Our renters moved out in a rush at the end of November and we had had several people look at it but no takers. My mom and dad suggested that we get a new stove (the present stove was the ancient kind with little white push buttons, lots of rust, and built into the cupboards - pretty scary). So we decided to get a standard size stove and hire someone to cut out the stove and move the counters to fit a new one in. What followed? Had to cut into old countertops - new countertops, had to cut into the linoleum - new wood laminate for the kitchen and halls, new baseboard upstairs, repainted kitchen cabinets. Then the carpet looked hideous, so new carpet throughout the house. Wow - didn't see that coming. It looks beautiful now, I think we'll switch places with our renter!I'm trying to decide which blasted laminate to put in. So I sprinkled dirt on both - which ever one shows the dirt the least is the winner. In the end, none of it mattered. I picked the prettiest one, which was none of those shown below. I don't think I could ever build a custom house - I would go crazy with all the decisions.
This is a totally fake smile. With a total of 1 1/2 youtube videos, Rob spent his whole holiday on Monday figuring out how and laying laminate in the kitchen. His buddy Craig was a trooper and helped him for most of it. I am proud to say, he did an incredible job. What a handyman!Before
After
Rob did nearly all of what you see above, then ran out of time so we hired someone to come in and finish it. When I called the floor guy, he warned me that he'd done that once before and had to rip out what was done and start over because they had done it all wrong. I got a bit nervous,
and met with him the next morning. He said he could finish it that day, which he did. A fantastic little prank presented itself and I decided to tell Rob that I learned we'd have to start all over again and he would charge us $500. When he came home from work I told him to come with me and look at the floor and I'd explain it to him. He walked inside and saw a completely finished and cleaned beautiful laminate floor! Done! I was again proud that he had done such a wonderful job with just a few short tips. We have a really sweet lady moving in and we're happy that it will be such a nice place for her. 
So...potty training. I read and heard from several sources, 3 is the magic age! I couldn't wait that long and felt Liv is ready (okay she'll be 3 in February so it's not that big a jump). She was so excited about her underwear - she picked them out herself, Dora of course. Brooky got pretty excited too:) It's so fun to see her so excited to go potty like a big girl. The first day, she would say, "Mommy I need to go potty!" And she would run to her potty and just sit there. 4 minutes later, "I don't need to go potty," all day long. She did actually go, as you can see in pic #2. She also has had some accidents and has discovered that underwear just doesn't hold it in like a diaper does. So, often throughout the day she'll say, "I'm not pooping," or "I'm not peeing!" It's pretty funny. If you have any advice, especially about what you do for naps and nighttime sleep, let me know! We still put a diaper on whenever she sleeps and I'm wondering when to do away with that too. 
We spent Christmas in Mesa this year. Rob and Brooky were sick. Rob slept for about 3 days straight with a sinus infection/flu and Brooky had an ear infection. Not fun. Despite family illness, we all managed to have a great time. Dad spent a lot of time rigging up this fancy caroling trailer. The kids had a blast! We jingled bells and sang around Grams and Gramps Heap and Rob and Annie's neighborhoods. We sounded pretty darn awesome, though we only knew all the words to about 2 songs.
Livvy and I decorated a gingerbread house. Much of the candy Olivia had ended up in her mouth, but it turned out quite well. She said with great enthusiasm, "I love celebrating!"
Rob made it up and out of bed for a few hours Christmas Eve. 
Christmas Eve dinner was spent with Grandma Martinsen and Grandma Cooper. Mom fixed ham, a cheese ball with crackers, rolls, shrimp, and some other delicious plates. It was so yummy!
After dinner we did our traditional opening of pajamas. Here are our sweeties in their adorable pjs from Grandma. Of course, Livvy insists that her nightgown is a princess dress and refuses to wear it to bed. Cutie pies.
Ahhh...so sweet. Sarah and I showing off our fancy jams. Do we look like Siamese twins?
On Christmas Eve, we read the story of the Savior's birth from Luke II. Livvy is enjoying the story on Sarah's lap.
Christmas Day!! Olivia and Brooklyn both got a dollhouse that, eventually, they will share. Right now Brooky is more like Godzilla tearing down everything in sight:) So we decided to get Brooky her own little gift - a puppy that sings and teaches names, numbers, the alphabet etc. It is super cute. She really liked it.
See what I mean? I think I'll just chew on Dad's head for a while. Livvy really loved her dollhouse.
Another tradition is getting Mom and Dad random things for their stockings. Highlights - Mom's Diet Pepsi chapstick and Dad's wolf hat complete with mittens.
Just had to include this picture. I can think of so many funny captions for this.
Christmas Day we head over to Grandma Heap's place for some delicious Mexican food. All the Heaps bring all kinds of dishes - enchiladas, tacos, dips, burros, etc. It is always tasty. Rob was so sad to miss it. He was still a bit queasy. Here's the girls' table.
Our girls with their Great Grandma Heap. This woman was a marathon runner and can still do the splits. She's kind of amazing. Every year Grams and Gramps give the girls books. Livvy is pretty excited about her books.
For Thanksgiving this year, we had our Martinsen reunion in California again. Oh, so beautiful. Mom and Dad rented a gorgeous house where we gorged ourselves with chocolate pie, heath cake and incredible Mexican food. I think I may have eaten a gallon of Mom's salsa. 6 pounds later, we were back in Utah. How does that happen in a week's time? It was all fabulous.
