Christmas Eve 2009

How on earth did the time fly by so fast? It just amazes me how one minute it was summer and then the next winter. I wish time would slow down just a little. Anyways I'm thinking this will be a two part post because Christmas Eve and Day were so busy for us.

Christmas Eve this year felt like such a rush with so much happening all at once. This year James and I were the last minute shoppers. We thought Black Friday was terrible but man oh man Christmas Eve last minute shoppers was by far worse. I was up at 5am so I could get my shopping done and be home by 9am so James could head on out. Then we were out the door at 3pm to head to the mall for the kids to take quick picture with Santa. We had to wait in line for an hour and a half but it was so worth it. Alyvia was so in love with Santa and just wanted to run right to him, Brock of course was in awe and just kept smiling at him. It was adorable.

After the pictures were taken we then headed out to James' great Nanas house for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. It was so wonderful to see all the family that night and just sit back and relax while the kids ran around. We headed home later that night and when we got home we put on our Christmas pajamas and made Santa and his reindeer cookies. It was finally time for bed in which I read the kids there Christmas book and then tucked them into bed.

Now came the fun part. James and I still had a lot of wrapping to finish and put together a few items. Needless to say we were up until 1:30am. It was such a busy but wonderful day.

Rain, Rain, Rain

The one thing I have always told the kids is that if it rains we can always go outside and play in it. Well, it never rains that often and half the time my kids don't remember a thing I say. This time though Brock remembered!

It poured at our house for over 5 hours. Usually when it rains it is for a few minutes and then moves on. Well this time it stayed forever and the kids and I couldn't have been happier. I think it was in the low 40's but we bundled on up and outside we went!

We lasted for 10 minutes before the cold brought us inside but it was well worth freezing our butts off. Here are a few pictures, I wish Vegas had more rainy days like this.

Christmas decorations

My favorite holiday of the year is definitely Christmas. I just love the decorations, the baking, the gifts, and the excitement from the kids. We have a tradition like most family's that the day after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. I think if it was up to me our tree would stay up all year round! Anyways this year we put up our tree but we didn't decorate it until the day after. The kids were heading the naynay and papa's house so we put the decorating off for another day but that was ok because at least the tree was up.

The next James and I had all four kids, Brock, Alyvia, Kenzie, and Titan. We ended up letting the kiddos do most of the decorating on the tree and it turned out great. Now two weeks later the ornaments are disappearing because Alyvia enjoys taking them off and playing with them. But the house is coming together wonderfully and its beginning to look like Christmas.

Every year James puts the Christmas lights up on the house outside and every year he promises to put them on the second story. Well every year he doesn't follow through but this year I was not letting him get away without putting them up. I got my way as I knew I would because he loves me and he did a great job. Our wonderful neighbors had an extension ladder that we were borrowing but he ended up just climbing through the windows upstairs. Watching him was actually hilarious because he was just a little nervous but he got the job done! I am so proud and happy because there was no way I would have done it! Thanks Babe!

Family Bowling

My brother and his family have this addiction to bowling. Well maybe its just him and everyone else just goes along with it! LOL But anyways about two weeks ago he mentioned going bowling with us and all the kids and my parents. We thought it sounded like a great idea. So James and I took all the kids to the park and finished decorating our tree while everyone else got dressed and ready.

Later on in the afternoon the six adults and 4 kiddos packed into the cars and headed out to the South Point for some good ole bowling. To say the least it was very interesting. Kenzie and Brock had bumpers so there ending point were in the 80's. Now James and I have not bowled in years. So the first game I beat Brock by maybe 5 points and James I think won by 15 at the most. It was hilarious. It was decided that the first game would be girls against boys and the second game would be couples. I think the boys won the first game and Arek and Shelby the second. James and I came in last every time and were definitely not into the competition thing seeming how terrible we were. LOL We need lots of practice!!

It was alot of fun and I haven't laughed that much in a long time!

Thanksgiving 2009

*****I am so very thankful for my family this Thanksgiving year. I am especially thankful for my husband and children.*****

This year Thanksgiving was just that more memorable and special. My little brother and his family were in town to celebrate with us and this was also my brothers first Thanksgiving with family in two years. The day started out great with James, Brock, and me going to see the movie 'New Moon'. We have all been waiting for what seemed like forever and decided that we would make it on Thanksgiving because we figured it would not be as busy, which it wasn't. :) Afterwards we headed to my father in laws house to pick up miss Alyvia. It was nice to visit for a while with James side of the family since we weren't having dinner with all of them this year. Afterwards we headed home because I was in charge of making a huge fruit salad.

Ever since I was laid off back in May I have become a pretty good cook. I'm always looking for new recipes and if I find an interesting one in a magazine I clip it out and save it for a later date. So I had a great recipe I had been wanting to try out forever and it worked out perfect for Thanksgiving. My Mom and Chad also came over during the afternoon to cook the ham and we all just hung out.

That night we headed over the Grandma and Grandpa Messners' house for the big dinner. It was a perfect night, my brothers family came along with my parents, James' mom, my Uncle Scott's family including his father in law and my Aunt Kathy's family. I just love a huge home cooked meal where the kids can just be kids and run wild and the adults can sit around and play catch up on every ones lives. It was just an all around great Thanksgiving and we got to share with all of our family.

love these pictures of my mom being completely silly :)

Go Rebels!!!

