Christmas Morning 2010

I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few at least. Nonnie and Papa came up to visit, and we were up BRIGHT and EARLY to open presents. J was excited to get his marshmallow gun and a bike from Santa, and a remote control Lightning McQueen car from Nonnie - which he couldn't keep up with as it circled around and around his feet. Too funny. Nice goose egg on the forehead, J. I swear he had a bump and/or bruise on his head the whole month of December. Family pictures were just doomed this year.

M got a didj to replace the one broken from last year,

and finally she got her PROOF that Santa exists - she had him "sighn here" on a note she left by his cookies. Does she look like a 90's rockstar in this photo or what? Notice that Santa left his initials "S.C." for her to see.

A couldn't have been more thrilled with her boxed set of 39 clues books.

White Elephant 2010

My SIL Robyn is awesome. At our family white elephant party this year, instead of just stealing the gift you wanted from another player when it was your turn, you had to fight for it. We played "Minute to Win It" type games each time someone wanted to steal a gift. Hilarious. Robyn I think defended her popcorn bucket and lottery tickets like 5 or 6 times, and she came out a winner every time. This is me kicking Aubrey's tail as the first one to blow up, tie, and then pop a balloon.

Cameron never had a chance against Carl. Maybe that was due to the fact that Carl's left arm was totally blocking his path??

Robyn I think practices these games at home with her kids. She was good at EVERYTHING, including this game where she had to carefully thread penne noodles onto spaghetti with her mouth. Nate would have won, had he not celebrated prematurely. No dancing in the end zone, Nate.

Aubrey was a genius in wrapping herself in toilet paper. Check out this action shot.

I will never have another white elephant party WITHOUT doing it this way. Made everything way more interesting and fun! Brush up on your MTWI skills if you're coming to a party at my house!

School Parties 2010

My kids are cute, if you hadn't noticed. Here's J at his little preschool Christmas party acting like he's singing, sort of, while Miss Janna sang a solo.

At the girls' school, there's an annual "winter" performance where each class or grade gets up and performs something. A's class did "Frosty the Snowman" and dressed one of their classmates up as he danced and skipped around the group. It was fun. I love the look on A's face here.

After making leis in school that day, M's class performed "Mele Kalikimaka" all dressed up in Hawaiian shirts and such. It was pretty cute, though I don't know why M's hands are up swaying in this picture when no one else's is...

This is a sample of the teacher gifts I made this year - cutting vinyl and then etching these jars. M and A's jars just said their teacher's name, and had an apple on them. Of course I had to put the "Happy Meadows" logo on J's for his teacher, though!

Gingerbread Houses 2010

Once again the grandkids put on the nativity at Grandma's house, and then we put together gingerbread houses. My kids sure love their cousins, and have a great time whenever they get together with them. When did M become such a ham for the camera?

Such concentration! Such symmetry! J was proud to show me the candies he'd lined up along the top of the roofline.

A didn't get very far on her mini house because she was working with Poppy. Ahem.

Layer, upon layer, upon layer... This was a far cry from Colman's masterful tree house gingerbread house from a few years ago. I guess his girls have a thing or two to learn from him as builders. Ha!

Haircut

Our little unwelcome critter friends forced us to cut some hair. Here's J sporting his short new do to start out December. If there's a cuter kid out there in the world, I'd like to see him. Honestly.

Polar Express 2010

We had a super fun Thanksgiving weekend with all the Carters. We drove up to Williams and then took a train all the way to the North Pole to see Santa. We all wore our jammies, sang songs, drank hot cocoa, ate cookies, and then the big man himself came on the train to take photos with all the kids, and give them jingle bells. We also unknowingly exposed everyone in the family to lice. What can I say, that's how nice and giving we are. We like to share...

Here are most of the grandkids - I think this is the best I got, ha!

Oh how I love J's look in this photo. Isn't Livvy a doll?

Here we are getting ready to board the train...

That's a whole lot of Christmas jammies on a whole lot of Carter kids...

J sat on Poppy's lap to sing Christmas carols. I think this one must have been "HO HO HO, who wouldn't go..."

I can't decide which of these I like better - which do you think is worthy of the scrapbook page??

Santa was awesome... how is it he was the only one looking at the camera for the photo??

Christmas Recap. Pictures forthcoming.

Polar Express weekend with all the Carters. LICE. Decorating for Christmas. SRP's Christmas party and holiday boutique for the Two Chicks. Nonnie and Papa coming to visit. Ward Christmas party where the kids sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" beautifully. Treadmill. Shopping on Ebay. Dentist appointment. Birthday for S - number 36 - ouch. Lunch with friends. Trips to the post office. Wrapping presents. Swapping babysitting with friends. Another holiday boutique for the Two Chicks. Birthday/White elephant/Appetizer/Christmas party with old friends. Cutting vinyl. Another dentist appointment. Winter music program at the school. Trip to the Children's Museum. Dealing with tantrums. Treadmill. Shopping with Lisa. Dinner at the Grand Lux and my first taste of beignets - yum. White elephant party with the inlaws including "Minute to Win It" games. Awesome puppet show in Mesa. Being COLD. Cutting more vinyl. Using lots and lots of coupons at Fry's. Finding some awesome black BOOTS! Another dentist appointment. Candy cane Joe-Joe's. Sewing project. Nonnie and Papa coming up to visit. Bringing out all the pretty dishes for Christmas Eve dinner. Pie. More candy cane joe-joes. Santa coming and bringing a great bike for J. Marshmallow guns. Lots of presents to open. Gift exchange with the cousins. Prime Rib and more joe-joes - chocolate-covered joe-joes no less. Wow. More pie. Trip to Safford. Games. Casa. J riding his new bike all day long at Papa's house. Gila Valley Temple. Casa. Haircuts. Dealing with more tantrums. Home again, home again, jiggity jig - now where to put all this stuff... is it any wonder I didn't get Christmas cards out this year??