All Things Christmas

Our Christmas was wonderful. We got to spend the entire month at home and both sets of parents came to see us during the month. Yay!

We kicked off our December by decorating the Christmas tree. So much fun! Both kids were SO into "helping" this year, so there were lots of ornaments at the bottom of the tree.... that got rearranged at least 1000 times during the month. ;-)

I take the kids to Bass Pro Shops every year to get our Santa picture because it's FREE! It's also usually super crowded since apparently tons of other people are cheap-o's like me. ;-) We did have to wait in a small line but luckily it moved quickly and I was able to get my picture. I thought Kate might do better this year but no such luck. Haha!

Kathy and Don came to see us in the middle of the month and we had a blast with them here. They brought the kids fun presents, we ate lots of yummy food, and we went to see the Mesa Temple lights. My kids were definitely sad when they left!

We also went to see Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo with some friends! We went to dinner beforehand and then walked all over to see some really fun animal lights. AND our wonderful friends (the Browns) got us a smokin deal, so we didn't even pay much for it!

Oh, and we did lots of baking, (and eating) because duh. It's treats-season!

Our ward Christmas party was in the morning so we ate waffles, did some crafts, and got to hang out with friends. I thought the photo booth was super cute.

My kids (and of course then myself) did manage to get a cold the week before Christmas, but it wasn't anything too crazy.... and I actually considered ourselves lucky considering sooo many people get stomach bugs and flus and all types of other crazy illnesses during this time of year. But - we had plenty of Christmas shows to watch during our sick days! Matthew and Kate's favorites were How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. While those were definitely the favorites, they also enjoyed Christmas episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Super Why, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, Rudolph, and The Polar Express.

Oh, and we decorated a gingerbread house one night for Family Home Evening! The kids absolutely LOVED it! (And of course loved sneaking a large portion of it into their mouths). ;-)

And then.... Christmas!!! My parents came up on Christmas Eve and we spent the day reading, playing, and drinking Christmas punch. YUM! We had a delicious early dinner of ham, turkey, salad, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and crescents, and then headed to Queen Creek (a neighboring city) to see the Loop of Lights. It's a housing development that is SUPER festive and most of the residents put up tons and tons of fun lights. They even close down the streets to traffic except for residents! We definitely weren't the only ones to spend our Christmas Eve there (it was super crowded!) but it was still awesome. Sooo many fun houses to see.

The kids were exhausted from all the fun so they slept in later on Christmas than they normally do (ha!) but the morning was a blast, as usual. The kids loved their presents. It is seriously so much fun watching kids on Christmas morning. So magical!

And then we played Christmas Bingo! One of my favorite traditions growing up. I was so excited when I saw my mom had brought it.

My parents stayed a few extra days and we had lots of fun with them around. Me and Michael even got to sneak in a couple dates! Woohoo! 

And that just about wraps up our Christmas! It was definitely one of my favorites!

The Polar Express and The Grand Canyon

So there's a town a few hours north of Phoenix called Williams. And in Williams there's a train called The Grand Canyon Railway. In November and December, they transform this train into the The Polar Express. I'd heard wonderful things about The Polar Express from my sister, who did it last year with her family, so I decided it would be super fun to go! We went in mid-November.

As soon as we arrived in Williams, I was charmed by how cute the town was. It is surrounded by forest and has all the cute diners and shops that comes with an old-school small town. It is also very much what you'd think of when you think of a Route-66 town.  :-)  Anyway, we checked into the Super 8, changed the kids into PJ's, and grabbed an early dinner at a place called Pine Country Restaurant. They're famous for their pies, so after dinner I ordered a lemon meringue pie. Yum!

And ignore Michael's awful facial hair. I HATE NO SHAVE NOVEMBER! ;-)

Anyway, we got to the train station and got ready to board. The kids were so excited! (Especially Matthew).

The workers were dressed up like the characters in the book and they danced, served us cookies and hot chocolate, and read us the book. (I'd bought Matthew the book a few weeks prior and had let him watch the movie too so he was familiar with everything). Kate was squirmy, but the snacks helped a lot. Haha.

And then we made it to the North Pole! It was all lit up so the kids looked out the window and waved to Santa on his sleigh. The train then reversed and when we went back the other way, Santa was gone! (He'd gotten on the train).

We sang Christmas carols until Santa appeared in our car! Matthew's face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw Santa. So cute. Santa gave each kid a bell and the kids totally loved it.

