It's Christmas EVE!!

I wanted to show off my little family!

I hardly ever get around to doing my own holiday card, but thanks for my dear friend Courtney, she made me sit down and do it this year!

Hopefully everyone has a magical holiday season, and I hope that we can all remember the reason for this wonderful time of year, the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year!

holiday

What a fun holiday season!

We found out in the middle of November that my parents had sold their house in Missouri. They were scheduled to close on January 5th and move to Arizona!!

They bought a house here two years ago, so they will be moving into that house about 5 miles away from us.

That news was the best Christmas present we could imagine!

We decided that we wanted to head back to Missouri so I could see the house I grew up in one last time.

We were flying out on Christmas day so we had the kids open presents on Christmas eve morning.

Since we were leaving we talked to Santa and asked him to come early. He agreed.

It was fun watching the kiddos get so excited!

Here is a picture from the morning with Mimi & Papa (they stopped by for a quick visit).

Don't the kids smiles look so natural?

Here is Daddy putting together Lily's new "big girl bike".

Lily entertaining Benson while Daddy puts her bike together.

The next day we flew to Missouri and had Christmas with my family.

My Aunts/Uncles/Grandparents live about 2 1/2 hours from my hometown so we stayed the night there.

Great-Grandmother made these blankets for all of us.

When we got back to my hometown there was snow and the kids were so excited to play in it.

Luckily Uncle Chance aka "Super Uncle" was there to entertain them in the snow for a bit.

The kids had SO. MUCH. FUN. with Chance.

Here are a few shots of them decorating a gingerbread house with him.

My grandmother helping Cannon.

Let's be honest, he was more into eating than decorating.

We always laugh about this fake smile that Lily does, Chance has the imitation down pat!

Who can lay there and pretend they are dead the longest.

Best game ever.

The kids got pretty good at it.

I wish they would play that game for me.

Only for Uncle Chance.

My Aunt Ginny, and my grandparents came up for my birthday (I turned 31 and Dave turned 37 in December).

Great-Grandmother, Lily & Benson

Aunt Ginny and Mr. Benson. Poor little Benson had a rough trip.

He did ok the first few days, but by the end, he was ready to get home and get back into a routine.

We had so much fun in Missouri.

It was bittersweet to leave my house for the last time, but so fun to start a new chapter with my parents here in Arizona!!

My parents begged to drive from Missouri to Arizona with my older kiddos (yes, you read that right), so Nana, Poppy, Lily & Cannon arrive here in Arizona tomorrow!

Happy 4th of July!

We're grateful for all those who have sacrificed for our independence. It's a blessing to live in this country.

That's a wrap!!

Well, we throughly enjoyed our holiday season, especially our trip to Missouri to visit my family

Lily was quite entertained with my parents cats, her uncles, her friend Jillian, and the whirlpool bath tub at my parents house. She had lots of fun chasing the cats around and shrieking at them. I'm surprised that neither of them had heart attacks.

She got several fun toys for Christmas, but I have to say that the Elmo toy my parents got her took the cake. She loved it. See the video below as evidence . . .

She also got an adorable coat and hat set from her Great Aunt and Uncle which she really didn't want to take off. I think I'm going to have to get some pictures taken of her in the outfit, it's too cute.


There was lots of other fun, too much to share! Dave and I went on a couple of dates, the best was to see Enchanted, an adorable movie (it was us, a bunch of 6-10 year old girls, and their Moms). I also got to see a few old friends, which is always entertaining. I also met and fell in love with my little brother's girlfriend, Jillian. He FINALLY brought home a keeper.

But, as fun as the holiday season was, I can't say that I'm all that sad to see it go. Lily will definitely miss the Christmas music, she is an "Away in a Manger" FAN, and I'll miss not being able to eat like and elephant and have the holidays as an excuse, but other than that, we're moving on to 2008!