We are excited to see what 2011 has in store for us. We rang in the new year with tons of food, fun, and family! We hope everyone has a safe and successful 2011. Happy New Year!
At school we had a white elephant exchange before we let out for our winter break. I couldn't find anything cool to give away so I whipped out a Christmas quilt.
Tis the season for merry and bright but I also wanted to see a little fighting so I made something everyone would want. Despicable me!
Well Ana ended up winning it and she went away very happy. I got a mug. Next year, watch out, if you don't want a mug with a teacher quote don't pick my gift!
I was watching t.v. and relaxing after work. Alex came into the living room and asked if I would paint her nails. Almost too quickly, I answered, not right now, OK. Almost immediately I hear Clay say I will. Talk about feeling like a horrible Mom!
Alex quickly ran to her room, grabbed the nail stuff and met her Dad in the kitchen. After colors were picked, the painting party began! Most of you don't know that my husband is a softy but the majority of you know he is a perfectionist. Yeah, it took like 20 minutes for him to paint 10 little fingers!
They looked perfect! Alex was one happy little girl all thanks to her Dad.
Yes, I'm still in awe, and even more in love!
The kids loved everything they got from grandma. Alex got cooking stuff complete with a cupcake maker, apron, and chef's hat. She's our little chef around here. Sydney got a couple of really great Greek mythology books. She loves the Greek myths and grandma was able to find a few good books Sydney didn't already have. If you ever need a phone a friend about Greek mythology, you can count on Sydney!
This is how we all felt when we left grandmas. We were all a little tired (late night gaming kept us up), I was still recovering from getting food poisoning. I didn't get it from any of the family parties but I picked it up from some ranch dressing at a restaurant in Casa Grande on our way to grandmas. I was out for the count for close to a week. Sydney enjoyed her new sweatshirt so much she just had to take a nap in it!
I have no idea what I was doing when the girls were opening their Christmas presents (on Christmas Eve so Dad could watch too), but this is the only picture I got of our Christmas at home. I got a few of Alex, none of the rest of the family! What was I thinking?? When we woke up on Christmas day, we ran to the living room to see what Santa brought us. We got everything we asked for!! Then it was time for Dad to go to work. While Dad was at work we went to Nana and Papas house for yet another family Christmas. What a busy season we had, but it was great fun to see all our family. From Aunt Bev's Holyoak family party, to grandma Wings house and all our cousins, to our little family of four Christmas, to the Stanley family Christmas. We had a great time!
Merry Christmas 2010! (next year I'll take more pictures)
We went with Grandma and Grandpa Wing. Aunt Chalice and the kids met us there. It was a nice night to walk the grounds of the temple and look at the lights.
My camera doesn't take very good pictures. This is one of the displays on the temple grounds.
Alex is always looking behind her to make sure I'm still with her. There were a ton of people the night we went.
I don't recall ever seeing some of the lights we saw this year. My favorite are the ones hanging in the palm trees. I also like the huge star above the manger.
While we waited for Aunt Chalice to get there, I took the opportunity to get a cute picture of the girls in front of the temple. They are looking forward to getting married in the temple someday.
Here is a picture of the stable they had set up on the temple grounds. The kids really liked the manger scene. We spent the most time looking at it out of everything.
The girls love their cousins. I was so glad Chalice and the kids could go with us. The girls just love hanging out with Autumn. I think a girls week is in the works for this summer. Should be fun!
The girls having fun looking at all the sights and lights. We had a great time!
The night we went there was a mini concert. A choir sang and some ladies that played bells participated as well. The bells were beautiful and really put us in the Christmas mood. We had pretty good seats and it was really nice music to complete a very fun evening.
We had to get a few pictures of the kids. They were having a ton of fun goofing around together. I love it when the kids get to play with their cousins.
All the kids (big and little) seemed to really enjoy themselves. After the temple lights we went back to Grandma's for a yummy roast dinner. Chalice and the kids came to and we all had a late night visiting with each other. Sleep overs at Grandma's are the best, especially with cousins!
We can't wait to see the lights next year!
Everyone had their Santa hats and we were ready to go! We delivered a loaf of yummy bread to each house as we sang. It was an event I think my kids will remember for years to come.
We had the kids pose for a picture in front of the Christmas tree. Don;t they all look so cute. We had a great time, I think Grandma's neighbors really enjoyed it too.
Happy Holidays!!
The little ones really get into decorating it, with lots of help from Grandma. I noticed the older kids ate more candy then they decorated with. I also noticed they didn't stick around long to help decorate. It was OK, we had lots of hands this year to help out, plus there were even more mouths to help eat it!
Autumn was a great helper. I can't remember if she was counting the candy, or dreaming about eating the candy! The kids did eventually get some candy, so did I!
We also got a gingerbread house from Aunt Nelda. Remember the Halloween house? This one is way more awesome.
The kids wanted me to get pictures of all four sides. Above is one side, the picture below is another side......
And another side.......
And this is the last side. Why is there a hole cut in the roof you ask. Just scroll down and see the awesomeness!!
That is the inside of the house. She hand made all the tiny little decorations for the inside of the house!
Can you see what I see? A table complete with silverware, a coffee table with little gingerbread cookies, a couch, a football, and much much more!!
At our house we decorate our entire tree and house with gingerbread's. This was a perfect addition to our Christmas to make this year super special! 
My very talented friend made me some gingerbread place mats!
Yes folks, she MADE these. I love them. We decorate the whole house in gingerbread so they fit right in!
Thanks for the surprises Camilee, you're the best!
This year we had planned to have my family over for Thanksgiving. Most years we go up to Phoenix to Clay's mom's house. We didn't feel much up to traveling this year and we had decided to not fight with the traffic. We then found out everyone in my family had to work. So we decided to brave the traffic and go to Grandma's after all.
The food was great, as always. Grandma Winckle flew in so that was extra special. Colin was home this year, Tara was down, and Chalice popped in. It was well worth fighting the traffic to get to see everyone.
Grandma Winckle was the star of the show this year. We hadn't seen her for a few years so it was great catching up with her.
We decided to work off some of our huge meal with a trip to the local bowling alley. The kids had a blast, we ate pizza and drank soda, and partied the day away! Sydney of course was a high scorer compared to the rest of the family.
The girls loved seeing their cousins J.J and Victoria.
Clay was even in on the bowling action. Don't those shoes just look HOT on him.
The girls have been missing Victoria ever since she stayed a week with us in the summer. They had a great time together
Alex getting a strike!
Mama and Papa bowled too. I think Papa ended up winning for the adult side. They own their own bowling balls and shoes so we were way out of our league!
Uncle Colin popped in before we left to head home. It was fun seeing all of Clay's siblings. I'm sure they enjoyed seeing Clay too. He doesn't often make the trips up to Phoenix. It was a lot of fun seeing Grandma too, hopefully we get to visit with her again real soon. Happy turkey Day!
