Grandpa Richard and Grandma were pleasantly surprised when we arrived in Salinas an hour earlier than expected. Thanks Denny and Jenny for the ride. Brooklyn was tired but managed to pull out her energy reserves to mingle for a bit. Of course Val's mom took her first but was kind enough to let Richard hold her a bit. 
Brooklyn thanking Grandpa for her Tigger rattle.
Brooklyn with her Great Grandpa Rey
Grandma Sandy was more than happy to help out with the nighttime feeding. 
Our first stop in California was Sacramento to visit our good friends Denny and Jenny.After getting the grand tour of Roseville we stopped at Applebee's for some grub. This was Brooklyn's second time eating out and first time in the restaurant high chair. She ate sweet potatoes and behaved wonderfully. 
Brooklyn is rip roaring and ready to go see her California grandparents. This will be her second flight out there. She is going to need a frequent flyer card. We are looking forward to seeing our west coast family and friends.
She can't hide her excitement.
Get your animals ready for some love, Brooklyn Love, that is. 
Get your throwing arm ready Grandpa Richard! I am ready to play ball. 
Goodbye snow, hello sunshine! 
Since our first year being married we have bought a customized ornament with our name on it. Andy has always been on it since he was part of the family. With the arrival of Brooklyn we decided to remove him. But it is not all bad news for Andy, we bought him his own ornament. Sorry we couldn't figure out why the picture was rotating. 
the tree
Not quite as good as the Griswold's but not bad for out first year with Christmas lights. Not too much but it is a good start. This was another after Christmas deal Val got last year. Hopefully we can add to it a little more next year.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving we broke out the Christmas decorations. This year we are putting up a medium/large size fake tree. Val scored a great deal on it last season after Christmas. We would consider this our first Christmas tree in the house even though last year we had a 3' fake tree. This time last year we were moving into our house and had boxes every where. Funny that the 3' tree last year was top priority. As for this year, Val was ready to put the tree up weeks earlier but Charlie nixed the idea. As for Brooklyn, this is her first Christmas and seemed to enjoy watching us in action.
Brooklyn got to check out the Christmas towels while mom decorated the house.
Along with our tree, Val found some garland to decorate our railing. Add a touch of lights with some red bows and....PRESTO! We thought it turned out well. 
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....
Here is the final product. Unfortunately Brooklyn's bedtime came before we were able to finish. So far just the Val and Charlie but we still plan to take one of all three of us in front of the tree. Stay Tuned!!
Brooklyn test driving Sophia's Christmas gift while Maura cheers her on.
This was a little reminiscing for Sophia as the excersaucer used to be hers. Thanks cousin Sophia for letting us borrow it!
Brooklyn got to play dress up in the make shift house with Maura. She is the prettiest princess we have ever seen.
Mema Love supervising the action.
Mom and Julie took Brooklyn out to see the puppies. We don't think she was quite ready for them as she didn't like them too much. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Straight into the mouth. 
Yeeha!
We spent Thanksgiving at The Love Ranch. It was a full house-full of delicious food and people. Lot's of menu items to choose from. Almost too many, cause the turkey barely fits on the plate when you get to it. What a FEAST! Val loves the Broccoli/Rice casserole and Charlie loves it all.
Must be the fresh air. 
Brooklyn met her Great Grandma Carmen on Thanksgiving. Brooklyn did awesome this weekend with all the noise and new people.
Get off the road, Brooklyn is coming! Here is Brooklyn riding her car around the kitchen. Her favorite part is going in reverse.
