Christmas Day 2007

Christmas morning was so fun! Eli had a scary dream and woke up at 5:30. We thought that we were going to be up for the rest of the day but he went back to sleep and didn't remember that it was Christmas.

Finally at 8:00 Stewart and I couldn't sleep anymore so we woke Eli up. We told him to go find his stocking. He ran out and passed his stocking that was sitting on the couch and looked on the wall where they had been hanging all month. He was a little worried until we told him to look on the couch.

He reached in and pulled out a pair of socks and exclaimed, "oh! SOCKS!" He was so happy for those socks! He did the same thing with a second pair of socks so we said "what's on the couch by your stocking?" He looked and yelled, "A SKATEBOARD." He was SO excited. He got kneepads, elbow pads, and gloves to go with the skateboard. Then he went back to pulling out underwear and socks from his stocking. (I promise we put fun stuff in there too!)

We opened presents from each other. I got these really cute boots from Stewart, a massage gift certificate, and some pink slippers. Oh and my sewing machine that I think I talked about in my "Black Friday" post

Stewart got a watch, a knife (a really big turbo one), a refillable lighter, 2 shirts, and Eli got him some skull valve stem caps and skull and snake locks for the truck. Oh and Stewart and I got blue tooth headsets for our phones. We love them.

As for what Eli got you can see for yourself below. I think that it's obvious that he had a lot of fun and was satisfied with his haul!


We spent the rest of the day at the Broughs and had a great time. We played Wii and some board games. We talked to Todd in Peru, and had dinner, and exchanged gifts. It was a really fun day and I think that Stewart and I agreed that it was the best Christmas yet.

Christmas Eve 2007

Christmas Eve was great this year. We had Italian food which turned out great except for my gnocchi, which I really don't want to talk about.
Actually my tiramisu didn't turn out great either. But it was the though that counted :)

After dinner we sang a carol and Stewart read the story in Luke.

Eli did a puppet show about the birth of Jesus. Brooklyn sang "Stars were Gleaming." And Eli sang "Jingle Bells"(while he jumped up and down the while time.)


Eli listened so quietly while Stewart read about the birth of Jesus. It was very sweet.














Next was the best part! The kids got to open their gifts!












Eli was so happy with all of his gifts.

Moon Sand

We had SUCH a fun Christmas. Eli got lots of fun things but one of my favorites is the moon sand. It is so much fun. What it is, is sand from the moon...wait, never mind its made in Sweden. But it's sand that can be molded and it holds its shape pretty well. It feels like sand and tastes like sand but it's so much more FUN than sand.

It was a spur of the moment purchase. It was Black Friday and I was there, and the moon sand was there, and it looked like other people wanted it, which made ME think that I wanted it. It turned out to be one lucky purchase because I think it's so fun to play with Eli and now I want more...err Eli wants more. (We only get toys for our kids because they want them, right?)

Curse the Wii

My muscles are SO sore! Stewart's mom managed to snag a Wii a few days before Christmas so I played Wii way more than was necessary on Christmas day. The next day I had muscle aches the like that haven't been felt for many moons.

You should have seen me bowl though! I used my regular tactic when I bowl which is throw the ball as hard as you can. I totally rocked the bowling. In baseball I also threw the ball as hard as I could manage because it gave instant gratification my telling you when your MPH was. Unfortunately I couldn't hit the ball which is another reason to curse the Wii.

Yes, the Wii is like a little box of fun that can cause pain and suffering but you still can't wait to play again! And it magically makes you really good at bowling.

Christmas Letter 2007

I have had 2 cards returned so far so here is our Christmas letter and picture. We hope that everyone has a great Christmas and a wonderful 2008.

Dear Friends, Family, and people we feel obligated to send this to…

It's that time of year again – when most of you consider welding your mailboxes shut to avoid the delivery of yet another Brough Christmas newsletter.

I'll go out on a limb and assume that since you are reading this, you either couldn't find your welding torch or you are a procrastinator like me.

Here's the run down on what we've been doing this past year…

Eli is now 4 years old. While I have previously touted his amazing intelligence and superhuman strength, these years are critical for him as he is in the process of determining whether he will use his abilities for the forces of good or evil. The fact that he likes to hide from us whenever possible, with the intent of scaring us leaves little doubt that our boy is well on his way to becoming a super villain. Becca and I would be happier if he were on his way to becoming a super hero instead, but the important thing is that we encourage him to excel in the area he has chosen. As soon as he starts school, I plan on building him a "secret lair".

