ALL ABOARD

We surprised our kids with a trip on the Polar Express. We went with our good friends the Sipes and had a really good time. Before we got on the train we went into the Polar Room where they had some arts and crafts, pictures with Mrs. Claus and a cool table top Christmas village that a little model train drove around.

On the train we had HUGE cookies, hot chocolate, reading of the Polar Express book, games, singing and of course once we got to the North Pole Santa came on the train and gave everyone a silver bell. When the train started moving Caleb got so excited and was laughing and bouncing up and down

Here are the kids plastered against the window trying to see the North Pole. It was this whole village all in Christmas lights out in the middle of now where.

I am so glad that we were able to go and that we could share the day with our friends.

Here Comes Santa Clause~Here Comes Santa Clause....

Justins very first Christmas he was only 6 weeks old so the next year when he had just turned 1 I took him to see Santa....what a great idea.........
5 years later he is still unsure. I stood in line with the kids and once we got to the front and it was our turn he didn't want to go. I guess at least now he smiles.
Jessa was very cute and made sure he knew she wanted anything princess
Caleb...Well I knew the only way for him to sit there was to not see me. So a friend was holding him walking around and when she saw it was our turn quickly came over and put him on Santas lap. I love his face! What the cuss is going on here!

UH-OH SPAGHETTI -O

Christmas Programs

I have been trying and trying to upload some video of the kids programs and so far not luck.

Jessicas little Joy School group acted out the nativity story and sang 2 songs. Jessa was a wiseman but that night was unwilling to wear her crown or bring a gift to baby Jesus. Just not worth the tears...same reason our Mary was dressed like Hannah Montana:)

Justins Kindergarten program was great! He was middle top and center which made it fun to watch him. They only down side was that the lighting was not great so pictures were not great. They sang a song called "Oh what a miracle am I. " It is such a sweet song! I hate to admit that I have become one of those Moms and got a little teary.

This is Justin with his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Romney. I could not ask for a better teacher for my Justin. She made ALL (40) of her kids these cute little hats for them to wear! Justin has slept with his EVERY night since then.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

One morning we woke up to 18 inches of snow. There was not one person in our house who wasn't over the top excited about it! Chad was more then willing to go out and shovel our drive way and the kids couldn't even wait to get dressed so they went out in their PJs. As soon as I could get Caleb down for a nap I got all bundled up with the kids and we went out and played.




Justin found an icicle that he thought looked just like his BB Gun

We made a snow man and the kids thought it was awesome when I put water and food coloring in spray bottles and they got to paint the snow...BeSt DaY EvEr!

Thanksgiving

After the Iron Man my sister Ryanne and her little family came for a recovery week.

We did crafts




Had a GREAT Thanksgiving dinner. And after dinner...............

Chad some how got put in charge of the 2 little ones and neither one of them was ok with it. It was pretty funny

One day we drove into Pinetop to feed the ducks and play at the park. I love November Arizona weather!

It is not easy getting a picture of all these kids together but it was fun to try



My kids were so excited to spend time with their cousin we always wish they could have more times like this

Fun in Phoenix

My parents and Riki and Levi (after a forgotten wallet, missed flight, and late night pick-up) came down for a great weekend. First was Justins Birthday, then Jessas dance recital then we all headed down to Phoenix to watch Casey (my brother-in-law) compete in his second Iron Man. Now if you have never heard of an Iron man it is 140.6 miles of craziness. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride followed by a full 26.2 mile marathon. Ryanne made us all matching shirts so he could easily spot us in our bright yellow. It was actually (and surprisingly) a lot of fun to watch and be able to cheer him on. Casey did really great! His goal was to finish in 10 hours and he came in at 9:59:53! I didn't even get 1 picture of him during it...bummer!

Considering that we were there running to different spots to see him all my kids did really well.

Justin and Jessa enjoying a snow cone waiting for Uncle Casey to zoom pass on his bike.
The day before the race we went to the Phoenix Zoo. I am always so glad when there are other people to ride the carousel with my kids. One trip around is about all I can handle. Jessa of course asked her Daddy
And Justin requested Uncle Levi

I am so glad that Levi and Riki decided to come down. My kids LOVE them BOTH so much!





We LOVE having family come visit and had such a GREAT time!