Road Trip To AZ!

Last week my mom and I decided to head out to Arizona to visit with my brother and his family for the weekend. It's so nice that they only live 8 hours away and we will be able to visit with them often instead of them living back in New York. This road trip turned into a nice adventure for us! I think my favorite part about it was just being with my mom and kids. It takes me back to when I was little and I so missed having those mother daughter moments. We left on a Friday late afternoon and headed out towards Laughlin. There was no way we were going to go to the damn because it was rush hour traffic and weekend traffic. My mom drove most of the way but let me tell you, I don't think I will drive that way again at night. Talk about curvy roads, all one lanes, bright lights coming toward you, yea I was definitely a little nervous. Anyways we also thought we should be smart and follow the nice gps system that her car has. Little did we know that stupid thing would make us drive about 60 miles out of the way. It was fun though and mom and I talked the entire drive. The kids did fabulous which I was super surprised about.

We finally made it to my brothers house about 3am. The kids got a little wound up seeing their aunt and uncle and cousins but we finally got everyone in bed about 4am. I was convinced the kids would sleep in but nope Alyvia was up by 7:30am. I was so tired!! We played in the living room for a half hour and then my niece and nephew woke up! Brock being the only smart one slept in till last possible moment.

For only being there for a day and a half we had a blast. Saturday we went to their aquatic park which is indoors and the kids had a blast playing in the water and going down the slides. Then we had a great dinner at Applebees. Sunday was a short day but my sister in law took us on a drive through the base. We went into a small museum about the history of the base, then headed to a park for the kids to burn some energy. Afterwards we headed to their military shopping store (can't remember what its called) and the kids all got a new pair of shoes. Aly and Kenzie had matching pink shoes and the boys got matching black shoes. We then headed home so the kids could play outside while we waited on the pizza guy to deliver our lunch/dinner.

The drive home Alyvia slept for the entire time, and Brock watched movies and played his leapster. It was a nice little mini vacation and the kids all had a blast. James and I are hoping to head down there again in March.

Christmas Day 2009

Ok so better late then never is so beginning to be my new saying! LOL So this year Christmas was better then ever! The best thing about this year was Alyvia was finally old enough to get excited about presents. Last year we started a tradition where my Mom and Chad and Jame's Mom all come over early in the morning and we sit around watching the kids open presents then we make breakfast all the while drinking our coffee with Bailey's. This year we were able to carry on that tradition along with James' Dad and brother coming over also. It was so wonderful to be with family on Christmas morning! Everyone started showing up around 7:30-8:00am and then we brought the kids down stairs and let them have at it. Surprisingly it only took then a little under an hour to get everything opened. Alyvia was so cute because she would take her time opening the presents and through her wrapping paper in the trash and then get excited over what it was. Brock was our typical little boy who just ripped into them. Haha the older they get the more fun this day becomes!

After breakfast everyone left but my mom and Chad. We all just sat around and hung out for a few hours before we had to go to Grandma and Grandpa Messner's house. Once we got there the kids had even more presents to open. It was fun watching our two kids play with there cousin Kaylee. We only stayed for a couple hours but had a blast. The three rugrats ran around like crazy kids with sugar highs!!

To finish off our night we ended up at my uncles house for Christmas dinner and more presents for the kids. I think this year the kids were just a tad bit spoiled :). The best part about dinner this year is we were able to spend the evening with my Grandma and Papa who flew in from Colorado. I was a fantastic night of eating, present openings, and lots and lots of laughter.

We couldn't have visualized a better Christmas and we were so blessed this year to be around most of our family. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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 :)