Caylin's Holiday Sleepover

If Caylin had her wish, all the girls that attended the Pump-It-Up party would have slept over at our house that night! NOT! So, because I have a soft spot for Caylin, I allowed her to do a small holiday themed slumber party. The girls played games, watched classic Christmas movies, made holiday candy houses, decorated mini-trees and the hit of the party was (of course) the puppies.

How Christmas Is This????

Double Digit Daughter

Today, our middle, Caylin turned 10 years old. We had her party at Pump-It-Up in Tempe. She invited all the girls from her class at school and a few more from Gymnastics Team. They bounced, ate pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. Everyone had a great time with the exception of about 15 minutes where Caylin hit her nose on her knee, crawling out of a bouncer. Thank goodness for ice packs!

We can't believe it's been 10 whole years since this wonderful little girl came into our lives and took over our hearts.

Plaza Lights

As I mentioned in a previous post, nothing can quite compare to the beauty of the Country Club Plaza Holiday Lights Display in Kansas City.

Christmas Stuff

Our Christmas tree and lights on the house. Every year until this one, I insist Rick put the lights on the 2nd floor roof of the house. This year, I was satisfied with just the bottom floor and wall. I just couldn't push our luck that Rick wouldn't fall from the top of our house, all for the sake of Christmas lights. Our tree is a collection of ornaments that the girls have made or received from relatives. I just realized after posting this picture that Carly has yet to place our angel on top of the tree...oops.

We can't stop taking pictures of the puppies!

Camryn totally loves Twinkle..and obviously Dad does too.

Introducing Twinkle and Max to KD and Snowball....KD wasn't very interested. Snowball could tell that we were worried that she'd be harmful to the puppies and was curious but kept her distance. Twinkle is doesn't care about Snowball's size and is attracted to her for some reason. It's funny seeing Snowball, 'scared' of a pug!

Recent and finally in focus pics of Max and Twinkle, aren't they cute?

Just Because I Feel Like It.

Snapshots of the girls....

Two New Brophys

Santa came early this year with special delivery via the post office...

Camryn's new friend is Twinkle, a Pug-tzu; Mom is a Shih-tzu, Dad is a Pug. Max (*Caylin's still deciding on that name) is a Coton-tzu, Mom is also a Shih-tzu and his dad is a Coton de Tulear (google it...they are part of the Bichon family).

Both pups are completely adorable. Each matches the girls personality perfectly: Twinkle is laid back and Max bounces everywhere.

Carly has been promised the pick of the litter when these two grow up, get married and have babies.

Holiday Weekend

Thanksgiving Weekend began in a beautiful way... It was chilly, rainy and full of fresh wet air. This is a unique treat that most people in Phoenix don't get to appreciate very often. We were then honored with a gorgeous rainbow that I didn't have the ability to completely capture because my camera doesn't have a landscape lens (hint, hint). The only thing that concerned me on this day is that when the streets in the Valley get wet after they've been accumulating oil/grime/etc they turn into slip n slides. Wednesday was not a school night, Carly went out with friends... talk about a frazzled, panicky mom!

On Thursday, the nice weather went away and we were off to the fire station for dinner. The girls did their obligatory drawings on the white board while I looked through shopping ads and Rick cooked dinner (I know....I've got it made!).

For those of you who don't shop at Trader Joe's, we highly recommend it. They had EVERYTHING we needed to have a delicious meal (except we bought our turkey at Fry's) and it was quick cooking, too! Our entire meal, save the turkey, took about 39 minutes to prepare. We enjoyed dinner with 11 other fire personnel and their families. After dinner, the little ones played pool with some other kids. I was lucky enough to hold a newborn and get my baby-fix. Rick helped with clean-up (I know...so lucky!!!) Naturally, we were all stuffed and tired so while Rick and I lounged on the recliners and watched football, the kids got creative with masking tape.

On Saturday, I spent most of the morning glued to the Mizzou/Kansas game which was on ESPN. That evening, our neighborhood has a kick-off party/carnival to their lighting ceremony, a very small consolation to missing the Plaza Lights in KC...if you ask me. But, so many people we know show up and the kids really like to see all of their friends outside a school setting. So, we attend. The girls rode some rides, enjoyed snow cones and Caylin lost her shoes. The quintessential Brophy evening!

Keeping up with the Jones'

I figured we need a family page...everyone else seems to have one and I certainly can use yet another vessel of expressing myself, another hobby, another something to keep my house from being clean. Well, welcome to a glimpse of what we are all about!

Rick has been my husband and best friend for nearly 13 years. He's a captain/medic for Phoenix Fire. I (Kimberly) used to work with him, as a dispatcher, but we both decided I would serve our family best, being a stay-at-home-mom, raising our kids.... So, besides the facade of super-mom my interests include anything I can watch my kids do, creativity, finding my path.

Carly is a senior at in high school, lives for dancing, works at a local salon.

Caylin is a 4th grader, level 6 competetive gymnast, loves football (like her mom), awesome student.

Camryn is in 2nd grade. She's still figuring out what she 'should' do. Right now, playing, pretending, reading or writing good stories and Brownies suffice.