A little Hike

Something that was so amazing about this Christmas is that My Brother and Travis came out to spend time with us. What a blessing to have my brother and my sister here at the same time. I wish we didn't take advantage of living so close. It is so rare for us all to be together.

Travis, Kaydon and Zephy checking out the view

We decided to hike us to the Indian Ruins. Not only was the view breathtaking it was neat to learn a little history and teach it to the kids. Not growing up in Arizona... there is so much I don't know!! And for me, I learn so much more from seeing things then just reading them. You should go check this out sometime..... it is a fun family activity.

Jen and Mitch working there way up ( So excited that he came)


The Clements ( Love you guys)

Isn't the View Awesome?

Merry Christmas

We switch having the kids each Christmas with their Mom. So this year they were not able to join in the Christmas eve fun with my parents so we were able to go over and Celebrate a couple days later as well as with Gale and Ray. ( I don't know what happened this year but I did not take many pictures... so sad)

Can you Rock???

By Far the gift of choice was Guitar Hero...... We can all be Rock stars without a musical bone in our body. This is addicting and SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

Zephyr and Jen

Gabe and Kasey

Christmas Eve at the Flanagan's

One of the most special memories I have is Christmas Eve with my Parents. i love that my sister and her family come out to be with us. As long as I can remember Santa has always made a special visit to give each of the kids 1 gift and one last wish! I am so grateful that he is able to make time for us :)

Something else that makes it so special is when Kasey's Dad and Gale come to celebrate with us! There has even been time Nicole's family has joined and tat makes it even better. The more the merrier!!!! My parents open there home and make all who attend welcome and feel special.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas with the Pomroy's

Christmas with Kasey's Mom's side of the family is always fun. There are a lot of kids activities to keep all the cousins busy. One thing they do every year is a Nativity Play. What a great way for the kids to revisit the true meaning of Christmas each year. There are many other, but my favorite is " Decorating the Dads like a Christmas Tree" There is a pile of supplies, a time limit and they are off. It is fun to watch each family be creative and silly! If there wasn't so much laughing they would probably be more decorated.....

What great Dad's Dax and Kasey are

Dax's kids with his niece Kayla

Our crew... We did win this year!!!!

It is so neat to be able to have this tradition at Nana and Papa's house every year. We are so grateful that they switched dates so that we can be a part of this for years to come!

think of it this way.....

A White Christmas

A Little piece of heaven here on Earth

What a beautiful sight!!!! I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend a couple days in this breathtaking place. This year we Celebrate Christmas with Bruce and Debbie ( Kasey's mom and step dad) in GREER!!!!! It is a place like no other. We stayed in a gorgeous cabin and even sat in the spa on the deck while it snowed! I have always dreamed of having a white Christmas, and although this was a little early it was still wonderful. I would love to live in a place like this... any day!!!!

The kids had so much fun playing in the snow. Unfortunately when we went to go sledding a storm was starting and we were not able to go. All the kids were disappointed. When they saw that Kasey could barley stand in it ... they wanted to stay indoors for sure.This was Kadyons first experience in the snow and we defiantly learned a lot, like give him a breathing treatment before he goes out in it. It didn't take long before he was having a really hard time breathing and needed to go in to get it.

On Saturday afternoon Kasey and I were able to take a little hike, just the two of us. I am so blessed to have him as my husband. He is so thoughtful and loving ... and romantic! He always takes the time to enjoy the simple things with me and finds time for us to spend together.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is drinking from an orange with a candy cane. We turn it into a race and we thought it would be fun to share it with the family. I love to watch peoples faces when they see that it actually works.... it's priceless!!!!

Of course the kids had an opportunity to build a gingerbread house. The girls were defiantly more into building it, while the boys really enjoyed EATING IT!!!

Nanny and Poppy with their Grand kids....... Thank you so much for a memorable weekend. We had a blast.

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family!

It was so nice to spend time with Kyle, Amy, Kylee and Brady! Even though they live close we are all so busy that we never seem to have much time to just hang out. Hopefully we will find more time in 2009. We hope you had a nice birthday Kyle, it was so nice to be able to share it with you and your beautiful family. We love you guys.

Star of Wonder

Star of Wonder is a play put on by Phoenix First church in Cave Creek. Each year we make it a point to go and experience this uplifting story that focuses on the true meaning of Christmas. The show is amazing with live animals, flying angels and even some comedy thrown in there. It will keep all ages entertained.I highly suggest going to see this with your friends and family.



Kaydon was over the picture taking experience by this time. Before the play we met at Debbie and Bruce's (Kasey's Mom's) to take family pictures with them and his brother Kyle's family.

Dear Santa....

Kaydon has so much fun going to talk to Santa every year. This was his first year he would not tell us what he told Santa! Wish me luck ....

Christmas time is here again!!!!

So this has to be my favorite time of year.... hands down! I enjoy creating lasting family moments that our kids will remember- well beyond the gifts- and spending time with family. I love the baking, candles, lights,stories, trees, gift giving and music....It truly puts a month long smile on my face.Every yday in December we try to do something special. The range of activities are huge and there are defiantly some that are more of the favorites then others. It has been a new experience trying to figure out how to do plan and do these activities, shop and work all at the same time. Hopefully next year will be a lot easier.
So the one activity we first is always our Arizona snowball fight. this is one of the kids favorites.... by far! The opportunity to throw things at us, well lets just say it is taken VERY seriously! So the rules are... everyone gets 1 big bag of marshmallows and no throwing above the shoulders.... all else is fair game....

Meet Norton

Norton is our Elf that Santa sent to keep an eye on the kids. He sticks around through the holidays and reports to Santa every night on how the day went. Every morning he is hiding in a new spot and the kids have so much fun trying to find out where he is. Then on Christmas Eve he heads back with Santa for a well needed vacation.