First on the agenda was Disneyland. Rob's sister April used to live here and so knew a great babysitter, so we left the 3 babies at the homestead and headed off for the happiest place on earth:) Olivia of course spotted the merry go round almost immediately.
Oh the fantastic 'It's a small world' ride. It was worth the hour long wait in line. We were thinking it wouldn't be as crowded going on Monday, the week of Thanksgiving - kids are still in school, right? Wrong, they got the week off, so it was pretty crowded. Still had a great time though. I love this picture with Grandma and Grandpa.
Teacups? No thanks. Rob's turn. Dad Martinsen was a trooper, he does not like the teacups and gets sick but went anyway. He earned extra grandpa points. 
FYI - don't let a toddler get hold of a sugary churro and eat it over your head. Serious sugar dandruff. Thanks for the help Sarah.
Our little Livvy is a runner, has been since she discovered she could. So we purchased a child safety harness. She didn't like it, so we decided to just be super cautious, which backfired when she cut through a line and was found inside the Buzz Light Year ride. That is the scariest feeling, not knowing where your child is in a place like that. Oh, worst feeling. Needless to say, she was in the harness after that. Aunt Sarah is helping her pick out a souvenir.
So, what do you do? I ride a float dressed like a prince and dance with Cinderella and smile a lot.
Liv was plum tuckered out by the end of the day.
I took the girls home and Rob stayed to shut down Disneyland with Sarah. They got to actually ride some real rides. He was happy to spend some quality time with his little sis.
Day 2 was Brooklyn's 1st birthday. So of course we stripped her down and let her immerse herself in cake. She didn't really get into it, a bit too much dinner maybe? Cute little bug.
Time to open presents!
Riding on her new alphabet train.
Olivia kind of took over the tricycle. She discovered how to turn the pedals with her feet and go fast instead of just scoot along with her feet on the ground. So she became down right possessive. We had a couple of lessons on sharing and taking turns:)
Good times with Grandpa. Brooky is quick to grab anything within arms reach - guard your glasses!
There was a hot tub in the back yard that we took advantage of. The swimming pool wasn't heated, so with all the kids, the tub was quite full! My cute little family.
A day at the beach. The girls were so excited. I think Brooky was a bit overwhelmed with it all.
Rob, trying his hand at paddle boarding. He didn't really have the time he needed to learn how to do it, but had a great time trying. Way to go Rob!
Livvy had a great time in the sand building sand castles with her cousins.
Brooklyn was so funny. She was covered in sand and hungry. There, on the towel, she spotted a nutrigrain bar and proceeded to eat it, sand and all. Mmm...crunchy.
Thanksgiving Day brought with it our traditional turkey trot run. Rob Scoresby found an outdoor track at a high school close to our home. Liv was super excited to run. Here's a classic of her stretching before the big event!
Rob, getting Livvy revved up. The kids were so into it. They ran about 3 and 1/2 laps around the track. That's a long way to go for those little legs!
Go Olivia!!
We all took part in the pinata making contest (Rob took it very seriously, as you can see from the second picture, it was a beautiful turkey)! Eli was a trooper and spent so much time on his. He, Caleb, and Halle did a great job. Livvy, after much coaxing, sat at the table for .2 seconds and was off to greater adventures.
She did get excited about the google eyes and Elmers glue. 
Eating the spoils. Livvy got several candies from the first pinata and was satisfied to just sit and eat those. When the others broke open theirs, we would say, "Livvy there's more, go get it!" Nope, she was a happy camper with her little pile, (when do I ever tell my kids to get more candy)? Brooklyn was ecstatic with the few she was able to find on the floor.Brooky-"Mmmm...candy...drool...drool...mmm." Liv-"I'm drunk on sugar and I love it."
I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning and decided to just have a cheerio or two.
The Minute to Win It events were a hit. Rob and Annie spent a lot of time planning some really fun obstacles. I had to wear panty hose on my head with an orange in the foot and try to swing the orange and knock down 6 cans in a minute. Hideous. Mom, Dad, and Rob are looking quite intense!
I love the San Diego Zoo. This was in front of the polar bear area. We watched an enormous polar bear pull itself out of the water and walk around. It was amazing. The animals were very active. Here are my little pups.
Such a fun picture of the cousins. Funny how they happen to be in ascending height order. Can't remember what they're looking at, but it must have been pretty interesting.
Of course there has to be ice cream where Grandpa is, which Brooky was pretty excited about. Look at that greedy little face! "If I can just get my hands on it..."
There's just nothing in the world like childrens laughter. Love, love, love it.
Hold on Grandpa, they're pretty squirmy!
Some good ol' Daddy Brooky time. Another fantastic day at the San Diego Zoo!
What an incredible blessing it is to have such an amazing family! We love our Martinsen family and wish we could see them more often. Thanks Mom and Dad for another wonderful reunion!
Rob did nearly all of what you see above, then ran out of time so we hired someone to come in and finish it. When I called the floor guy, he warned me that he'd done that once before and had to rip out what was done and start over because they had done it all wrong. I got a bit nervous, and met with him the next morning. He said he could finish it that day, which he did. A fantastic little prank presented itself and I decided to tell Rob that I learned we'd have to start all over again and he would charge us $500. When he came home from work I told him to come with me and look at the floor and I'd explain it to him. He walked inside and saw a completely finished and cleaned beautiful laminate floor! Done! I was again proud that he had done such a wonderful job with just a few short tips. We have a really sweet lady moving in and we're happy that it will be such a nice place for her. 
