Florence

After Thanksgiving we went to Florence and Pisa for the rest of the weekend.  We loved it if only because the sun was shining!  We haven't seen the sun up here in Aviano for about 3 weeks, so seeing the sun was a welcome treat.  We had our tickets to see the David and to go inside the Uffizi Gallery - we walked by the Duomo, but didn't go inside this time.  Florence was neat, but it takes about a day to see everything you want to see - which made it the perfect weekend trip!

No this is not a picture of THE David in The Accademia because pictures are forbidden and we would never do something that's not allowed!

This is the extremely impressive entrance to The Accademia

Her treat for being such a good girl in the museums!

The rather colorful Duomo in Florence

View of the ARno River from inside the Uffizi Gallery

Brighton's 2 year portraits

I was actually a little nervous when I went to go pick up the pictures because Brighton was NOT in the mood to smile for the camera that day.  The more the lady tried to get her to smile, the closer she got to tears and walking away.  She kept reaching for me and not wanting to sit and put on a show - shocking, right?  It was pretty stressful, especially since Brighton is normally more than willing to smile and put on a show for anyone! But, the lady was really good and managed to get some good shots of Brighton. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much that I'm thankful for, I wouldn't even know where to begin or where to end.  I'm most grateful for my family - my husband and daughter and baby boy, and also my vast extended family!  I'm also grateful for the gospel and the stability and peace it brings to my life. I'm thankful for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and his Son, our Savior.  And today, I'm especially grateful for friends, new and old, who make being away from loved ones easier.  Thank you Father for blessing me with so many wonderful people in my life.

Happy Birthday Brighton!

I'll write more about Brighton turning two later, but I wanted to get some birthday pictures up for the grandparents.

Opening presents with Grandma & Grandpa Nelson

Eating her favorite meal - chicken taco!

Decorating her birthday cake - the orange sprinkles came out A LOT faster than the pink and green ones.

She pretended to be shy for a second, but was really happy to be sung to!

We didn't think she'd get the candles blown out - but she got one on the first try!!  We then of course had to re-light the candles 5 times and even then she wasn't happy when we took them out of the cake and put them away!

HALLOWEEN

Brighton & her pal Macey

Who needs to Trick or Treat when there's candy all over the ground?

Our new favorite hobby - jumping!

True love: Mickey & Minnie

I know it's a week overdue, but we've been a lil busy!  Brighton was Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year and absolutely LOVED Trick or Treating!!

Carving Pumpkins

Again, not exactly something that a 2 year old is into, but we had to carve pumpkins this year.  Brighton helped for a little bit, but soon lost interest.  It was okay though, Daddy took over and carved the pumpkin for us.

A Kind of Pumpkin Patch

There aren't Pumpkin Patches here like there are in the States - which makes sense since they don't really celebrate Halloween here.  But, there is a lady who sells pumpkins in the month of October.  Now, if you go at the beginning of October, there are hundreds of pumpkins.  But, if you wait until the end of the month, like Amber, Jill and I did, then you're stuck with about 10.  Oh well, we went, we got a picture and we'll remember next year to go earlier!

Halloween Crafts

Seeing as Brighton is still only 2, she wasn't too into doing any Halloween crafts this year.  But, I did get her to color a pumpkin with her two friends.

My Big Little Girl

Brighton's gotten really good at eating at the table in her booster seat.  She loves drinking out of a big girl cup, eating dinner with a big girl spoon and getting to eat at the table with Mommy & Daddy.  I have to say that dinner time is a lot better now that she eats with us and we don't have to coax her to swallo every single bite!  We still have fun dinners where she's not too into eating, but it's gotten a lot better.