Hanging in there.....

So technology is so annoying! For some reason my laptop won't download pics on this blog anymore for some reason! Ugggggh! So I haven't been able to update it at all. Tonight I finally decided to try Bryan's lap top and it seems to have worked. The problem???? All of the pictures I want to download are on my laptop. Seriously I really hate technology sometimes! And since I am surrounded by boxes since we are moving next week guess I won't be swapping pics to blog anytime soon.....I kind of miss my blog/journal....it was the only thing that helped me remember!! I guess for now I'm just "hanging in there" by my finger nails....Trying to stay positive and chuggind diet coke and eating chocolate!! Cheers!

Christmas Recap....

We decided to get only one big gifts this year for each kid....instead of going to Disneyland which is what I wanted to do.....but the kids were happy with their new obsessions!!! New ipods for the younger three and a new lap top for Sarah. Can we say SPOILED ROTTEN!!! We had them open them a few days early so they would have something to do in the car on the way to Kingman. We stayed at my parents and spend Christmas with Bryan's parents and my grandparents. I cooked my rear end off nonstop! Missed eating OUT like at Thanksgiving!!! Then we rolled up to Vegas to visit Grandma Roxie in rehab and see the Marolfs! That was a quick 4 day road trip and the rest of break was spent "hanging out" which I kind of really enjoyed! It's been nice not to have to stress over entertaining the kids....even if they are now all sitting on the couch playing mind craft together....kind of playing together....and so much quieter and no messes! So there you have it TECHNOLOGY is the two edged sword we swung this Christmas!! HO HO HO!

Merry Mesa Temple Christmas

We were so excited to be able to walk around the temple and see the lights without freezing temps and snow! I don't think we even needed gloves or warm jackets! We tried to meet up with the Bargos but ended up just missing them. The little kids were soooooooo obnoxious and hiper! With gymnastics going on near the camels on the lawn and lots of running and yelling. We couldn't get out of there fast enough! Mom went again with the young women and it was a much better experience!

Electric light parade

This was a new experience for us! Usually it is just too dang cold to sit outside at night to watch a parade BUT this year the weather was great! Bryan's new law firm had a float that we helped build and the two little girls got to ride on while Bryan walked beside it. The floats theme was "Naughty or Nice" and there was a Grinch as the judge and the little kids were the jury. CUTE! We watched the parade with the Bargos and had great seats! Such a fun "NEW" tradition here in warm Arizona!

Trying for a Christmas card picture....

I miss having my wonderful sis in law close to do our annual family photo shoot! What was I going to do this year?! Lucky for me my sister is now close and agreed to snap a few pics for our Christmas card. Well the first photo shoot did not go well....Paige ended up making weird poses with her hands and ruined several. And of course my sister was to nice to say anything to her! Uggggh! It is NOT fun to come up with outfits and get everyone looking their best! Only to have the pictures ruined by photo bombing Paige!! So we had a good little tantrum by mom and tried again the next week. The kids insisted on trying to have the dog in the pics and that was a disaster as I thought it would be! I'm not sure about the hands on our hips idea either? BUT in the end I guess these turned out a little better....Good enough for Christmas cards I guess! These are the unedited version! You need to see what I was working with! I will be hiring someone to take pics when the crazy Holidays are over!!! Everyone say cheese!!!

Thanksgiving Golden Corral Style!

When my 90 year old grandma insisted on making Thanksgiving dinner I knew we needed an intervention! Who wants to eat something that may have been cooked, left on the counter for days/hours, possibly worse! So I insisted we "treat" everyone to Golden Corral and then they could all get what they wanted! And it was safe to eat! AND what did my grandma who informed me she "HATES" turkey eat for Thanksgiving dinner???! PIZZA! yep! Bryan and his mom had Chinese food too! See this way everyone got what they wanted and I got COTTON CANDY! I love this tradition and just might keep doing Thanksgiving Golden Corral Style!

Happy Halloween...a bit bloody this year!

Carving pumpkins got a bit bloody this year as mom decided to use her cutco knives that can cut through nails!!! Probably not the best idea! Just as Bryan was telling her to hand the knife over that she was going to cut herself and she assured him NO she was NOT.....SLICE!!! And Paige's pumpkin turned into JAWS the shark finger eating pumpkin! Mom has decided to retire her pumpkin carving skills from here on out! The kids refused to wear any old costumes so mom was on the hunt for anything that would cost less than $20! Carter insisted on being a zombie, Hailey on being a soccer player, Paige an angel--luckily her baptism dress still fit--unlike Sarah whose fencing outfit proved too small so she had to improvise as a witch! We were happy cousin Becca agreed to come along this year! Sofie was a huge help handing out candy with mom and enjoyed wearing her tutu--until she tried to walk! Mom tried to duplicate last years dinner and it was a fail....next year she may just serve cereal! So glad we are done with this holiday and looking forward to Christmas....oh I mean Thanksgiving!!

Happy Birthday Paigey!

Little Paige is growing up!! I'm not sure we are read for this!! She was sooooo stubborn and had to have her birthday party the day fall bread started so there were few in numbers! We still had fun tie dying t-shirts, eating cake and ice cream, and of course presents!! We just love Paigey and all the excitement she brings to the family! Happy Happy 9th Birthday dear Paige!

Love those Dbacks!

We have wanted to take the kids to a Diamond Back baseball game for a while now. So now that we are here in AZ it was the perfect time to introduce the kids to baseball and the Arizona Diamondbacks! We had planned it as a mini family reunion with both sets of grandparents but both grandpas got sick at the last minute and weren't able to make it! Grandma Mim braved her way down to go to the game. The kids were excited to invite friends to take the missing grandparents tickets!!! Not sure how much they got out of the game but they had fun in their matching shirts, free bobble heads, icee, treats, and lots of singing take me out to the ball game. It wasn't long though before Paige was fading fast so we headed home and loved making a fun memory!