December Moments

 

Christmas 2013

We had a very Merry Christmas this year!!! We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpas house. Everyone was there to celebrate. Poor Uncle Mike came down with a stomach bug during the festivities. In years past the kiddos all were spoiled with so many gifts from everyone so we decided to start a new tradition this year and they all drew names. There was a kid drawing and an adult drawing so everyone was able to open a present on Christmas Eve. It was so fun having the kids pick out a special present as a secret Santa. Cannon made Ellie a big stage to put in our house so she can do performances. Chloe made Mikey a Bat Mobile. They were very creative!! Ellie had Mia and got her a Barbie Van and a cookbook. Patchy had JoJo and bought him a broom and a motorcycle. JoJo had Patchy and got him a real basketball and a gumball machine for potty training.

 

We spent a quiet Christmas day with just our family. We were able to Skype Mommom and Poppy in the morning so they could watch the kids open some of their gifts and Grandma stopped by for a bit in the afternoon. After all of the craziness it really is so nice to spend time at home with our family and enjoy each other. Santa Claus came to our house and the kids were very excited. Although, Mommom and Poppy have Santa beat by a mile. Some of the highlights this year was the Barbie Dream House, scooters, Batman quad, tool workbench and Doll clothes and accessories. Lucky lucky kids. Thanks Mommom and Poppy...and Santa!!

Holiday Festivities

Our holiday season was filled with some fun activities. We went to the Tempe Boat Parade with Grandma and Papa. We had special VIP seats through Papa's work. It was fun to see all the decorated boats go by on the lake and the night ended with a big fireworks show.

 

 

We went to Bass Pro shop and got the cousin picture with Santa Claus.

 

 

 

We had some fun cookie making playdates

 

We had our big gingerbread house sleepover night with Grandma. I love doing this every year. This year the kids decided they wanted to go caroling. They got all dressed up and went to a few houses around our block and sang Jingle Bells, Rudolf, or We Wish you a Merry Christmas. It was really fun to see our neighbors reactions. The kids were surprised to get treats from some of the hosues as well. I'm sure this will be on their holiday to do list next year too.

 

 

 

 

Felf our Elf joined us in December. Here is a video of Ellie telling him some rules about staying away from them so they don't touch him.

 

Disneyland and California Adventure

We went on a vacation to Disney! We spent a day in Disneyland and a day in California Adventure. It really was so much fun. Ellie loved all of the princesses and other characters. She had an autograph book that she was trying to fill up. Patrick really wanted nothing to do with any characters (except Sully) but he certainly loved the atmosphere and the rides. Ellie wasn't really into the rides. Her favorite things were eating lunch with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto, watching the Aladdin and Tangled shows, getting her face painted, participating in a wilderness show with Russell from Up, and all of the festive decorations. Patrick loved going on some of the rides, especially the ladybugs, train, carousels, Ferris wheel and Monster's Inc ride. We had front row seats to the holiday parade and they both enjoyed watching all of the characters dance by. We were able to watch the fireworks show from our hotel and it was amazing. We spent two long days there and we were all exhausted at the end of each day. It was really neat being there right before Christmas and seeing all of the beautiful decorations. We were so lucky to be able to do this. Thanks, Daddy!!