out and walked right back towards them telling them that the problem was inside. It made for a good story and laughs.

Again, sooo nice to see my good friends and have a nice get-away with Nate.

The next morning we took them out to breakfast and of course to see the famous Vegas sign!

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I took Fallon's newborn pictures when she was 4 days old :)

She was nice and sleepy! What a doll!

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One morning we were getting ready to go to Grandma Denise's (we usually just go over in our pajamas) but today Charlize was determined to wear a dress. This cute red dress my friend had just handed down to her. So we got dressed up and couldn't leave bewr (Bear) out of the picture.


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I was in charge of my school's Jubilee of Tree's tree to raise money this year for breast cancer screenings and services. This is a yearly fundraiser for the hospital. This year the theme was western cowboy/cowgirl. The 4th/5th grade safety patrol helped make the ornaments. We tore denim and bandanna material and glued them on Styrofoam balls, painted horseshoes and used brads for the nails and made pictures using melted crayons for the sunset.

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Another fun morning outfit. This time the Missy was determined to wear her tutu and of course her boots. I'm trying to do better about getting into the pictures,but morning isn't the best for looking perky.

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Thanksgiving!!! My Aunt Roberta and cousins Carli & Robbi came to visit!! I unfortunately didn't get a group picture of us all :( so I remembered for Black Friday shopping. They actually got up and Charlize and I caught up with them around noon. I set the timer and ran to get in the picture, but a couple was watching us and offered to take it - bummer that the one they took is out of focus (the bottom picture, but you can see the Buckle windows really well).
We grabbed some grub at Carl's Jr (YUM!) and yet again were picture happy. I got my haircut the day before - so love my bangs again!! I'm lucky I get to be around all these lovely ladies!

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This ones a little out of order, but Austin blessed Fallon on Sunday following Thanksgiving because his parents were still in town and it was nice to have his family here.

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We went to ride the horses (cause the girls adore them and we all like to go).

I think this is the most I've ever taken pictures with myself in them!! I'm so glad Charlize is letting me take them and smiling for me.

Rodeo in Gunlock - November 2010

This rodeo was put on to help raise money for Cash Adams who recently underwent extensive surgery to remove cancer in his little body (he's only a few months older than Charlize) and actually a cousin through marriage. (Its my sister Sonrisa's husband's cousin's little boy -whew that was long!) We were excited to let Charlize participate in the barrel racing for her first time!!

She ate some yummy chili-chips before heading out to compete. :)

Nate rode Zima and led Roanie with Charlize. She was very focused on riding and didn't look up at us all cheering for her until the last stretch. :) I even got in one of the pictures since I gave Kyle my other camera :)

Then, it was back to playing in the dirt for Charlize and Kimber. Nate and Kyle ribbon roped, Nate calf roped and team roped. We had fun hanging out with our friends and family :)

Family pictures, Check-up and Roping

We went to the arena with Nate for Charlize to practice for her upcoming barrel racing (1st ever rodeo to compete in). They practiced the pattern and having Charlize hold on as the horse was ponied by anther horse. She was in heaven - big girl on her own horse!

These pictures are from my phone and I'm glad the flash on it worked so well. These were after I chased the steer out of the box! That's quite an adrenaline rush! I'm not to roping just yet. Charlize loves to be at the arena with the boys and was a little taken back that I was there - of course its because I didn't let her just roam free like Nate does, but o well. :) We had fun!

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We had the Brinkerhoff Family pictures taken at the end of October. We had a stormy few days before and lucked out to have overcast lovely clouds in the sky. My little brother James came with me to take the whole group pictures. :) I loved the purple and teal with the red rocks. :) Charlize refused to nap ALL DAY!! She was very tired and grouchy and it just goes to show that all kiddos know when its picture day. I can redirect her just enough to get the pictues.

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We went to Charlize's 2 year old appointment. Here stats were:

98% weight - 33 lbs

94% height - 36 inches

So if we go off the old saying of adult height by doubling 2 year-old height she's going to be around 6 foot like her parents. :)

Charlize is 2!!

Its very fitting to have a "Boo" yard sign for Halloween and since its her nickname (given that she was born so close to Halloween) its hers. She had fun waiting outside for everyone to come!

