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 :)

Thanksgiving

Today is the first day we've had without sunshine...it was 'mostly sunny' but got kind of grayish in the evening.

Oh, I know, I'm rubbing it in. What I'm really trying to get to is how hard it is to be in the Holiday spirit when you are 1400 miles away from all of your family and the weather is so oddly perfect all the time!

We are supposed to have some rain later this week. That may get my head on track!

Anyway, since this will be the first Thanksgiving in 31 years that I haven't been with my family and only the 2nd or 3rd time in 37 years that Danny hasn't been with his Mom, we've decided to just throw tradition out the window this year and go with something completely different...a Mexican/Indian themed Thanksgiving Dinner.

We don't want to get all sappy thinking about the way Mom and Grandma make it while we're eating my sad version. We'll be pitiful enough without that :(

Danny's boss, Bill, and his girlfriend Lori are joining the 5 of us for dinner Thursday so we'll have enough to call it a party...

Here is the potential menu:

Indian Fry Bread to go with everything!

Appetizers
homemade salsa and guac
homemade corn and flour tortilla chips
roasted pumpkin seeds (sweet and spicy)

Main meal
turkey and ham
camote (like sweet potatoes but with honey and butter)
spicy mexican corn
sweet corn cake (that wonderful stuff they put on your plate at Mexican restaurants!)
roasted garlic broccoli
candied bacon

Dessert
capirotada (mexican bread pudding)
candied pumpkin
cactus ice cream

We'll take pictures of everything and let you know how it turns out!

Our First Family Hike

Today, we bit the bullet and took the kids hiking. I'd really been avoiding it because I thought it was going to be a disaster but Danny found our nice carrier backpack (actually meant for hiking) that we've basically NEVER used and we decided to venture out to Usery Mountain.

We left around 8:30 this morning and were on the trail by 9:20 (you know everything takes twice as long when you have kids :)

Tracy and a friend of hers decided to take the hike, too, so we have lots of great photos of all 4 of us!

We took the trail just halfway up, to Wind Cave. Evan hiked all by himself only needing a hand a couple of times. He actually stopped several times to "help" Mom and Aunt Tracy.

Everyone we passed mentioned what a big boy he was and how good he was doing.

We climbed 1.5 miles up, to 2,800 ft elevation (only an 800 foot gain)... it's very pretty up there.

At the trailhead...

On top of the world!

Climbing, climbing, climbing...

At Wind Cave...

Danny and Caitie coming down

Caitlin seemed to really enjoy the hike. Our typically noisy girl didn't make a peep all the way up and fell asleep on the way down!

We toyed with trying for the summit but it's a good thing we decided to let well enough alone because Evan was VERY tired and fell apart on the way back down. He's a TROOPER! We came across the park ranger and when he heard Evan climbed all the way to the cave he gave him a Jr. Park Ranger badge!