Happy 11th Birthday in Heaven, Sweet Brooke!

My two FAVORITE pictures of Brooke!

In her pretty dress and headband from Grandma Bonnie.  This was her 1 month birthday.

Isn't this just precious?!  I love her grin in this picture!

Eleven years.  I can't even believe it's been 11 years since our lives were changed forever and New Year's Eve would "from now on" be a bitter-sweet day for us.  Eleven years since we were blessed with our beautiful daughter, Brooke Ann.  Eleven years since our lives were turned upside down as we first learned of Brooke's severe congenital heart problems, and shortly after learned that there was nothing doctors could do to keep her on this earth (however, our tough girl lived much longer than doctors expected her to).

So, while Jeff and I were absolutely stunned, numb, and shocked, we also enjoyed EVERY moment with our little girl.  Brooke knew nothing but love, and although we only got to enjoy her for 50 short days, she taught us MANY important lessons about life...too many to mention them all, but mostly she taught us to trust in God for only HE has the plan, and she taught us that all of the money and/or material things in the world do not bring us happiness, satisfaction, or joy.

We miss her more than words can say, but we feel blessed that she is no longer in pain from her dysfunctional heart (although she was a happy baby and did not appear in any pain).  We WILL see her again when our earthly lives are through, and that's what makes it possible to function each day without her...something I was sure I would NOT be able to do when she passed away, but God proved that he is good, all the time.  Until then, we talk about her often, as she is very much a part of this family, and not a day goes by that we don't think of her.  Even though the boys have never met her, they are always sure to let people know they have an older sister who lives in Heaven.

And so, with many memories of her on my mind, Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!  I bet birthdays in Heaven are grand!  We love you, Brooke Ann!

For more pictures of Brooke's life, click HERE.

For more on Brooke's life story, click HERE

Click HERE to view a video I made about Brooke's life.

Oh What a Christmas!

Wow!  What a Christmas! Be prepared for a long post for this one!

I am a little bummed because I am in the process of trying to pass a kidney stone (and have been for a few days), so I missed Christmas in Cherokee with Jeff's family.  :(  An hour there and an hour back in the car is risky business when it comes to these stupid stones.  Anyhow, because I missed that Christmas, I also have no photos from the celebration, but the boys had a blast and got spoiled!  Their favorite gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Duvall are their MP3 players (both boys got these), and Logan loves his new catcher's mitt for baseball, while Landon's favorite is his Green Bay Packers jersey!  Another highlight for the boys from their Duvall Christmas, also, was playing the game Spoons, for which Grandma Duvall is always prepared with prizes for the winner of each round!  What fun!

Christmas Eve was spent with a small part of the Umscheid extended family.  My Aunt Debbie and Uncle Kelly came back to Milford for a few days, so we went to their hotel for pizza and swimming!  Also there was my Aunt Donna, her fiance Ryan, and my cousin Dallas, along with my mom and dad.  My brother Ben and his family stopped by for a few minutes as well.  The boys walked away from that Christmas with some AWESOME Hawkeye bottles with lights inside, which look pretty cool in their Hawkeye rooms!  Aunt Donna always gives such awesome, thoughtful gifts!

After a busy day, we went home to get ready for Santa Claus to come to our house!  The boys opened their Christmas Eve presents of pajama pants, slippper socks, Christmas movies, and other odds and ends, then we watched the movie, A Christmas Story, set out milk and cookies, read "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and went off to bed dreaming about what Santa might leave at our house!  Logan left a note for Santa that said, "Dear Santa, I know I don't always do what I'm supposed to do, but I am really trying!  I will work more on that!  I will like anything you leave for me!  Love, Logan"  Ha!  Too cute!

Christmas morning was proof that the boys made Santa's nice list!  Thank goodness Santa was a little lenient this year so the boys could make it on that list!  :)  The boys had both wished for flat screen tvs for their bedrooms, and Santa was nice enough to give them those!  Santa even brought a tv for Jeff and I to put in our bedroom, along with some electric blankets!  Wow!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas morning.

After opening all of our presents, we took most of the rest of the day to just enjoy our gifts, enjoy each other, and relax!  

By late afternoon, it was time to go to our last Christmas of the season at Grandpa and Grandma Umscheid's house!  Not only do the boys enjoy their time with Grandpa and Grandma Umscheid, but they also love to spend time with their cousins, Eli and Lennon, and of course Uncle Ben and Aunt Alyssa, too!  Once again, the boys got WAY too spoiled, but their very favorite gift, probably over all other gifts, was the air hockey table from Grandpa and Grandma!  They also really love the Hawkeye fleece blankets, and the Believe bells (from the movie Polar Express) from "Santa!"  Eli was fun to watch this year too, as he is finally figuring out the whole idea of presents and the excitement of Christmas!  Here are some snapshots from our Umscheid Christmas!

