Radom pics

Boys will be boys.

A bed is really just a trampoline.

Merida really lives in my house.

How many kids can you fit in a mini smart car?

Christmas festivities

We had the pleasure of hosting Brenden's family for Christmas this year.  His sister and her family came along with his parents. Can you believe they drove from AZ!?  We had a great time.  They brought these beauties along with them who were the highlight of Emmie and Pete's Christmas. 

Our days were spent mostly inside playing and coloring but we let the kids run around in the snow one afternoon as most of us watched from the windows.  I guess snow is a novelty when you live in Phoenix!

 

Christmas eve we had our turkey feast.  Brenden made a delicious bird and we ate until we were stuffed and then we ate again.  Jenna was in charge of our Christmas nativity.  She arranged all the costumes and assigned parts.  She not only directed but also starred as Mary while Grandpa Pete read from Luke.  It was marvelous. We also made Santa some cookies (which were not very good-that's what we get for buying store bought dough).  Little Pete thought it was better to just eat the flour. The night ended in a dog pile as all good parties should and we wouldn't be having fun unless someone gets hurt.  This time the casualty was Jenna... and maybe a little Cora. 

Christmas morning!  We put a baby gate at the top of the stairs so the kids would not be temped to come disturb parents...I mean Santa.  We ate a nice waffle breakfast and lounged around all day.  I stayed in my pj's and didn't even bother to brush my hair or teeth which is why there are no pictures of me.

We were sad to see everyone go.  It was definitely a Christmas to remember.  We shared laughs and germs.  Almost everyone was sick at some point.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family.  Thanks for making the trip!  You were the highlight of our year!

Chocolate

You can tell the Christmas is approaching because I am becoming more and more willing to let the kids eat junk.  They were digging in the cupboard and found a huge Hershey's bar.  They asked if they could have it for snack and I said.. go for it.  I decided to get my camera out and just be a fly on the wall. This is what I saw...

Yes, instead of eating the chocolate, Pete rubbed it in his eye.  Why?  Who knows with that one. 

Winter has arrived!

We went from 50's to blizzard in 2 days.  We were out playing in the yard one day and the next we're snowed in! The kids like bringing their toys to the side of the yard where there is a little hill.  They can push off and enjoy the ride!

We went out in the snow 3 times yesterday! The kids were extremely lucky considering I really dislike the snow.  Emmie and Pete however LOVE the snow.  You can tell they were born in Nebraska-they aren't some wimpy Arizonan! Brenden even let me have a fire going the whole day... That was the only thing that saved me.

Emmie's Preschool Christmas Program

Emmie had her preschool Christmas program last week.  She did a really good job.  You could tell in the beginning she was a little unsure of all the people.  As the other kids were singing and doing the actions, Emmie's hands would slowly go down, she would stop singing and her eyes would get really wide.  By the end she was great!

Breakfast with Santa

We went to Breakfast with Santa last Saturday with our good friends Chris, Leah, Kate and Becca.   

  We had a pancake breakfast, listened to Mrs. Claus read a night before Christmas, sat on Santa's lap, decorated a mug, and went ice skating!  Even little Pete got his itty bitty skates on and tried it out!

Polar Express

We rode on Kearney's Polar Express the other night.  We got dressed in our pj's went downtown and rode a trolly around town while eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate.  They read the story "The Polar Express" and then we sang Christmas carols.  It was a really fun night.  They even had a live nativity set up with animals you could pet.  The only problem was it was set up right in front of the lingerie shop where you could go inside and get your picture taken with Mrs. Claus.   We laughed pretty hard about that one. 

Thanksgiving

Emmie's preschool class had a Thanksgiving Feast last week.  Brenden was able to go watch them sing their turkey songs and eat their delicious food.  The class got to choose what to serve and went on a field trip to the store to purchase all the items the day before.  Emmie's contribution was celery and peanut butter. By looking at her plate it seems there were more delicious items on the menu!

She even made her own Thanksgiving place mat.   I love how creative she is with spelling her name these days and how she included her favorite person... her babysitter Laura.

Here is her cute class.  I can't believe Brenden convinced her to wear jeans! It's a good thing we have this picture to prove it!

Thanksgiving Friends

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  Our friends John and Carla drove over from Colorado.  It was really fun having them here.  We had our actual Thanksgiving Feast with John and Carla our other Kearney friends.  Brenden made a delicious bird and gallons of gravy!  We ate until we were stuffed which means it was a successful meal!

Here is the "kids table".  It makes me a little sad that the only thing my kids ate were rolls.  Oh well... to each their own, right?

The adults played scum with a twist!  John and Carla brought jelly bellies along with their Beanboozled cousins.  They look exactly the same but one is a delicious flavor like pear while the other is booger.  It was hilarious!  Whoever became scum had to pick out of the pot. 

This is a picture of Brett's Thor hammer.  He brought it along with him and throughout the weekend Pete slowly ate it.  Yes, Pete is half animal.  Thankfully we sent him back with a new one.

Here is the gang... Taryn and Brett were so good and patient with Red and Little red.  They loved having them here!  I included all of the pictures because while Taryn and Brett look good in each and every picture Emmie tried really hard. 

Trick or Treating

Trick or Treat.