Our December

December was maddness I tell you! We had SO much going on, usually I try to keep it low-key so we can focus on enjoying the Christmas spirit but this year we were crazy busy!!

Jaxon and Kade were in The Best Christmas Pagent Ever this year. They had a million practices, rehersals and 13 performances at the Mesa Arts Center. It was a really great show and in Kade's words "a great experience". It was a huge commitment on both their parts and mine as well since it required so much time and driving. Kade's going to try out for another play coming this March, Jax on the other hand would rather not commit to something that big again.

As I mentioned here we went to Minnesota to stay with friends and watch the Vikings play the Giants. My parents had planned to spend Christmas with us so they came out early enough so we'd have someone to watch the kids while we were gone. Thanks Mom and Dad!! It was a great time, here's some of the things we did...

Mom made Sophia some cute tutu's to play dress up. She LOVES them...thanks mom!

Stopped to take in the view of Canyon Lake.

We went on a little fieldtrip up the Superstition Mountains to Tortilla Flat. We had lunch in the saloon with the walls covered in dollar bills. Had fun looking through the shops and bought some candy. 

 The weather was beautiful for pretty much the entire month, Arizona's mild winters are the best!

Mom was a lifesaver and did all the laundry and dishes (our dishwasher was broke)...the girl has some mad domestic skillz! It was like having a sister wife in the house...kinda, sorta. Dad helped Sophia and Kade with their bike riding, and taught Kaden to shoot the basketball (and make it). Kade even scored the first point in our Christmas basketball game.

I did a ton of baking...and paid the price on the treadmill later! Kade helped with these Oreo Brownie's. The recipe can be found on my friend Jenny's blog Picky Palate.

Hiking was another way we burned off all the extra calories. 

Besides my (almost seventy year old) dad's 6X a week workouts, he rocked the hike like a champ. No ski pole's walking stick necessary! He put the other seniors to shame.

We even came across this triantula!!

Yes, I'm painfully aware of how silly these giant sun glasses look on my already round face. I've vowed not to wear them again, the bright side is they only cost me $3, they were a desperate purchase when Kimball and I were in Little Italy, NY.

Christmas Eve, the kids opened their annual Christmas pj's...always a favorite.

Grandma Kay made Soph's day by getting her a robe so she could be like the rest of the kids.

Christmas dinner was just OK, I guess after the big basketball game at the park I wasn't on my 'A game' when it came to the rice and rolls but at least the table looked pretty and we had a nice evening. I was already bugged that my dinner didn't wasn't perfect, so I may or may not have bit Kimball's head off snapped at Kimball for purposly positioning his face behind the candle light...again. Ha ha, so funny! :)

Sadly, on Christmas morning I hopped into blogland for a minute only to find out my blog friend Edie had lost her home and all her possessions in a fire earlier that week. She lives in Tennesse so there wasn't much I could do to help right that second, but it sure was hard to enjoy the holiday knowing my dear friend was experiencing such a devastating loss.

Thanks again to my mom and dad for spending December with us. The kids say it was their best Christmas so far. They came all the way from Texas and are now off on a three week vacation to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand...not too bad! Have a great time and hurry back!

Joining Sweet Shot Tuesday

Thanksgiving Day 2009

My favorite things about Thanksgiving are the beautiful tables, the delicious food and of course spending time with my family. We were lucky to have my niece Carly and her family come from Utah.
I love coming up with a new idea each year for place cards. This year I just drew a thankful tree and photo copied it, wrote their name in the corner and used several different cute paper to make the leaves and background. I love how they turned out.
Right before the feast, we all wrote what we are thankful for one each leaf. It was nice sharing our blessings with one another before we ate.

Dinner was amazing!! Carly is quite the cook so she encouraged me to step out of my hum drum ways and serve a few more 'homemade' dishes. She made pumpkin pie, apple pie, yams, and cranberry sauce from scratch. The yams were a big hit w/ Kimball so it looks like I'll be doing those next year.


Kade's way of making sure I was serving gravy....classic!

Carly and I, admiring all our hard work.

My famous "butt rolls".

The food was amazing!!

Kade's a big TJ fan

I kept my tradition going with the kids table and had them do their hand prints on their table cloth. You can see our Turkey day post from last year HERE. Sophia was sleeping during dinner so she had a little feast of her own afterward. I woke up that morning feeling really sick, luckily (I think), Carly and TJ spiked my drink with a 5 Hour Energy Drink. I have to say, it did the trick. I don't think I could have pulled it off without it. You should have seen me cooking and cleaning like a mad woman! The kids had a fun time playing outside and later we took them to the outdoor mall to play. The temperature was 81...needless to say it didn't really snow!
Besides being thankful for more work, a cozy home and a healthy family, I am SO thankful for great friends who keep me company out here in Arizona. Now do yourself a favor and click on song 1 on my side bar...All I need by Matt Kearney.