White Christmas

We got a day of white Christmas before we left to the valley for the holidays. Carter had been hoping for a little snow to play in before we left and got her wish...a fresh foot of snow. We left town before they got a few more feet!

Of course, sledding was the hit! We have a perfect kid-sized hill right in our backyard.

Carter was in heaven with all the fun things to do...

Gabby just really wanted to throw a snowball at Carter. I helped her pack a snowball together and she took off with it. I had to laugh when she came back with a snowball stuck to her hat. She'll learn soon enough that if you throw a snowball, you should expect one coming back!

All aboard!

This has turned into a fun Christmas tradition, a ride on the Polar Express with the Warrens! There is nothing like a train ride to the North Pole with cookies and cocoa and caroling and Santa, of course, to put you in the spirit of the holidays. Merry Christmas!

Daddy Dates

Carter & Gabby each got to go on a fun date with their Daddy this week. They got to go out to lunch, play at the playground and go see the animals at the pet shop. They sure love their Daddy!

Thanksgiving Chickens

So, I don't really have many pictures from Thanksgiving Day. It was just so fun and relaxing to be with family that I didn't even get out the camera. I did get a few shots of the girls with my Aunt's chickens though. Carter got to "help" Lincoln feed them and thought that was pretty fun. She is so freaked out around animals, I'm surprised she even got that close!

Out in the Rain

While we were visiting Mesa for Thanksgiving, we got a few rainy days. There was a huge rainbow arching all the way across the sky that the girls thought was so pretty. Perfect for a few sister and auntie pictures.

Marshmallow Thief

I always get nervous if I can't hear Gabby playing. I noticed it was a little too quiet and came downstairs to find this. Gabs had emptied out a box of cereal onto the floor and eaten all the marshmallows out of it.

6 years ago...

...we were here.
6 years, 4 moves, 2 and a half kids, 9 or so goldfish, almost 2 diplomas, and 4 cars later here we are...

and it's funny how so much changes from the day you get married but there is so much more about being together to love!

This Bites

Last night, Gabby and Carter were drinking a little water before they were going to brush their teeth and go to bed. Gabby kept standing on her chair, despite the constant nagging that she was going to fall over and better sit down. Well, this time she really did fall over, bumped her chin on the table, and bit all the way through her tounge. It was quite a mess to clean up but she stopped bleeding pretty quickly. We called the Dr. and they told us to take her to the ER to see if it needed to be stitched. I gave her a little ibuprofen and we were off. On the way there, Gabby asked me if the Dr. could put a bandaid on her tounge so it would feel better. Of course there was about a two hour wait for a bed in the ER but I thought Gabs would probably doze off since it was so late and she was already in her jammies and slippers. Not so. That ibuprofen must have kicked in and Gabby became the party of the waiting room. She had made friends with most of the people waiting and had the nurses cracking up at her and giving her little presents like juices and a teddy bear. When we finally got in, the Dr. took a look and said it didn't need stitches but it was a pretty nasty cut. Before we left, Gabby walked to the front of the ER, where all the patients could see her and starting singing "shake your booty". We got home at about 2 in the morning and were both exhausted. I am sorry to report that she still has a gaping hole in her mouth today but, hopefully, it will heal quickly and we will not have any more crazy hospital trips for a while.

Se-doughnut

Yesterday, we took a litttle day trip to Sedona. Gabby thought we were going to Sedoughnut, which made us laugh. We stopped to eat lunch at a cute little cafe. We walked in and had the only kids in the place. Robert and I were getting a little nervous but, thankfully, the girls were very well behaved and made friends with the waitresses. Outside, they had this fun kaleidoscope/flower pot. The flower pot spun around to make the images in the kaleidoscope. The girls loved it!

Next, we headed to the trout farm. It is a pond full of rainbow trout that you can fish from. We have never actually fished there but you can feed the fish little pellets you buy from the vending machine. The fish go crazy and start jumping out of the water to get to the food. It is fun for the kids to watch.

On the way home, we stopped at some of the merchant tables that are set up all through the canyon. Carter wanted a souvenir she could take to show-and-tell. She chose a marble gem with a Rt.66 logo on top. Funny, because we were not even on Rt.66. It was a fun day and we were glad to take a little break, even if doughnuts weren't involved, right Gabs?

Surprise Snow

We were expecting rain yesterday but noticed a few snowflakes falling as we were getting home from church. It gave us an inch or so overnight, enough to play with! Carter has been waiting for snow for weeks. She was so excited, she wanted to play first thing when she got up this morning. Gabby kept saying, "We didn't eat breakfast yet." She does not love the cold weather. Carter did not care. As you can see, they went out in pajamas and winter coats. Good enough.

Carter made her first snowman without help. He looks kind of like a snowball mound with eyes and mittens but he's pretty cute.

Not so cute are the animal tracks in the snow beside the girls. I had set a trash bag on the back porch last night, which I never do, to take out today (it was snowing, come on). Well, the little critter was not worried about going out in the snow, found himself a nice dinner and left the trash bag littered across the porch. Lesson learned.

I guess this kicks off our last winter in the snow!

Halloween '08

This year for Halloween, we all dressed up as Toy Story characters including Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Tour Guide Barbie, Army Man, Jessie, Hamm, Slinky Dog, Stinky Pete, Woody, and Bo Peep.

Robert was a good sport to dress up as Stinky Pete but his costume was our favorite!

Our little fam before the trick-or-treating started.

The girls were excited to get a visit from their littlest cousin, Raylin aka Santa's elf, when they got back that night. Such a fun night with family, friends, and lots of candy!

Gabby & Nixie

These two girlies have way too much fun together! I couldn't resist posting this second picture. Ha Ha!

Preschool Party

Since we didn't have Carter's costume for her preschool party, we had to make do with stuff out of the dress-up box. She decided to be a Dr. and had fun giving everyone pretend shots.

The party was so cute and the kids had a blast playing pin the nose on the witch, ghost-ghost-goblin (duck-duck-goose), decorating pumpkins, making crafts, and trick-or-treating.

What a cute little group of trick-or-treaters!

Another first

Carter participated in her first Primary Program today at church. I was sad because I had to miss it! Even though she just had to say "Be reverent", I still wish I could have been there. Gabby has been so sick the last couple of days, she needed to rest at home. You know your 2-year-old is sick when they don't move from the same spot on the couch for days. Oh well, Robert said Carter did good and Gabs and I will just have to wait until next year :)