8th Anniversary

Today was our 8th Anniversary.  We got to go to a very nice lunch together at Fogo de Chao, and they were nice enough to write Happy Anniversary in delicious raspberry sauce on the plate which is the only way we stuffed the dessert down, after all that meat.  For dinner, we had a smoothie and called it good.  This season we think of what we are blessed with, and there is nothing I am more thankful for than Helaman, who is amazing in so many ways.  I lucked out big time with him!  To many more!

Good News Excerpt

November has been a much better month.  We were able to enjoy a delightful evening at RA Sushi (my favorite) on a perfect night for sitting outside.  The lights were up at the Shops at Legacy, providing quite the holiday atmosphere.  Yum!  I also enjoyed a fabulous Supper Club and a visit from Grandma B.

Sometimes (always) I gripe about Customer Service, so I thought I would highlight some companies that have done me right as we start this holiday shopping season.  Recently my watch broke.  Helaman bought it for me for our first Valentine's Day together, and when I brought it to a repair shop they said it would be $70 fix.  Since that was more than it was worth, I thought I'd just get a new one.  I started looking, but also emailed Guess, the manufacturer, explaining my dilemma and asking how much it would be for them to fix it.  They emailed back the next day, and said they would fix it for free if I paid for shipping.  They would also replace the scratched crystal, as that was under warranty.  Yay!

 

It always pays to contact the manufacturer, as I have seen when I got a defective KitchenAid knife block from  Kohl's (at a great discount) and my Breville blender blew up. 

This week Kroger sent me some cookies to try:

 

I must admit that I am a tad biased against store-bought cookies, as I personally love to whip up a batch of cookie dough and smell them baking in the kitchen.  But... lacking the motivation and energy to do so lately, it was nice to have some ready made ones available for munching as an alternative to the endless amount of Halloween candy we still have.  I popped one of them (okay, several) in the microwave, and they came out warm and tasty.  The consistency wasn't as soft as I normally prefer, but the flavor was good, and the cookies had no problem being devoured quickly in my house.  If you'd like some coupons to try em, let me know!

October in a nutshell

I can't believe it has almost been two months since I have updated this blog!  October was crazy.  We finally solidified after melting all summer, and have been out enjoying the fall.  Helaman logged 16+ hour days most days of the month (including weekends), and we are celebrating the end of his VA Hospital rotation (for now). 

First, we went to my parents house in Houston for conference weekend.  The girls enjoyed matching skirts, ice cream cones, many park days with Grandma, and running around the house terrorizing everyone during each session. 

Next, we hit up some sweet garage sales.  I scored these brand new matching dresses and plenty of other clothes that I surely do not need, but are super fun to have.  Seems like all garage sale stuff is like that...

Then it was time for the ward trunk or treat, in which Miss Olivia won second prize in the children's division for Best Costume.

 October can't go by without a trip to the pumpkin patch.  Here's our best shot, with random kid in it and all.

This fine looking gentleman is the rarely glimpsed Helaman, who stood in line with us for an hour to get into Safety Town, though he had been up since the wee hours.  I guess he had to put in his time, as he has consumed more candy this week than all of us combined.

 An out of sequence shot of a park day.

 My lighting was off for these shots, I hope you can appreciate the hours we put into carving this year, as always.

My little sweeties in front of the library.

Patio

Just in time for some nice sitting outside weather!  My mom and I shopped for some new patio cushion fabric, and she was nice enough to cover my old ones with it, since the squirrels had torn the old ones to shreds.  We are loving the ability to sit out there on cool nights.  Now we just wonder if our shrubs will recover from the hot summer.  Most are fine, but a couple got very brown on top and I'm not sure if they will bounce back.

Best Labor Day ever!

What a great Labor Day!  The weather gave us a big break, and Helaman had the day off.  So he cleaned up the backyard, and we had a good time playing rings (a $2 summer clearance find) and ladder ball in the yard.  Olivia and Charlotte loved rolling around in the grass (despite Olivia's terrible allergic reaction) and it was just so nice to be able to sit around outside. 

Olivia chasing Charlotte with her "mower"

 For lunch we packed a picnic and went down to the Shops at Legacy's fountain pond, where we saw a friendly turtle.  For dessert, we went to our favorite frozen yogurt place - Red Mango.

Amazing weather, please stay for a while!

Night Out

Classic Helaman expression...

This week, we celebrated some of Helaman's co-residents' August birthdays.  We went to III Forks, since it is restaurant week.  It was very fun, since we don't get together all that much except for graduations and Christmas parties.  This year is definitely the busiest for all of them, so they deserved a night out!

Shirley, Erickson, Brockoff, Yates, Navid

August

This month, Charlotte finished her ballet/tap lessons.  She loved them, and can't wait to take lessons again.  We're taking a break while she starts preschool next week.

