NAU

Over this past holiday season, we made a quick visit to my alma mater. It was fun to see what was new and what was still the same. I loved showing the girls around the campus, particularly the older part of the campus. I kinda hope that at least one of them goes to NAU for college but I will be happy as long as they both attend and graduate from any college (almost any college).

That's the Way Things Happen on the Polar Express

The girls got to go on a special train ride. A ride to the North Pole on the famous Polar Express. It was a whole lot of fun and the first year that Lauren was not afraid of Santa. In fact, when it was our turn to visit with Santa she ran and jumped into his lap. Santa gave a special bell from his sleigh to each of the children. If you have little ones this is definitely a trip you've gotta take.

Where are the pics?

While the last month has been busy, I have not taken many pictures. The only thing I've got are portions of John's day surgery for his shoulder. The best one is the incriminating picture of him putting on stockings. I am going to keep this one around for a while...could come in handy quite often.



The surgery went well and he is now about one month post surgery and diving into physical therapy. We are hoping he will return to work in the next month.

Tahlor celebrated her sixth birthday just before Christmas. She was blessed to receive some great toys and clothes from family and friends. Right now we are working on a loose tooth. Hopefully a blog post topic to follow shortly.

Christmas was wonderful except for the fact that Tahlor missed the last two days of school due to a cold and then of course it was spread around the family. Because they are young, the girls ended up with ear infections as well. We were all sick or getting over the cold by the time Christmas morning came...even then we had a good time. Grandmas and Grandpas came over for dinner in the afternoon and of course, that meant the joy of opening more gifts. Thank you everyone!

Overall 2010 was a good year. Our family is looking forward to a fantastic 2011. Happy New Year to you and yours!

The opportunity knocked

I took the family this year to Opportunity Village - hadn't been in years. In fact, John and I volunteered several years ago when we were dating and I believe that was the last time that I got to experience the magic. The girls enjoyed themselves...plus, Santa was scheduled to be there. I am glad we went...the Magical Forrest was awesome and Tahlor and I had a great time going down the giant slide together.

We all went through the maze with walls constructed of hay bails - great job guys!

Photo Op

Tahlor asked Santa for some art supplies.

Lauren barely visited with Mrs. Claus...and as for Santa - forget about it.


How adorable :)

Fake or Real?

Never would I thought growing up that I would even consider getting a fake one. I have now been contemplating it for a couple of years. After this Christmas season, I feel like the decision to go fake is a given.

Since living in the desert for 10 years now, I believe I am finally tired of watching each Christmas tree I buy dry-out and turn into a fire hazard before Christmas arrives. Don't get me wrong, I love the smell of the tree and the idea of having a real one but, here it is just not worth it. And this year, we decided to get the tree even earlier than normal. While we usually get our tree about two weeks out from Christmas, this year we got one Thanksgiving weekend. I like to think of it as my little science experiment to see if it would make difference in how long it lasted. But, of course, I was disappointed. You see, this weekend we were forced to return our tree to the home store where we purchased it in order to get a new one. This is something new for me and a big pain in the rear. After having our first tree for about two weeks it was so crispy that there was no way we could leave up for two more weeks. We just finished decorating our second tree - yes, I did say SECOND tree - this evening. At this time in the season the pickings are slim, at least at the store we went to. So, the second one would not have been any one's first selection. But, that is just the way it is...for this year anyway. I am definitely looking for a good sale on a fake after Christmas this year. Let me know if you see any nice ones on clearance.

Take a look at both of our Christmas trees for 2010.

Christmas tree #1 - Thanksgiving weekend - pre-decorations

Christmas tree #2 - two weeks from Christmas - decorated

Giddy with Joy

This morning among the usual hustle and bustle of getting to work and dropping Tahlor off at school I was doing my normal thing...flipping through the stations on the car radio. Much to my delight, I discovered that one station in town has started up its annual tradition of playing nothing but Christmas music. Wahoo!!!!! I am not sure why but for some reason this year I am super excited about it. I usually think it is crazy to have so much Christmas music this far out from Christmas. But it seems as the years move on, that time, while it seemed like a lifetime as a kid, has now diminished to a flash. Maybe that is why it is so exciting this year? On top of this it is finally starting to feel like winter here in the desert; with snow fall in the mountains and chilly temps. Anyway, I was so giddy about the music, I subjected my office mate to it over live web stream. Luckily, she enjoys listening to it as well (I hope she wasn't just saying she liked listening to it). If you feel the same as me and would like a resource for streaming over your computer, you can visit this radio station site and then click on the 'listen live' button. Enjoy! Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Great Grandpa and Grandma

Tahlor and I were excited to have a chance to visit with Great Grandpa and Grandma when they were in town over the Christmas Holiday. They stopped by the house for a brief period of time to see the girls and chat. We sure do miss them - Love You!

Grandpa, Grandma, Tahlor and Betty Spaghetti.
Who's taking a picture of who?

Christmas Morning

I thought I would share some pictures of Christmas morning at our house. Yes, Santa did come. He even left a note for Tahlor about making sure to be a good girl for next year as she just barely dodged the naughty list.

Where did all those presents come from?

The girls tearing into the gifts.

Lauren was not too interested in opening gifts so, Tahlor tried to show her the ropes.

Santa sure does know about what we need and not just what we want.

Healthy foods to go along with the candy.

The Downside of Walking

Over the last week or so Lauren has really taken off with walking on her own. One day she was taking a step here and there and the next she was walking about 90% of the time. I must also mention she seems to be the dare devil of the family.

So, it was the night of Christmas Eve and all through the house the kids were stirring to get ready for bath time. Lauren was toddling in the bathroom all snug in her jammies when all of sudden a trip she did take. Downward and forward she flew to the floor but to our dismay it wasn't the floor she met first. With a sharp noise she landed into the side of the bath tub and instantly she cried out.

I rushed over to get her and take a look at the damage; a big giant bump swelled up like a bubble. I was scared and so was she...we ran to find grandma and seek her advice. After some counseling from a nurse we stayed home for care but, made sure to observe our baby stay fair.

Now, Lauren looks like a prize fighter, I know, but the black and blue continues to improve. We hope that soon she will return to the condition she was before that fateful Christmas Eve.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas today. As for us, all is well. Tahlor dodged the naughty list and Lauren had a fist fight with Santa last night (more about that later). We all had a wonderful day spending time with family, enjoying great food and sharing presents. It is about time to turn off the lights and head to bed. I will write more about Christmas later -- Good Night!

Santa Claus

We took the girls to see Santa Claus the other day at Town Square. Tahlor did a good job and even made out a list of things she was going to ask Santa for Christmas. At the last minute she decided she wasn't going to use the list and on top of that Santa didn't ask her what she wanted for Christmas...hopefully she gets to see him once more before Christmas.

Yes, someone is missing from this picture - Lauren. She was not at all excited to see Santa and sit on his lap so, she didn't make it into the picture. I have said it was quite like the cartoons you see when a baby cries and then tears are literally flying out of their eyes. John said he captured it on video however, I don't think I am up for reliving that again. Maybe next year Lauren :(