Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a quick review of the Robbins happenings of our favorite holiday of the year!

This is Christmas morning and Jace is trying out his new bike. He was actually the first one awake and as he was coming into our bedroom he sighted the back wheel of his bike. All he could do was ask over and over "Mama, what is that? What is that?" I kept telling him to come on in but he was frozen. So we went to wake up the girls and let them have at it - Santa presents that is. Since we had church at 9:30 we didn't open up any other presents until we got home.

Thanks to a new Karaoke Machine and Walt Disney, we are having a lovely time as Belle, Ariel, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel. Such beautiful, loud music. Thank goodness for a basement!

This is after church. Darren got a new knife and tons of other hunting supplies courtesy of our brother-in-law.

My sister, Breanna and her husband Skip made it out for Christmas.

The "after Christmas present opening" festivities of card playing. My grandparents are there, with my brothers, Travis and Daniel, Uncle Sim Arthur, and of course, the girls who headed up the game, Abby and Brooklyn.

Jace playing horsey with Uncle Travis and having a splendid time.

Phil and Travis both got "real" cowboy bandanas (I don't know what they're called..) and had a good game of "stick 'em up cowboy". Abby's not sure what to do in this game.

And just in case you're wondering what exactly I'm looking like at 9 months pregnant, here you go.



A giant, red, shiny Christmas ball. Just in time for the Holidays! Merry Christmas!

Abby turns 7!

Happy Birthday Abby! Abby turned 7 years old on Dec. 14 and was lucky enough to have lots of family here to help her celebrate.

One of her favorite gifts - a new coat. Thanks Grandma Suzette! She also got Connect 4 ( I couldn't help it - I loved that game when I was her age!), some new shirts, and money.

Here's the birthday cake. I had strict instructions. A chocolate cake with white frosting and a Christmas Tree. I think this fits the bill!

Grandpa Ed, Grandma Dena, and Uncle Steve were all in town (for a hunting trip) and were happy to help celebrate. I finally made it into a picture and if you can't tell I don't have long to go before this baby comes!

Abby is loving 1st grade and has become a stupendous reader. She has been doing really well with piano and just finished her Christmas recital. She loves playing games and is a big help with her little brother and sister (most of the time that is ...). Happy 7th Birthday Abby!

Brooklyn turns 5!!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn! It was Brooklyn's birthday on November 26 and we had lots of people visiting to help celebrate! Here's my big 5 year old opening presents. (That's uncle Philip in the background). I should mention that her favorite present came from Grandma Lu. An 18" doll with a bunch of different outfits. Abby also got one for her early bday present. And since everyone was getting presents from Grandma Lu, she made sure Jace got one too. He got Woody from Toy Story. Spoiled is what I say!


Grandma Dena carried on the tradition of getting both my girls church dresses. This another of Abby's early bday presents.

YAY! Brooklyn is 5!!

Brooklyn was actually quite nervous to be turning 5. And those are the words she used. "Mom, I'm a little nervous to turn 5." She thought she would feel different. And she had a lot of fun as a 4 year old - she wasn't sure she wanted to leave those years behind! In fact, when she found out that she didn't "officially" turn 5 until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, she was sure to let people who called to wish her a happy birthday know that she wasn't quite 5 yet.
Luckily, once 3:01 hit she realized going from 4 to 5 wasn't such a huge transformation and she was good with!

I know that the birthday cake is nothing spectacular but I tried to find a cake I thought Brooklyn would like - cake is not her favorite thing. So this is the recipe she chose (what my college room-mates and I dubbed "Better than Peck on a Cheek" cake ) and it has whipped cream on top. Hard to decorate. So she got sugar letters! At any rate, Brooklyn did eat her cake and loved it. Or so she said. She only had the one piece and didn't want any of the leftovers but the fact that she actually finished her piece of cake says a lot for her!




Here's everyone at the party - my brother Philip, Jace, Brooklyn, Abby, my dad, Darren, Grampa Sim, Uncle Sim Arthur (my dad's brother), my mom, and Grandma Lu. There are no pictures of me at the party. With just over 4 weeks left in this pregnancy I'm ok with that!

Happy Birthday Brookie! We love you!