Christmas in Arizona...Nothing Like What We're Used To!

I'll be honest, it's cold here...

For about 20 mins in the middle of the night! Hahaha....

Really, it's chilly but the temps are in the upper 50's this week and we occassionally dip down to 35 or so at night. I do usually turn the heater on while we are sleeping:)

So, Christmas in Chandler is like a fall parade in Kansas City! Last weekend we attended the City tree lighting downtown and watched the "Parade of Lights" in the evening. It was a little cool but we just wore long sleeves and jackets.

Below is a video of Santa at the end of the parade. We have several small videos of the rest of the parade that I will up load and try to post this week. It's really cool!

Video of Our Dancing Girl...

Tales of Winter Wonderland

We had a great time today decorating for Christmas!

The kids were really into it...I even managed to get Danny to put lights outside. That's just because it's not freezing like it usually is when he has to do it.

After we decorated (and the kids "took a nap" hahaha) we all went to Tempe Town Marketplace. It's kind of like Zona Rosa or the Legends in KC. They had music and a HUGE tree and even made snow fall (okay, really it was just a bunch of bubble/suds machines but it did look like snow!).

Since we no longer have a fireplace we were stumped about what to do with the stockings...they may end up on the wall by the tree because Danny said the baker's rack (that's now in the entryway) looks like something you'd find in a little craft store...is that good or bad?

Hopefully, that singing Santa won't become a fixture! He's cute but could use a muzzle!

We'll take some pictures of the outside after we get all the lights up tomorrow after church.

Movie Day!

Well, today I got up (not near as early as I usually do with Melissa!) to go do some shopping. We got several things for the kids and something for Danny as well as some cute decorations.

This afternoon we took the kids to see their first movie at the theater...Madagascar 2!

It went perfectly for the first 45 mins or so, we had food and entertainment. But we ran out of popcorn and Caitlin was MAAAD! So I took her out to walk a bit and we decided to get a box of Raisinets (which are my new favorite treat!). We went back in and got her all settled and then Evan decided it wasn't good enough to have a handful of Raisinets, he needed the WHOLE box (he'd already had one mostly to himself and shared our popcorn)! When Danny told him he couldn't have the whole box he just fell apart and they had to leave.

After a few minutes, Caitie threw her drink on the floor and the guys had still not returned so we just threw in the towel and left (minus a sippy cup and a binkie - I didn't have enough hands to carry all of that plus my drink and Caitlin (who didn't want to be carried!).

It was fun, but we learned a valuable lesson...don't take the kids to the theater in the afternoon when they haven't had a nap!

This evening we watched Polar Express and had hot chocolate and tomorrow we are going to put up the Christmas Tree!

Yeah :)

It Rains, It Pours, It Hails...even in Arizona!

We had two straight days of odd weather (so we're told) here over the holiday. It started POURING buckets on Wednesday morning and continued raining most of the day Wednesday and Thursday, the highs were in the low to mid 60's during the day and it was downright dreary!
Last night after everyone had left and Caitlin was in bed, it began thundering and soon it was pouring again but this time we had a nice bit of hail to go with it.

All that white stuff is hail...

In the 5 months we've been here the sum total of rain we've had is probably only a couple of hours....never with hail.

Last night it was COLD (like 40 degrees) when the hail started. We stood at our front door in amazement (along with at least one of our neighbors!) at the cold air and the amount of hail and water! Danny took some video for you (check it out!).

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, our culturally diverse dinner turned out WONDERFUL!

Just before we ate, the picture was supposed to be of the food but I didn't specify that I wanted it up close so Danny just took a picture of 'food'.

The whole gang...clockwise starting with Caitlin...Danny (being his usual photogenic self!), Evan, Bill, Lori and Tracy.

There were almost NO leftovers and everyone seemed to enjoy the variety of foods...even Miss Picky Pants.

After dinner we took a drive to Bill and Lori's new house just a few miles away and came back for dessert and games!

The only thing Danny didn't really care for was the dessert I made (the capirotada) of course! I loved it but he barely ate two bites. He DID like the pumplin cheesecake Lori made though...go figure :) I can't keep up with him.

Evan and Caitie got to talk to Grandma McKee and Grandma and Papa Barton as well!

We had a great day with Tracy and our friends! We hope you did, too!

Drumroll Please...

I forgot to tell everyone the most exciting news in our little household...

Evan is BINKY-FREE! Yes, you read that correctly. No More BINKIES!

It was such a non-event that it slipped my mind completely.

Next time you talk to him...make a BIG deal :)