Anyone who has seen The Princess Bride, will remember the scene in which Fezzick and Inigo practice rhyming after they've kidnapped Princess Buttercup. In preschool, Eli has also learned to rhyme, although I'm not sure you'll find many of the words he uses in the dictionary… His favorite rhyme is "Stirry, HURRY!" My new year's resolution is to teach him to respond to my saying, "No more rhyming, and I mean it!" with "Anybody want a peanut?"

Eli has also taken up the shooting sports – he loves to pull the trigger on my 10/22. I emphasize that he "loves to pull the trigger" because we're still working on the concepts of holding the rifle, looking through the sight, and aiming at an actual target. His grandpa Sorensen actually helped him out with this quite a bit the last time we went – with Grandpa's help, Eli put 25 rounds through a cardboard box in about 3 seconds – I still don't know how he pulls the trigger so fast… Maybe he was trying to keep the box pinned down with suppressive fire while I flanked it.

Becca is responsible for most of Eli's development, and I couldn't have asked for a better mother for our son. Becca continues to amaze me with her range of skills and talents. In this past year she's been working as the apartment manager where we live – a job that has been a financial Godsend which also allows her to be at home with Eli still.

During this past year she's tackled a number of projects including refinishing furniture, sewing curtains, throwing birthday parties, and resisting the urge to punch me in the back of the head when I don't comply with her demands.

Becca also has been keeping friends and family up to date with her blog – which is probably the only think making her more of a nerd than I am.

As for me… well… I'm finally going to be graduating from college this spring, "and just a shade under a decade too, all right…" I have 3 classes left and maybe I'll commission into the Army at the same time I graduate – it all depends on whether or not the Army decides they want a 2^nd Lieutenant that's missing a few body parts already. In the mean time I'll be finishing my last ROTC class, traveling up to Logan once a week, in the hopes that it won't be for nothing.

During the past year I've been working at ADP Lightspeed with my brother in law Danny, moderating the stress of the work place with frequent trips to the deserts of Tooele to put holes in jack rabbits.

Well, we hope you've all had a good year!

The Broughs

Once There was a Snowman...or Six

Eli had 2 little friends come over and bring him gifts yesterday! I felt really bad because I had not bought him anything to give to his friends. So tonight we made some little ornaments. I thought that they turned out pretty cute. They definitely look homemade but what can you do?! The things under the snowmen is a snake or something. That was Eli's little creation.

These are made out of Sculpy. If you have never used Sculpy that's really quite a shame. I used to make all sorts of rad jewelry and beads out of it. It's a kind of clay and you mold it then cook it to make it hard. I had a huge thing of white and I added food coloring to it to make the blue and pink. I learned that Sculpy isn't really meant to be dyed. I made a huge mess out of food coloring. So if you need colors of it just buy the colored Sculpy.

Eli's game

So yesterday while I was shopping I called my sister Stacy to find out what to get her son for Christmas. She was telling me that I could get him some art supplies because he loves to make things. She was telling me that he made some game for their family to play for FHE. The next week Brooklyn made a game too. I was telling her that I couldn't see Eli making a game.

Well that night Eli came in and told me come and play the game that he made! The game consisted of Eli's stool turned upside down and a bowl and lunch box on two sides of the stool. We threw a toy rocket, and a rubber monkey into one of the things. It was quite the game and I was proud of Eli's creativity.

Eli the Photographer

Eli wanted to take pictures of Stewart and me. He told us to wrestle. Here is Stewart getting his butt kicked...even if it doesn't look like it, that's what's happening. *trust me*



We really wanted to get Eli a camera for Christmas. The children's cameras out there aren't good quality though. We will probably just get us a new camera at some point and give Eli our old one. Eli also took pictures of his dump truck, new night light, and the Christmas tree.

Famous Eli

Well my mom did it again! She submitted a picture of Eli with Santa that has been "published". The first time was in the Salt Lake Tribune and this year it's on FM 100's Website.

FM 100's website

Here is what they said about the picture.

Valerie,

We posted the fantastic photo on our Morning Show page today. What a picture! Priceless.

Thank you and Merry Christmas,

Brian and Rebecca

FM100 Mornings

Eli says:

Eli has been in rare form lately. I wish that I could remember every funny thing that he says but there's just too many.