Charlotte's other big news was her new bed.  She had definitely outgrown the toddler bed she was sleeping in, and I scoured Craigslist for just the right thing for her.  Unfortunately, as Craigslist often goes, I was usually too late, or had too little room in my car to get what I wanted.  But when Mom came to town, we were able to score this bed!  It was unfinished though, and we sanded and stained away in 100+ degree heat to make it worthy of her room.  We couldn't be happier with the result, and she loves it.

 While Mom was here we also went to the Dallas Children's Museum.  The girls loved the kitchen, water and sand areas.

 We also took advantage of the last days of the pool being open to take some early morning swims, which felt great.  Stay tuned for more project reports - the new patio cushions!

dynamic duo

Facebook said this picture was too skinny to post! This is on our most recent trip to Gattitown. The girls had a blast. They are quite the characters these days. I love that they play together well, but when we are out and about, it can get a little hard to control.

Birthday treat

Today is Helaman's birthday! On Monday, he called from work saying that he wanted to go to the movies and see "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." Miraculously, it all worked out that we could go, and to the coolest theater in Dallas! They had cushy LoveSac furniture to sit on, so we could lounge around like we were at home. Happy Birthday Helaman!

July whoas

July has not been the best month in the history of our family.

• Over the holiday weekend, our air conditioning went out. The replacement unit was $2500.
  
• Charlotte decided to swing from our chandelier, which fell down into thousands of small pieces of glass.
• Our blender, which has faithfully been making us smoothies all summer, burst into flames.
• A once-promising garden has all but died, due to lack of water and abundance of weeds.
• Helaman's schedule has been terrible, and his dept is having "trouble" finding the funds he is due for two weeks of his pay.
• Olivia has had massive 18 month old sleep regression. Won't go down, nap, etc. without hours of crying. Separation anxiety is at a peak as well.
  

However, there is an upside to each problem. We didn't have to replace our entire AC system, no one was underneath the 50 lb. chandelier when it fell, Breville is sending a free replacement blender, and our basil is thriving. Helaman has a job, however cruel and unusual, and Olivia is... so cute! See? Thanks for listening to my ranting.

Milestone

My little baby is 18 months old today! Which means, of course, she goes to nursery officially. She has been going to nursery unofficially for a few weeks now, and though there have been rough weeks, hopefully she will warm up to it soon.

We love Olivia! There is so much to love about her. Most of all, I love her cuddling. Many times when I am sitting on the couch she will come up and just snuggle up next to me. She loves to give hugs and kisses, and all of her chubby baby rolls just make her deliciously squishy and fun.

She loves to play with people - especially Charlotte. Swimming in our blow up pool, hide and seek, peek-a-boo, rolling balls, and barbies are her favorites. She makes hilarious faces and is able to say a ton of words. Several times a day she will come up to me with a book and command, "Read!"

Olivia also loves to sing and be sung to. Most of all, she loves the Primary songs. She's never been a great car traveler, but once I burned a CD with primary songs on it she has been great in the car. When she sings, she doesn't enunciate her words perfectly, but her tone is great, so you can tell what she is singing!

We love you Olivia, thank you for being part of our family. It wouldn't be the same without you!

The Graduate

Warning! This is a braggy post!
Last night was the graduation exercises for UT-Southwestern's medical school. As part of Helaman's oral and maxillofacial surgery residency, he was required to complete the classes and training required for a medical degree to have in addition to his dental degree. It also marks the midway point of the residency. In just three short years he will done with all his training and schooling - a total of 13 years!

Helaman with his OMFS co-residents and one of their attending surgeons.

All medical degree tassels and robes are green, to signify herbs and healing. The orange cloak is worn by all schools in the UT system. He was supposed to have worn purple as well to indicate his dental degree, but you will just have to imagine what that would have looked like. (yikes) Congratulations H!

Great Wolf

Helaman had some time off before going back to work, so we took a "stay-cation" to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, which is 20 minutes away. They have a huge indoor water park (no suntan lotion necessary!!) with slides, forts, play equipment, and one enormous bucket of water that dumps out on you.


Charlotte was tall enough for the big rides (with an adult) but didn't really want anything to do with them.
Both girls loved running up and down the hallways, which were largely vacant. We had the place to ourselves!
Several times a day was story time, which was an animated and live show teaching kids not to be afraid.

The lodge also had a "Cub" Club the girls enjoyed.

Aaooo!

Family Reunion 2011

This year's Broadbent Family Reunion was in Seguin, TX, right outside San Antonio. We stayed in a large lakehouse that was just big enough for everyone. The kids enjoyed goat feeding, jumping on beds, swimming and getting to know cousins. The adults enjoyed catching up, swimming, basketball, slideshows and quilting! Dad shot a video of that which no one will ever want to watch!

Charlotte teaching Lucy everything she knows about trouble making.

Olivia trying to find the bubbles her Aunt Amy just blew. Cousin James looks on.

Charlotte and Wade jumpin on the bed.

H jumpin on the court.