We Did It!!

August 2007 the kids and I started reading the Book of Mormon over breakfast. We read during the weekdays before school. Sometimes we would break long chapters up into a few days depending on their attention span. I am happy to report that today we read the 10th chapter of Moroni. We have colored in our last petal and are preparing to start the Doctrine and Covenants tomorrow. Adam is 5, Addison is 3 and Alex is 18 months. I am very proud of my little ones and their excitement and achievement.

This is our new picture that is hanging on our refrigerator. Tomorrow we will start coloring the Nauvoo Temple. If you would like to read along with us you can get a copy of this reading chart at http://www.ldsseminary.org/images/nauvoo_chart.pdf
Happy Reading :)

Christmas Morning

All three little ones recieved scooters from Grandma and Grandpa! Lil Adam took the time to show his little sister how to balance on her scooter.

Alex stands on his, he expects to be pushed around. I am sure that after watching his big brother and sister he will figure it out quickly though.

Santa brought Addison a shopping cart. It is still sitting by the piano in the box...Maybe Santa brought the wrong gift!!!

Lil Adam received Wall-E from Santa this year. He loves his Wall-E clock and transforming Wall-E. They were removed from the box instantly!!

Great Aunt Debbie gave Alex Mr. Potato Head. He is trying to figure out how to put his glasses on his feet!! He has since figured out that he can wear them himself!!

Christmas Eve Traditions Part 2

Santa's cookies with cocoa and Rudolph's carrots!

A tradition of my husband's family is to set up luminaries each Christmas Eve to light the way of Christ. This year we asked our neighbors if they wanted to participate. We did our whole cul-de -sac.

This is the view from our sidewalk towards the end of the cul-de-sac.

Our Christmas Tree after Santa made his stop at our home. Can you see the blue present on the right? Lil Adam was tracking Santa all day with Google Earth. Right before going to bed he needed to check where Santa was one last time. As he saw him flying over the ocean he noticed that Santa has a blue present with a red bow. He got really excited and said that was his package. Santa's helpers were worried their wrapping wouldn't match, but just as luck would have it they did! Wow that was a close one. When he saw it the next morning we was excited saying that's it. "That's my present from Santa".

Christmas Eve Traditions Part 1

Our family has many traditions as I am sure most of you do. We start the evening with reading the first Christmas story. Alex really enjoyed looking at the pictures while mom read this year.

After we read the story of the first Christmas we all open one present (pj's)! This is Addison getting in her practice for the next morning :)

Lil Adam was our model this year! He has just changed into his new PJ's and is coming down the stairs. He might just have a career in the business. lol

Our family Christmas Eve 2008 in front of our Christmas tree.

I just had to share this picture...this is true brotherly love!!!

Building a Gingerbread House

Lil Adam and Dad were our main builders of our gingerbread house this year! They worked on it over the course of 5 hours on Christmas Eve.

The back of the house!!

They enjoyed tasting as they went!!

But made sure they focused when needed :)

Zoo Lights

Tuesday night we headed up to Phoenix to visit the Zoo lights display. Our kids love to see all of the animals made of lights. I think they had 2.5 million lights this year.

Our zoo has a talking giraffe named Jengo. He knows all of the kids by name and leads them in dances like the hokie pokie!

It was in the 50's the night we went (very cold for us Arizonans). Alex was feeling a little stiff in his coat :) Addison was just enjoying the kettle corn!

Mom's favorite part of the Zoo lights are the dancing trees. The zoo creates a wonderful display of trees that dance to music. I think they had three different songs to enjoy this year. Lil Adam was enjoying them as well!!

These are the trees during the dancing!!

Christmas Lights in Mesa

Adam has been working very hard at becoming a better photographer. Tonight he walked around the LDS Temple grounds in Mesa taking photos. This picture above is his favorite. The blue sky really makes the picture!

May we all be walking closer to the Lord this Holiday Season.

Tonight as we were walking around the manger Lil Adam asked how old Jesus would be on his birthday this year. My children are really catching on to what Christmas is and why we celebrate this special day.

We were cold tonight in our low 60's weather. We have really become wimps!!

But we still know how to smile!!
We also had dinner at Organ Stop Pizza. People have told us for 4 years to try this place...We loved it. If you are ever in Mesa I really recommend the place. The food is okay, but the entertainment is WONDERFUL.

Merry Dischristmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Church Christmas Party

This was Santa's area for visits with our little ones! The snowman on the right is made from tumbleweeds. That is what snowmen look like here in Arizona :)

Little Adam has been so cute this year. He writes letters to Santa almost daily and leaves them under the tree. He really wants to make sure that Santa has a full understanding of his wish list!

I think that Addison was more interested in the candy canes that Santa was handing out!! When we ask her what she wants for Christmas she keeps saying she doesn't know...

Alex visited with Santa a number of times...He loved sitting on his lap and shaking his hand. Santa was very patient and allowed Alex to visit as many times as he liked :)

I am in charge of the activities our church has. This Christmas Party was a hard one for me...We cooked 5 turkeys, 5 hams, 100lbs of potatoes, 16 sweet potatoes casseroles, 50 boxes of stove top and gravy. After two months of preparation, I was at the church at 8:00 am on Friday and left at 9:00 pm. The activity was very well attended and lots of hands helped. I think we had 300 people for dinner. I am so grateful that it was a success and that people enjoyed our Christmas Program. This is a picture of our Primary kids in a live manger as part of the program. Thanks to everyone that participated and helped :)

Our City's Christmas Parade

Cotton Candy & a Parade...Sweet!

Our parade had over 100 floats this year. Each float was very well decorated with lights. I enjoyed this one a lot. They made the reindeer really appear in the air.

The little ones really had fun looking at all of the floats and bands. One of the middle school bands had balloons with strobe lights inside them. I told Adam I will use that idea for something. They looked really cool.

Last year Alex wasn't really interested...as you can see he smiled from ear to ear this year :)

The Eloy Fire Department always does a great job. Can you see the fireman standing on top of the truck? He is in the front covered in lights. He was dancing as the truck drove in the parade. We had a great time this year. We sat in front of the Burger King again with friends and ate our Whoppers before the parade started. It is really becoming a family tradition :)

Happy Decorating

Happy Holidays

Adam and I worked hard this weekend getting the lights up in the front yard and on the house! Our centerpiece is our three little snowmen wishing for some Arizona Snow!!

Alex enjoyed getting dressed up as "The Man" yesterday. He though it was so funny!!

Adam hanging his first ornament of the year!

Addison enjoyed getting to actually stand on the step ladder without getting yelled at to get down :)

Thanksgiving in Arizona

Adam had a lot of fun with his turkey this year. He brined it for over 24 hours and then roasted it in the oven until it was golden brown. Towards the end of the cooking process he was sitting on the floor in front of the oven with the light on just watching for the perfect coloring!! Lucky for us it not only looked great but tasted great as well!

Thanksgiving in Arizona brought a great day of weather. The kids enjoyed snacking and swinging! Don't try this at home :)

Spending time with Dad is always a plus! We have just 3 weeks left of school :)