After Dinner, while we were cleaning up the girls were playing on Charlize's water table turned upside down. They figured the legs made great stools and that apron Charlize is wearing was actually made for me by my Grandma Kika when I was about her age. :)

Dinner was Nate's awesome Chili!!! I made a Funfetti cake and Cinnamon Struesel cake. She loved blowing out the candles and wanted to do it again!

Party Guests: Una (Grandma Patte), Granddad (Grandpa Jim), GG& Papa (Great Grandma Barabara& Grandpa Wayne), Grandma Denise and Grandpa Craig, Aunt Diana, Uncle Kelby, Aunt Sonrisa, Cousin Addi, Baby Adams, Aunt Eleanore and Baby Fallon, Uncle James, Mommy, Daddy and Charlize!

The decorations: The green antique door hung on the wall in the kitchen had a timeline of pictures from each month up to her 2nd birthday; white pumpkin with a glitter glue 2; I reused her banner from last year (helps to keep the same color scheme); pretty flowers; an embroidery hoop wall hanging made from an old shirt and a mini picture of the birthday girl.

These are the pictures that I put on the timeline-clothesline in the kitchen for her party. When I made the collages to blog I put the months on each picture, but they didn't upload with it-sorry! Its fun to see her grow and change (and watch as that hair appeared around 18 months).

October 2010

The first weekend we headed up to Salina, UT for a roping at the Blackhawk Arena. Nate's parents and sister came too. Charlize got to play in the dirt alot, ride the horses with Daddy and had fun running around with more than just mom. :)

One of the evenings we were just cleaning up from dinner and I saw those beautiful clouds and sweet talked Nate into hleping me take Charlize on a mini photoshoot. I can only get about 5 minutes with her, and since I've learned how to use my flash off-camera and I wanted to capture the sky and my cutie in her 'rodeo shirt' (which just happened to match as well.

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10.10.10

Loves coming to say 'Hi'to all of the horses.

They're old friends and always happy to see each other. I love that Charlize will actually look at my camera now (well better than before) so that I can see her cute expressions and gorgeous blue eyes. I know we're totally biased, but she's beautiful!
She loves to play in the dirt and 'work' like Daddy.

Up to Pine Valley we went . . . .
The next 2 hours were quite hilarious to anyone else watching. We attempted to catch Zima (the buckskin in the picture above) on foot. Nate had tried to catch her the weekend before but it got dark and she kept running away. This Sunday evening we had an audience as the neighbor kids were quite fond of Zima and they would cheer her on as she ran from us. Its funny to think of now, but it wasn't funny at the time. We basically chased the herd of horses around for those 2 hours to tire them down and they finally left her all alone, Nate roped her and we were able to go home. She was out to pasture to heal since she broke her leg and good to know she's all healed up.

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Playing at the arena 10.19.2010

Charlize has started wearing her hat whenever we go get the horses, just like Nate. She pulls it down tight so it won't come off and away she goes. The poor hat is all sorts of bent, filled with dirt and squished but I suppose that's what makes a good hat - well loved. :) Thanks Grandpa&Grandma B for giving it to her.

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I took Charlize to school with me for the Halloween Parade :) I was going to make her poodle skirt, but a friend ended up having a perfect size to borrow. I love dressing up, so it was easy to just match her. My mom always has the best dress up acessories so its fun to pull it all together.

Saturday evening we went to my sister Eleanore's apartment to meet up with cousin Addison who was an adorable mermaid. However, the lack of naps made for unruly little girls not wanting to take pictures. So we snapped quick!

Here's cute Eleanore a few days from her due date, Una holding Charlize and our little family. Nate's so cute - he told me if I set it out, he would wear it.

Next we went to Nate's parents house to trick-or-treat there. Their neighborhood gets tons of visitors 'cause they hand out awesome candy. Charlize loved helping Grandma pass out the candy to the kids. That's my friend Kristen's dog Lucy - so cute!

Grandpa took Charlize down the road to get ice cream from Santa Claus. She was so excited to get her own ice cream. She ran around the sidewalk and into the house while we sat outside. She loved just running around and seeing all the kids.