We got back, looked at he lights around the train station, and headed back to our hotel. We were all exhausted but Kate whined in her Pack-n-Play until after midnight (!!!!!) so none of us slept that well.

The next morning we (sleepily) drove the 45 minutes to The Grand Canyon. I've lived in Phoenix for almost three years and had never been, so it was more than time! It was seriously SO SO cold and I did not adequately prepare for that in how I dressed everyone (oops!!!) but since the kids are so small, we didn't stay much longer than an hour anyway. It's not like we wanted to do any hikes or anything - I mostly just wanted to finally see it. And it sure is beautiful!

And then we headed home. It was a super fun mini-vacation, though after all the traveling we'd been doing it sure was nice to know that we were done with road trips for a while.  :-)

Halloween Weekend

We had a really awesome (and really busy!) Halloween weekend. It was on a Friday so we drove to LA on Thursday evening and then spent all of Halloween hanging out with my parents. The beach was pretty chilly but we went down in the morning anyway so I could get a couple family pictures to use for our Christmas card. My children were being impossibly difficult, partially because they're both toddlers, partially because they were at the beach and HELLO! they wanted to play! and partially because they weren't in a picture-taking mood. Then again, are kids ever in the mood for that? Ha. But my parents did manage to get a couple where the kids were actually looking, which is basically a miracle.

That evening we ordered pizza and then took the kids Trick-or-Treating! It was Kate's first year participating and both kids totally loved it. Matthew was SO into it and was super friendly to everyone who answered the door. Kate kept up pretty well and definitely enjoyed the candy aspect of things! Matthew dressed up as Spider-Man and Kate dressed up as Minnie Mouse. They both chose their own costumes this year and looked pretty darn cute!

The next day me, Michael, and Matthew went to Disneyland with Grandma Kathy! Kathy had a work conference at Disneyland and treated us to a day at Disneyland on her last day there. So nice! We debated about whether or not to bring Kate too but decided to leave her with my parents. I felt kind of bad at first but ended up being SO glad. She is not old enough to appreciate more than an hour or so there and would've spent a huge amount of time trying to run away. Ha! We will for sure bring her when she's a year or two older. ;-) Besides, she had a blast with my parents and I think she really enjoyed having my parents all to herself.

Disneyland was fantastic. Matthew was a little scared of some of the rides (like Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean) but was a huge fan of the environment, the Dumbo ride, Autopia, the carousel, the train, the Winnie the Pooh ride, the parade, and even the Haunted Mansion. He also thought lunch at The Rainforest Cafe was the coolest thing ever and loved the Lego store in Downtown Disney. The day started out a little drizzly which was actually nice because it kept the morning crowd away for a bit. The only bummer was that It's A Small World was closed! It was the ride Matthew knew the most about and was most looking forward to. Argh! (Luckily he got over it pretty quick).  :-) 

To say he was exhausted at the end of the day is an understatement. First he got delirious, and then he was OUT.

And Kate? She was more than fine. 

We drove home the next day. LA was good to us. Until next time!

October

October is one of my favorite months. It didn't used to be, but then I moved to Phoenix and it started signifying the end of the deathly hot months and the beginning of a string of months where we can actually do things outside! Not to mention the holidays are coming! This last October was especially good. After New York and finding out the gender of our baby, we kept busy going to the park and getting ready for Halloween. Both kids were SO into Halloween, and loved going for walks every night to check out our neighborhood's awesome Halloween decorations.

I know, least impressive pumpkin ever. But the kids though it was beyond amazing, so I'm calling it a success.  :-)

We also kept up the tradition of going to the Arizona State Fair! I learned this year that it's nicknamed the Ghetto-zona State Fair! Ha! Makes sense I guess, as it IS in the ghetto of Phoenix and apparently a lot of shady people hang around there in the evenings. We've never had a problem though, as we typically go on a Saturday morning and only stay until midday/early afternoon. And since we go so early, we hardly pay anything to get in. (We DO, however, fork over some money for fair food.... a weakness of ours).  ;-)

Towards the end of the month our friends threw a little Halloween party for adults and we had a blast hanging out with friends and playing Halloween games (Halloween charades and Mafia) and eating yummy food. Michael is not one to get super into dressing up, but I did manage to convince him to go as Pacman. (And I was a ghost... which Matthew called an octopus).  ;-)

Did I mention I love October?  ;-)  Life gets busier, but it is typically fun-busy. It was definitely a full month for us!