Christmas 2010

 Our Christmas season started off great when Drew decided it was finally time to have a REAL christmas tree.  He bought this beautiful tree on base and we had a lot of fun decorating it.  I love the smell of fresh christmas trees.

I was able to finish Ella's stocking.  Mia helped me decide on the picture and my wonderful friend Deanna, embroidered Ella's name on it.

When the kids got out of school for the holiday break, we did a few activities, like the Children's museum, and saw the Christmas display at the Bellagio.  But the biggest hit was when we took them to see Santa.  

This is Cole's letter to Santa...

And Mia's....

To be honest, we weren't really even planning on seeing Santa, otherwise I would have brought my good camera with me, and made sure the kids looked adorable.  But alas, the kids were in regular old clothes and the photos were taken with my phone.  But it turned out fine. 

Little did she know she was about to be terrified by a bearded old man.

At first she seemed to do OK.

Not so much!

But the other three kids LOVED him!

CHRISTMAS EVE

We spent Christmas Eve with the Stuarts and Oldhams.  Amber hosted a wonderful ham dinner.  The kids loved it and so did I.  The company was perfect.  

Luke sat at the KIDDY Kid table with Carlee and Clara.

Cole and Mia sat at the regular kid table with the rest of the kids.  I wish I would have taken a photo of the adult table.  It was so beautiful.  

After dinner the kids acted out the nativity while Amber read the Christmas Story.  Cole was Joseph. Luke was a member of the audience.

 Mia was the shepherd.

 When we came back home the kids opened their traditional Christmas eve present... PAJAMAS!

 Christmas Morning was CRAZY.  Mia woke up way too early and had all her santa presents opened before anyone else was up.  Then she methodically woke up the rest of the family, starting with Cole.

 Luke was the last out of bed so we were able to see his excitement.

 The kids in their Christmas Jammies.

 Sweet Ella Bella!

 And OH what a mess.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Dance Class

Mia and her good friends, Katelyn, Aspen, and Makenna, have been taking a tap and jazz dance class for the past few months.  Last week the class had an open house where parents could come and see a mini dance.  It was a lot of fun.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Drew's parents decided to go to California for Thanksgiving.  We couldn't join them because Drew had to work Thanksgiving weekend, so instead we decided to have Thanksgiving on WEDNESDAY while they were passing through town.  They had Thanksgiving twice and we were able to enjoy family for the holiday.  Win/Win!  They brought Drew's sister Meleena and her son Brecon.  Aunt Meleena always brings the best gifts.  But my kids love her the fact that she's a wonderful person (although the gifts don't hurt things).

 The kids were in school Wednesday, so set up was nice.  We didn't have to do much kid entertaining while we were trying to cook the meal.  Here's a photo of the kid table.  Mia and Cole get so excited to use the nice glasses.

 Here's the adult table.  Casual but beautiful.  We don't have a formal dining room, so everything is casual.

 Dinner was ready at 3:30pm sharp, just as the kids walked in the door.  After dinner we played monopoly until we were all too tired and cashed in.  It was a great night.

Everything turned out wonderful, especially Drew's pumpkin pies.  His first attempt and it was the best pumpkin pie I have ever had.

Getting all the dinner stuff out of the way on Wednesday was great, because we were able to spend the whole day Thursday, enjoying family time.  We went bowling - and some friends of ours had the same idea.  We were able to bowl by the Johnson Family and they took this great photo of us when the game was over.  I'm thankful for some many things.  So so so many!

Disneyland 2010

 Disneyland!!!  Who doesn't love Disneyland?  We were lucky enough to take our family to the happiest place on earth for Veterans Day week.  It had been exactly two years since our last trip there.  Most of the time we really enjoyed ourselves.  We joined the Stuart family, whom we love and adore, so it made the trip even more pleasant.  But I must say...taking 4 kids to Disneyland is A LOT OF WORK.  Especially when one of them is six months old.  Ella was wonderful, but dragging all her gear was more than exhausting.  And the other three kids had a few too many temper tantrums.

 Ella spent most of the time sitting in the stroller and she was a great sport about it.  We had plenty of snacks for her.

 Mia's favorite ride was the Matterhorn.  She would have ridden it 20 times if we would have let her.

 Mia riding her favorite ride.

 This is my favorite picture.

 Luke loved the Dumbo ride.

 On day two we went to California Adventure.

The whole group.

 After a few kiddie rides, we went on the Tower of Terror.  I wish I would have taken pictures of Luke's and Carlee's faces as they dropped on the ride.  Sheer terror.  I was laughing my head off.  It's payback Luke!!!

Drew's favorite ride... California Screaming.  Mia's supposed to be sitting next to him, but she chickened out at the last minute.

We spent our last day back at Disneyland (except Drew and Cole who hung out at California Adventure for half of the day).

Luke never wants to stand by the characters.  He gets a little freaked out.

 Best friends enjoying Disneyland together.  Isn't life grand?

Finally getting Luke in a Character picture.

 For lunch on the last day, we went to the Blue Bayou, located in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  I always wanted to eat there.  The kids did great, so it turned out nice.   The kids menu doubled as a pirate hat.

 We finished the day on Main Street for the parade.  Mia, Katelyn, and Carlee, were all pulled into the parade to dance.

On the morning before we left, we stopped at Downtown Disney to do some shopping. We had to hit the Lego store.  It's a must.  

I love Disneyland dearly, that's why I'm going to wait at least three years before I go back.