Christmas Happenings

I have been looking so forward to these 2 weeks off from the crazy schedules, and just enjoy lazy mornings and fun times with my kids. Here are just a few of the fun things we've been up to:
Random, but the girl's love to go in Lucy's doghouse with her. Me, with my claustrophobic issues and all, don't understand why this is so fun. :)

Our annual tradition of decorating gingerbread houses together.

One night we took the kids to a Marriott in Plano where they had an indoor pool and free breakfast - no more entertainment needed!

Gotta love Chuck E. Cheese.

A freebie outing at the Christmas events at Bass Pro Shop.

We spent Christmas Eve also at Kim's house and had a fun night of crafts, games, exchanging presents, dinner, the kids putting on the Nativity Play, a talent show, and a secret visit from Santa with some gifts on the front porch. The kids, as usual, had a great time together. We sure missed the rest of our family in Guatemala, though!

Just another fun pic of the boys after returning from the park today in this glorious weather!

Christmas Card Pictures

Thanksgiving (slightly unconventional)

So I don't have any pics of a normal Thanksgiving around the table, but we went to my sister Kim's house and she had a lovely set up in the house and was a wonderful hostess! However, the kids' favorite part was all the goings-on outside! Just see for yourself why they all love her "farm":

Halloween (yeah, a little late)

Not much to report here, just another fabulous Halloween in our fun, kid-filled neighborhood. The kids were thrilled it wasn't on a Sunday this year, though, so that they could once again enjoy trick-or-treating!
Gavin is getting so silly these days!

I LOVE Carter and Gavin's stage right now - they are truly the best of friends and absolutely love being together. They play so well together and Gavin mimics everything Carter does, with Carter not minding in the least.

Just a pic from Sharkarosa Wildlife Park the following week. Poor deer was hit by a car!

Hawaii

Chris and I were able to go to Maui for 6 days last week. Sigh. Just saying the place makes me miss it. I haven't been in 17 years, and now remember why I loved it so much. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and on top of that you still speak their language and can drink the water! Paradise! We stayed in Ka'anapali, but went all over the island. Here's the view from our hotel room balcony,

and the next 3 pictures are from our drive on the Road to Hana. What a breathtaking drive. We were gone 13 hours, but well worth it!



This is at the huge Banyan tree in Lahaina. Such a cute little town.

One day we did a bike ride down Mt. Haleakala where we were dropped off at the top and then rode 23 miles down back to our car. It was fabulous - we were really able to experience Hawaii with the far away views, close up sights, amazing smells, while being out in nature. Awesome!


Chris was so excited to do some snorkeling as he'd never been to Hawaii before. Boy, it didn't disappoint. We found a few places right off the shore (after researching the best spots) that were amazing.

On this day while were were snorkeling at Black Rock, I was just wading about knee high in the water and these 2 HUGE sea turtles came swimming right around us. Crazy!

On our last night there we went to a luau right on the beach, which was very fun. But after going I realized why it cost so much - it included all "drinks". Guess we didn't quite get our money's worth! :)

I already can't wait to go back. I could go every year. Oh well. I am SO grateful to my in-laws and Lauren and Kim for watching our kids while we were gone. Carter even got Strep while we were gone (SO sorry, Lauren). Thankfully no one else got it. We couldn't have done this without them! I'm so lucky to have such wonderful family! Thank you guys so much!

Sydney's Baptism

Sydney was lucky enough to be baptized on her actual birthday, the 22nd. What an exciting day! She was just a little ray of sunshine that day. I am so lucky to have been blessed with such a sweet little spirit. We loved having Grandma and Grandpa come from Arizona for the big weekend,

as well Nana from Guatemala. What a treat!

Sydney's Birthday

Sweet little girl, big exciting birthday! I love this sweet girl of mine. She truly melts my heart and we get along like no one's business. We are so alike and attached to each other. For her party we had a backyard full of costume-wearing, screaming, running, silly girls. We played lots of Halloween games,
enjoyed a fun scavenger hunt,

had dinner,

and topped it off with the cake balls I finished the night before.

This weekend we'll be taking her out for her birthday dinner and to get her ears pierced, another big activity we let our girl's do when they turn 8!