Eli has been asking for a kitty for SO LONG! He wants a pet really really bad. I've had to tell him that I'm allergic to cats and dogs so we can't get one. About 3 days ago he came and asked if I was allergic to pet bunnies. I said that I didn't know if I was. He didn't really say anything else except he asks about once a day if I'm allergic to pet bunnies.

This morning we had the following conversation:
Eli: I had a dream about a guy that was shooting rabbits
Me: Was it daddy? (Stewart loves shotting rabbits...but just ugly jack rabbits.)
Eli: No, it was a guy called shooter guy and he was shooting the nice rabbits.
Me: oh Daddy only shoots the mean ones huh?
Eli: Yeah, Stewart shoots the mean ones but not the nice ones. But I don't like the mean ones but I like the nice ones. Stewart shoots the mean ones.

He repeated "Stewart shoots the mean ones" about 4 more times. I think he was making sure that mentally he was ok with that.

Eli says:

So is Eli weird or all all kids like this? Eli has very strong opinions about his clothes. It's really annoying. So yesterday I bought him 2 new church outfits so that he could have a cute one to wear to the Christmas program in church today. I bought 2 because this way he could choose which one he liked better. He immediately chose this cute outfit that has a sweater. Well when I put it on him today he kinda freaked. Don't let this smiley face fool you. He's smiling because he's teasing his dad about wearing flipflops to church.We are all in the same room.
Eli: Daddy can I not wear these new clothes to church.
Stewart: no you have to wear them. Stewart leaves the room.
Eli: Daddy says I don't have to wear these clothes to church.
Becca: Eli you are telling a lie. Daddy said you do have to wear them.
Eli: No he didn't he said I don't.
Becca: Eli, you are telling a lie.
Eli: yes I am. (in a sing-song-sad voice)

Why do some things have to be so hard?! I just want him to look cute and not wear floods to church!

Italians Read On

For the past few years my family has had a fun new tradition. On Christmas Eve my side of the family meets and we have a "traditional" Christmas dinner. Last year it was Asian Christmas with sushi, pot stickers, and ham fried rice. The Christmas before was Mexican Christmas with homemade horchata, pozole, and tamales. Well, this year is Italian Christmas and I need recipes! I think that Ben and Jeri (wow that was kinda funny) should be able to help me out here. I need recipes that are GOOD! They don't really have to be traditional Christmas recipes but they have to be authentic Italian food.

We started this tradition because by Christmas we were all tired of the turkey/ham dinners. My mom really dragged her feet the 1st year...until we told her that she didn't have to cook anything and that us kids would do it all. Last year she even brought it up first and asked what kind of meal we were going to cook.

Now if only I could talk my parents into Indian Christmas next year, not American Indian, India Indian, then I'll be happy. :)

Eli says:

Spotted: Stewart wrestling Becca with Eli coming to her rescue.
Heard: Eli yelling, "I'm gonna get you...baldy."

Work Christmas Party

Last night we went to my work Christmas party. It was so good! They had it at the Market Street Grill. Holy cow it was good food and I won a prize. I also won a prize at the summer party. I LOVE winning prizes it makes me feel so happy inside.

On a side note Eli told me today and yesterday that he was having a boring day! It's true too. I suck.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

So my Dear Husband wanted to help me get the Christmas cards ready for delivery last night. I was folding up the letter to put in the cards so he said he'd put on the return labels. After he did that he said that he'd put stamps on too. I didn't have stamps so we didn't get that far but after looking at these envelopes today it makes me wonder where would we put the stamps?!
So now what do I do put the stamp right over the return label or take them all off?!

Temple Square and the Lights

We went to see the lights on Thursday with my family. We ate dinner at Crown Burger and then walked around Temple Square. It was really fun to see all those lights and it was not crowded at all! Probably this was the best year so far.



Eli LOVES his cousins so much. He could be heard saying "come on, Cousins." or "wait for me Cousins."





Eli hitched a ride with my Grandma.



He's just so cute! When we took him to the top of the JSMB he said "OH WOW!"







By the Big Red Tree.

