We're Back!

Hey! We've enjoyed a lengthy maternity leave from blogging. Thanks for being patient with us over the past 3 months as we've adjusted. The most exciting thing that has happened since our last blog post is that baby Brooks has learned how to smile.

Look how far he has come!

We're not going to write a detailed account of the past three months because we're having a hard time remembering what happened ten minutes ago. Still, we'll post the pictures we like the most, starting with our Thanksgiving break.

FYI, Oliver and I can't figure out how to un-underline words. We'll just try to be as emphatic as possible when the underline won't go away.

Here's Brooks at four weeks old--pretty slamming in his Christmas overalls.

A little big-brother action going on in this one. This was one of our finalists for a Christmas picture.

Here's our Thanksgiving crowd! We were so lucky to see both sets of grandparents at the same time, and Tyson to boot. Glad he didn't ask us to go running though...he's getting way too fast. Brooks had a wonderful baby blessing right before our Thanksgiving feast.

Okay, moving into Christmas-time. This gingerbread house was a triumph for our family. The boys did a lot of the decorating themselves.

Here are our Christmas pageant stars. Sydney was an angel, Kendall was a wise man, Caleb and Mia were Joseph and Mary, Chase was a cranky, overtired King Herod, and Brooks was baby Jesus, of course.

They didn't even wake Brooks up during the performance. Score for the Hahl grandchildren!

Here are some Christmas day pictures--Caleb and Mia with a Harry Potter lego set,

Kendall, Brooks, and the blue bear Kendall gave him,

Opa with the little guys--Henry and Jaynee,

and Chase with his new alphabet letters book.

After Christmas we met up with Karisa and John, who were also in Arizona for Christmas. We all went on a nature scavenger hunt. Thanks for letting me steal this picture from your blog, Karisa!

And now, we have officially entered 2011.

Check out the Boston skyline in the background of this picture.

We've had at least one major snowstorm every week this January. The snow is piled five feet high in most places. I went to a workshop on dealing with kids in the wintertime, and one of the bullet points was to be as positive as possible about snow. It was a call to repentance for Oliver and me. We're doing better though. Now when we want to cry, scream, or throw up in our mouths a little when we hear the weather forecast, we say, "YAY SNOW!" And we go sledding.

Here's Chasey and Dadda about to go down the hill.

Caleb and Dadda. Caleb was really into the sledding this time. Everyone slept well afterwards, especially Dadda.

Chase thought sledding was OK, but he LOVED this snowman at the top of the sledding hill.

This picture doesn't really have a category. I just like it a lot.

And now we've come full circle. Here is Brooks on his three-month birthday, giving a nod to Tom Brady with his man-Uggs. Brooks a sweet boy--so curious about his brothers, happy when anyone sings to him, thrilled when he gets to take a bath (his name is Brooks, after all), and always trying to run with his feet, even though he can't go anywhere just yet. Sweet doesn't mean he's a piece of cake, though. He's just as opinionated as his brothers, and let's not even go into his sleeping habits at night. But he's a keeper. We're so happy he's here.