Last Saturday Chad's Police Department had a tailgate party for the UNLV v. CSU football game. They had two extra tickets and asked if Brock and I wanted to join them. Of course we didn't pass this down as it was going to be Brocks first live football game. We got there early and ate and just hung out till the game started. Brock was the wild child running around like crazy wanted to race and play pretend football and anything else he could think of. When it was time to go up to the stadium we pushed our way through the crowd and finally found our seats. It was a lot of fun. Brock was cheering really loud and getting into the game, which his attention span usually doesn't last more then 10 minutes.

The only thing about these games that I don't enjoy is all the junk food that is around. Of course I have no problem at all saying no to Brock but naynay and papa on the other hand don't know the meaning of the word. So that night Brock consumed more junk food in one night and mind you he was just getting over a cold that he is still on medicine for. Sometime in the third quarter he looks at me and is holding his tummy about to cry, I immediately give him an empty cup where he then starts to empty his stomach into. I felt so bad but I do know now that all three of them, Brock, papa, and Nay-nay, have learned a lesson in all this. LOL

Now on the other end of the city was James with Alyvia. They ended up having a wonderful father daughter night. They went and had some ice cream together and then came home and read books and just played. Also in my pictures below all this you all will notice I cut my hair. I had it all chopped off last Friday and I think it was about 9 or 10 inches. Hope you all enjoy!

No more training wheels!

This past weekend was so special to James and me. First off James didn't have school last weekend so when his three days off work came he actually got to stay home and be with us. Then on Sunday it was slow at work so he pulled a half day and took an early off at 11am and came home. So it was almost like we had him for four straight days. So on Sunday we didn't have any plans so I mentioned to James we should try and teach Brock how to ride without training wheels. He loved the idea so I took off Brock's training wheels and outside we all went.


I will tell you this it was extremely frustrating to watch, but after about an hour he started to get the hang of it. We decided to take a break and headed out to run some errands. When we got home all of Brock's friends were outside so of course he just had to show off what he learned. I ran down the street for a minute and by the time I got back Brock was riding all the way up the street with James tailing behind. It was so exciting and a little sad at the same time. I was almost in shock that my 4 year was riding his bike like all the other kids in the neighborhood. All he needed to learn was how to kick start on his own and turn.


Well, I should have realized that Brock was just like his mom and dad. Two days later Brock was back on his bike and what do you know, he can ride up and down the street on his own. Out of no where he was riding and just barely turned his handle bars and when he didn't fall he got braver and just started riding up the street and turning around and coming right back down. Now the only thing we are working at is getting him to kick start but we are thinking he is just a little to short that's why he is having trouble.


We are so proud of him and I am so grateful that both James and I were able to watch him and experience this together.

Happy Halloween!

This year was by far the best year for Halloween. I'm sure I'll be saying that every year, but regardless it was so much fun. Alyvia was our little purple witch and Brock was batman. It all started when the sun was finally going down. By Brock's watch it took absolutely forever and I'm pretty sure he asked just about every 5 minutes if it was time to get dressed yet. So the sun finally set and the kids got dressed and then just when they thought it was time to go outside good old mom brought out the camera and made them sit through tons of pictures. LOL

I have to say we are very blessed to have such great neighbors. Ryan and Sherry if you read this don't let it get to your head. LOL Anyways we took all our kids out together to trick-o-treat this year. Alyvia was of course the only girl but I tell you she can hold her own with all those boys. Ryan reminded us to bring our wagon which thank goodness we did, because by the end of it the two youngest, Aly and Talon, where dragging there feet. Brock was so excited and just went ahead of us with the older kids. Aly was having a blast too but she didn't say trick-o-treat only "thank you" "BYE" "See Ya" and "Good Night". All she cared about was what the people where putting in her pumpkin basket.

It was a great night and such wonderful memories. I love how our kids are getting so big and independent but I am also starting to miss the days when they still needed mom and dad for almost everything. Hope everyone had a great holiday!!!

Pumpkins, rides, carving .... FUN!

Today was a day that the kids and I have long awaited for. James finally was home with us!!! He has been either working or going to school and we really don't get as much time with him these days. So lucky for us this weekend he was off and also had no school. Expect for tonight he is working but we did get to spend all day with him. We started our day by dropping James motorcycle off for maintenance and then heading to breakfast. Afterwards we headed to the pumpkin patch which Brock has so patiently been waiting to go to. Unfortunately it was ridiculously cold and windy, but rain or shine nothing was going to keep those to kiddos away.

We already had pumpkins which I bought at Walmart for like $4 and which I might add our size pumpkins were being sold for $15 at the patch. The kids just really wanted to ride the rides and run around like crazy! Alyvia wasn't digging the big slides or jumper but there was a mini petting zoo and she was in wonderland with all those animals. Brock is our wild child who loved the huge slide, tried to do running jumps down it, then the huge jumper he was attempting to do flips. Got to love that kid!! They both had fun feeding the animals then Brock went on a swing that scared me a little at how high and fast it spun, but the pictures speak for itself he absolutely loved it. Definitely my daredevil.

Once we got home, James took over and the carving of the pumpkins began. They both had a blast and were so grossed out over what was inside but none the less still participated in cleaning their own pumpkins. Afterwards we had some fun and took a few family pictures. It was such a wonderful day and I think we all needed that. Its been a while since the four of us did something as a family. I for one will be very happy once James finishes school. Here are some pictures but I took over a 100 so feel free to look them up on my facebook or photobucket.