Our 75.00 ER Visit

So we had a scare with Eli last night! Eli couldn't sleep last night so he got out of bed and got and apple to eat. We were all just sitting around talking when I saw Eli scratch his leg. Last week I took him to the Dr. because he has eczema all over his legs. I hadn't put the lotion on his legs that night so I took him in the bathroom and pulled down his jammie bottoms. What I saw was this huge, hot spot that looked like it had blisters on it! I called for Stewart to come in and look and when Eli saw it he started crying. It was SO bad. It looked like a sunburn that started to blister and right before our eyes it started to spread! I called the "ask a nurse line" which was no help at all and the instacares were closed so we rushed him over to LDS hospital once the rash got on his neck.

To make a long story short (too late) Eli had an allergic reaction to something and they were atypical hives. The Dr. said that children with eczema are at risk for allergies. So I think that with Eli having a cold and eczema he had a reaction to the apple that I didn't wash.

On a positive note Eli was a hit at the Hospital. Everyone thought that he was so cute and funny. People stopped to say "Hi" to him and were just laughing at the things that he was doing. He was naked with just his underpants on so I called him "Captain Underpants" and he started laughing and laughing. The couple in the next room were laughing at him laughing. Eli was really glad that they let him keep the "bracelet" and was pretty worried that they would take it off before we left.

Something looks suspicious---EDITED

Well I'm pretty sure it's not the 8th of December but Eli's advent calender suspiciously has 8 doors open. I wonder how this could have happened?!

***Yes there was an incident involving a snowball with this calander you can read about it here. I fixed the calander so the chocolate would stay in. Eli came and told me that he was going to eat the chocolate. I told him he shouldn't but he said that "I'll make the decision." Which means "I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do!"

SNOWY SATURDAY

We had SUCH a fun Saturday. We woke up to a snowy morning and got all decked out in our snow clothes. Here is Eli ready for action. We were going to make a snowman but it wasn't good snowman snow.
Instead we went sledding at Sugarhouse park. It was pretty fun except Eli got a little nervous. The first picture below is Stewart pulling Eli up the hill and the 2nd is of them coming down. They totally crashed! It was funny. The best part for Stewart was that he got to put the truck in 4-wheel drive! :)

After the sledding we went to the Sorensen Christmas party and ate and had a pretty good time. Then that night we went to our ward Christmas party. Guess who came? SANTA! Eli was SO excited and couldn't wait to tell him that he wants a skateboard. After talking to Santa, Eli said that he forgot to say HO, HO, HO.

Next we danced the night away. Stewart and I wowed everyone with our (meaning his) swing dancing skills. Luckily I can just kinda let Stewart do the work and I get spun and dipped and basically have no idea what's going on. It's when I try to dance that we get into trouble.

Eli also showcased his dancing skills. He ran around like crazy and had a great time. It was probably the funnest ward party I've been to.

And for good measure, and at Stacy's request, here is our FAVORITE picture of Eli with Santa. This is one of our Christmas decorations. It's so classic.

Christmas Songs???

So Stewart has taught Eli some Christmas songs and Eli thinks they are HILARIOUS. It's times like these that I think that Eli is a genius. He only had to watch this once (with Stewart) to practically have it memorized. It's kinda funny to hear Eli sing it though. He does the fade out at the end "dinnng friiiies are dooone."



Another one is this. It's family guy too but there aren't videos of it out there.

Eli goes around singing "I brought these gifts for you they're up in my bum."

So these are the Christmas song I think that I'm going to hear all season. It tried to get him to listen to jingle bells or Rudolph but he wasn't having any of that. He just kept saying, "let's watch Family Guy."

Red, Red, Red!

I got a new bedspread and curtains! I love them. The bedspread is from Ikea and the curtains used to be tablecloths that my grandma helped me turn into curtains. I love red so much. I want the red corduroy couch from Ikea and someday I will have a big red kitchen. I do have the red kitchenaid and all red kitchen utensils but my kitchen is to small to have all my cute stuff out. Someday...

Eli says:

I just remembered some fun things that Eli has said recently:

This is a picture of my matryoshka doll that I got in Russia. I have told Eli not to touch it a few times. This morning he said "look mom" and pointed at the doll. He had put them back inside each other. I told him to put them back the way that I had them because I wanted them out so people could see all of them. He said, "but you told me not to touch it."


When Eli is talking about something that happened in the past he has a funny way of saying it. For this example we'll pretend that he is talking about going hiking. He'll say, "We went hiking yesterday from a long week ago."

