Life with Mack, Macy & Molly

Monday, December 27, 2010

YL Christmas Party

December 9, 2010

The Giovagnoli's hosted the second annual Young Life Committee/Leader Christmas Party. It was a ton of fun even though we had to leave early. The Committee is doing a great job of "loving on" us (especially Jeanne Stough with me :) and they have planned a couple of fun events! We had to leave early due to Macklin's bed time and Justin being tired, but here are a few pictures from the night. Just an FYI: everyone else missed the memo on the Christmas attire. If there would have been a best outfit contest, we would have won!

Date Night

I surprised Justin with a date night the day before my mom came to visit. We had one of our high school friends come over to play with Macklin and give us a couple hours away. When I went to pick up Justin, he was surprised to see my by myself. I brought him lots of winter gear and we took off for a snow shoe in the mountains around Gypsum. I have a new friend from MOPS that has access out of her back yard and is gracious enough to allow us to park at her house and hike out of her yard! It was a great sun set hike where we hiked up to the top of a little peak and enjoyed the chicken noodle soup I had packed for us. It was a special time for us to be around just each other and get out and enjoy the snow! The way back was a little bit adventurous as we made our "own path" back, but we did make it!

Macklin Visits Santa

While my mom was in town, we got to go to the Eagle's (Town of Eagle, next to Gypsum)"Christmas on Broadway" event. It is a super fun event in our little town where all the businesses stay open longer on a Saturday (used to be a Wednesday night, not sure why they changed it this year) and offer lots of sales. They also have different events and a parade (small but fun). The highlight of the event is, of course, seeing Santa! In our little town, they put Santa in the middle of the street in Eagle. I have said that "only in Eagle" could this happen. Macklin did surprisingly well. He was a little timid at first, not letting go of my sweater. But then he let me leave, but didn't smile a ton. I think it was a great first experience! Best of all, they let you take your own pics so you don't have to pay for anything!

Christmas Time!

It was an enjoyable Christmas time around the Brandt home. After getting our tree around Thanksgiving with Justin's dad and Kathy, we got to hang it up and decorate the house before my mom came in early December. We put up a few strands up lights on the tree along with a lighted door wreath. We had our snowman in place and stockings hung! I love the Christmas season!

As for our tree....it was probably the saddest looking tree around after a few days. We kinda forgot to water it for the first few days and then it ran dry in the house for another few days. All of the needles would fall off if it got touched and we had to take it down before leaving for St. Louis last week. Here are some pics of it when it looked nice.

One last thing....guess how many strands of lights are on our skinny Charlie Brown tree???

1? 2? 3? Maybe 4? .... NO! Eight!!!!

Attempts at Christmas Card Pics

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Pulling Up

Macklin is a moving boy! No stopping him now!

Lowered the Crib

We had to lower Macklin's crib when my mom was in town at the beginning of December because Macklin was pulling up on the rail! It was so fun to see my little Mack getting so big! It is funny how these little milestones are so exciting! Now Macklin looks so far away!

Mom's Visit

From December 1st through the 6th, my mom came to visit us! This is the second time that she has come in the early winter to enjoy the Colorado snow. Last year she came early when she found out we were pregnant.

The purpose of her trip was to go snowshoeing and enjoy hanging out with Macklin...mission accomplished! We went for a hike (with Macklin on my back) in Gypsum. We did some shopping for Christmas gifts in Grand Junction. We took Mack to see Santa (future post). We went snowshoeing in Minturn at night. And we definitely played with Macklin a lot! Mom realized how slow I really am with getting things done with Macklin as it took us a while to get places!

It is so special to have my mom come out to see me. Sometimes it gets tiring to be a stay-at-mom home (totally worth it, but tiring some times), but to have her come visit is totally refreshing! We get to laugh together when I would normally just be talking to Macklin. We get to talk lots and share stories. She gives me advice on different things (but not too much). And we just get to be together. It is so fun! I am so grateful to have such a loving, supportive, caring mom who loves to serve me and do special things for me like come visit!

Here are a few pics of our time together.

Greeting Mimi at the airport and showing her his first tooth!