And here is what baby Lennon thought about the whole celebration...In a few years, she will have all sorts of fun, too!

I am sad that Christmas is over.  We spend days, weeks, and sometimes months preparing for this holiday, and then it's over in just a few short days.  But, my most favorite part is not the gifts, or the preparations, but time spent with loved ones.  My kids had way too many gifts to open once again this year, but I feel so blessed that God provides so much for our family!  My greatest blessings from God are my children and my and Jeff's families!  

Merry Christmas to you all, and may your 2014 be one of your best years yet!

Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling Night!

We love nights like this at our house!  Iowa vs. Penn State wrestling is on tv (any night that Hawkeye wrestling is on tv is a good night), and inspiring our boys to get in on some wrestling action, too!  Neither boy went out for wrestling this year, though.  Logan decided to give basketball a try (and he is enjoying that sport, too), and Landon decided to take a year off from wrestling.  We always encourage the boys to try each sport, but we never push them...we don't want them to end up NOT liking a sport just because we MADE them do it.  However, I bet at least one of these boys ends up on the jr. high and high school wrestling team in the future!  Maybe I'm wrong, but they sure love to wrestle!

Our Snowboarders!

Almost a month ago, Logan got a snowboard for his birthday, and he's been itching to use it ever since!  Well, last weekend, Jeff took the boys to Horseshoe Bend Hill, just outside of town, and the boys got that board broke-in!  Jeff said there were plenty of wipe-outs, but he said they are going to be pretty good little snowboarders!  They had a BLAST!  Now Landon is hoping for his own board for Christmas!  We'll have to see if he stays on the nice list or not!  ;-)

Santa's Village

We are now officially ready for Christmas since the boys got a chance to visit with Santa Claus today at Santa's Village and tell him everything they are wishing for this Christmas!  Santa's Village was located at Boji Bay Funhouse and Pavillion in Milford this year.  While there, the boys also enjoyed chatting with Mrs. Claus, sliding down the huge slide inside the pavillion, and jumping in the bouncy house!

Logan's wish list for Santa included:

Flat screen TV for his bedroom

Ice skates

Steeler's football helmet

Landon's wish list for Santa included:

Flat screen TV for his bedroom

Green Bay Packers jersey

Green Bay Packers football helmet

It was a fun time for the boys, and they are just so happy they got to see Santa!

Merry Christmas!

Ready for Christmas!

This is our favorite time of year!  We love snow (though we haven't had hardly any yet), we love time with family, we love Christmas movies, and we LOVE the winter holidays!  After a great Thanksgiving, the boys were eager to help me decorate our Christmas tree!  They also had a great time decorating their own Hawkeye themed miniature trees that they each have in their bedrooms.  Another thing the boys are always willing to help with each season is decorating their big sister's grave out at the cemetery.  I wish this was something we didn't have to do, and I wish she was here with us instead, but it makes me so happy that the boys are always sure to include her even though they have never met her.  It was Brooke who taught Jeff and I so much about the true importance in life, which relates to the true meaning of Christmas..."stuff" or "things" are not important...faith, hope, peace, and love are.  And while our boys will have more than enough gifts to open this Christmas, we are also sure to help them remember the true meaning of the season.  Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Spoiled Logan! Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Remote controlled battling robots

Logan has become a Vikings fan...mostly because his friend likes them  :)

WWE wrestling ring and figures

Hawkeye robot

Reading his card from Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid

Cool Hawkeye poster to hang in his room!  The  best part of a Hawkeye football game is "the swarm!"

Yay!  Hunting clothes!

Logan loves corvettes AND model cars!

Grandpa Mick surprised Logan with a .22!  The look on Logan's face was priceless!  Especially after earlier in the night, my dad jokingly gave Logan a VERY used BB gun.  Dad thought Logan would be bummed that he only got a BB gun for his birthday while Landon got a .22 last month for his birthday, but Logan LOVED the BB gun!  When my dad gave Logan his .22, Logan wasn't totally sure he wanted to give up the BB gun, but decided the .22 was a better gun!

Proud new owner!  Proud Grandpa, too!

My parents and all their grandkids

Happy 9th Birthday, Logan!

Make a wish!

Donna, Ryan, Dallas and Amanda got Logan a totally COOL book about how to fold all types of paper airplanes, and the book is full of neat paper to use for making these airplanes.  The book was a total hit!  So fun!