One time I called Eli by his actual name which is Elias. He looked very offended and said "I'm not Eli Lettuce!" Eli detests lettuce.

At the Dr's office Eli was sitting upside down on the couch. I told him to sit up like a normal boy and he said, "I'm not a normal boy!" If I ever call him normal he thinks that it's an insult.

Christmas Decor

Well ALL of my Christmas decorations are up! I love it. These are our NEW stockings that my mom made for us! Aren't they cute. Eli absolutely LOVES his stocking and really put the pressure on my mom to finish them.

She also made us a tree skirt that you can see in the pictures of Eli laying under the tree.

These are stockings that are similar to the ones that i had growing up. They are just so fun to have THANKS MOM.

Here is a close-up of Eli's stocking. Eli wasn't exactly happy that it's spelled E-L-I-A-S and not just E-L-I.

I put my Christmas village out in 2 places across from each other. The effect is really pretty. I love it. Eli does think that he should get to play with it but I don't so there is some contention there.

Christmas Tree

On Friday we decorated our Christmas tree. It was so much fun. I went and bought a pre-lit tree since I couldn't face the idea of actually having to string lights. Eli was so excited to see the tree and had a great time decorating it. I was laying there looking at the tree and asked him to come snuggle with me. He climbed under the tree and said that he was going to snuggle under the tree.


So for the past 2 night Eli has said "Promise that you won't put the Christmas tree away." Like I'm just waiting for him to go to sleep so I can put the tree away. He has also been saying, "promise me that you'll get me this many presents." As he holds up his hands with his thumbs in (meaning 8 presents). I say, "no I won't promise that. You have to be a good boy to get presents." And he always replies, "I am."

As soon as Eli woke up this morning he rearranged his ornaments. His are pretty much in a little cluster. It's pretty funny how happy a Christmas tree can make him.

Here is Eli with his ornament cluster. I just think he's so cute.

Turkey Day

We love turkey! As Thanksgiving approached I took the opportunity to teach Eli a little about Thanksgiving. What did Eli think was the main point? The fact that we would be eating turkey. For DAYS he talked about eating turkey! When I said that I was going to eat all the turkey by myself he got very serious and said, "NO, don't eat all the turkey you have to share with me and Daddy."

We went to Stewart's parents house and had a wonderful dinner. I really love Thanksgiving. It's one of the best holidays. Tonight we had our own little Thanksgiving dinner. We put the drumstick on Eli's plate and he LOVED it. He was like a little caveman. It's further proof of Eli's manliness. For more proof click here.

Anyway, Eli ate the whole thing and left the bones. He did say that I could eat the bones if I wanted too. Isn't that sweet?! :)


On a serious note I am thankful for many things this year. I have been Especially thankful for Stewart. He's been very supportive and sweet in the hard times that we have faced this year. I have appreciated him so much. I am also so thankful for my sweet little boy. He's such a joy in my life I don't know what I'd do without him.

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving too.

Black Friday!...UPDATED

Well I just got back from some Black Friday Christmas shopping. This is my 3rd year of going with my sister. We started at Walmart and then hit Target and then breakfasted at Sam's Club. It was SO fun. If you have never experienced this holiday tradition I highly recommend it. I was scared the 1st year that I went but after my first fight with some old hag I knew that Black Friday and I were friends.

So I got all sorts of stuff and it was so fun. I'm really tired now so maybe I'll post my buys later but for now I'm going to sleep!

UPDATE: Ok I can now post about my holiday shopping. Stacy and I had it all worked out. I got the Elmo and Tonka truck and then went over to get the movies. On my way to get the movies I picked up this kids toy laptop and some magic sand stuff. I just grabbed them because I could. Stacy in the meantime got the SD cards and a printer and the movies. I got trapped and couldn't get over to the movies so I backtracked and went to get a Christmas tree. Unfortunately the tree I wanted was gone. (I did go to a different Walmart later and it was there.) Oh Stacy also got some digital picture frames. We got everything that we wanted so it was nice.

At Target I got a sewing machine* and the movie Annie. I can't remember what Stacy got though. We had so much fun! The only sad part was that when I went to Walmart later pretty much everything was still there! It's more fun when you barely get the stuff you wanted.

*there is a long story about this machine but just know I got an expensive one for a cheaper price

Eli's 4 year old pics

These speak for themselves. He's just really cute!