Grandma's Christmas Party

It was time for Grandma Nette's annual Christmas party this weekend. We nearly didn't make it when it was snowing like crazy up here but once we got wind near the afternoon that the canyon was clear, we headed out for the long drive. We made it there safe and sound and stopped first at Papa Ringo's house and got to visit with Uncle Ryan and Grandma Judi for a while but sadly Papa was out pushing snow for work. Then once we all got ready, we went down to Grandma Nette's house to start the fun.  First off was goofing time with cousins. 

 

 

 

I got Faith the cutest Christmas outfit. She would not stand still or smile long enough for me to get a good pic. But it's still cute as can be. 



After a yummy dinner of tacos and burritos, we sang some songs and then Santa came walking right through the door. The kids all flocked to him. Caleb gave him a hug. He then had the kids sing him Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before we could start the main event.

He called Faith's name second in line and we were worried how she would do. She was unsure about it but she never cried. I'll take it for this year. 

 

In her gift from Santa was a brand new CPK PJ dolly. She loved it and cuddled with it on the long ride back home. 

Next it was Zaric's turn. He climbed right up and told Santa he wanted a Woody toy. They even shared a laugh or two.

 

In his gift from Santa there was a TMNT Leonardo dress up kit with a sword.

Next up was Zaden, he was a little more reserved at first but he got around to telling Santa about the Buzz Lightyear toy he wanted. He made sure to describe it in detail, making sure he knew this time that he wanted him to have a laser and a shield. 

And wouldn't you know it?  He also got a TMNT dress up kit. Michaelangelo with nunchucks. 

Then finally toward the end of the pile, Caleb got his turn. He told Santa the 3 things he really wanted this year.

And in his Santa party gift was the build your own dino kit with internal squishy organs he'd eyeballed in the store a couple times. We spent some time this morning putting him together. 

It was a fun party and another successful year. And we are happy to report that while it was snowing when we left Grandma Nette's and we were a little worried about the roads once more, we made it home safe and sound to a Sunday full of chores. Thanks Grandma Nette and Papa Kevin for the fun party.  And just for fun here's the pic Dad took on his cell phone and the two Ninja Turtles side by side. 

9 Day til Christmas! Not that we're counting.

Fotofly Santa- Round 2

Have I ever told you how much I love Fotofly? Well, I do. And not only because of the great pictures we get but because of their customer service. Here's one awesome example. So after doing the first Fotofly Santa shoot I mentioned how we were kinda disappointed with it all. Well I sent them a small message on FB just letting them know (very politely in fact) that while the pictures were still cute we just didn't feel like the service and results were what we have come to expect. I never asked for anything and never threatened to not use them again. Mostly it was a FYI-type email of our experience. Well I didn't hear anything for a couple days then got a personal phone call apologizing for us being unhappy and offering to re-shoot the whole thing for free. They really wanted us to have pics we were happy with. So we took them up on the offer and went again last Friday night.

 

I have to say, I think these turned out a little better. It was still more chaotic than we would have liked and we had to explain the situation to more people than we would have liked in order to get what we wanted. But here are the results. I used this first one on our cards that went out in the mail yesterday. I think it sums up their little personalities quite well. Faith was still not having the smiles for us. Oh well.

 

 

I have to say, after that I'm not sure I'll ever use anyone else for our family pics. What a great place. I'm so glad I found them. I've been nothing but pleased since they came into our lives. And I'm a huge sucker for good customer service. So they get my vote every time.

Dear Santa...

*Dear Santa,
For Christmas I would like presents. I really want a Woody toy. He's my favorite from Toy Story.
Thank you, I love you, Zaric

*Dear Santa,
For Christmas I wants a Buzz Lightyear toy that talks and has wings. I would also like a bunch of presents.
Thank you,  Zaden

*Dear Santa (interpreted and mind-read from Mom),
For Christmas I would like my very own Cozy Coup car to play in outside with my brothers. They aren't very good at sharing theirs with me. Also my mommy says I love everything girly, princessy and pink so something like that.
Love, Faith

*Dear Santa,
What I want for Christmas is a 3DS, a NY Giants toaster and some chocolate coal and other things too that you choose.
Love, Caleb
Please and Thank You!

Snow Fun!



Today we woke up to snow! As much as I normally don't like the snow, knowing that I had nowhere to go today, I couldn't help but be a little excited for it. It is much needed, plus it just puts you in the Christmas mood. Mike went out to get the paper around 7:30 and yelled for me to come out. I ran out to see what he was fussing about and he wasn't fussing really at all. He just wanted to share it with me. It was so peaceful. It was just getting light and the snow was falling but best of all there was not a single sound. It was silent. No cars, no people, nothing but the light over the horizon and the snow falling. Such a change from the last house. It was really amazing. 

 

Well of course, then I mentioned possibly going sledding and the kids were gung-ho on the the idea. For over 2 hours I heard, "is it time? Can we go yet?" And finally at 10 am, I decided it was time so we outfitted everyone in snow gear and headed very far into the nearby hills (aka across the street). Yep, that's right  there's a gully of sorts right across the street that makes for some excellent slopes to sled on.  So we didn't even have to get in the car, just walked ourselves over and started on the fun.

 

Faith was unsure of this snow business. She sat in the stroller and watched for the most part and got mad when she couldn't see anyone close. Dad took her down the hill once, but she let us know, she is still not a fan. 

 

 

 Caleb was having such a blast. He went down as many times as he could fit in a turn and didn't even care when he wiped-out a couple of times. Mom even had him make a snow angel after one of his crashes.

 Mom got in on the fun and even went down a few times.

 Dad was having a blast going down with the kids and a few times by himself. He even made a snow angel of his own.

The twins were pretty divided. Zaric loved it and went down and down with people and also by himself a few times. He even decided at one point there was no sled required and slid down on his butt the best he could. Zaden was timid and would only go down if he was with people and then didn't want to come back up most of the time. But overall I think he still had a good time. 

 

There were so many pics to choose from that I had the hardest time picking which ones to post. But below are my absolute favorites of the day.



It was an awesome family outing and the best part was that it didn't cost us a dime, it wasted an hour and the warm house was waiting for us a mere 2 minutes (or less) walk home. I think I'm really starting to like it all the way out here. We decided we need to invest in a few more sleds after today. Sled races are on next time!

Festival of Trees





I can't believe it was time again for our annual visit to the Festival of Trees. Christmas really is creeping up on us. We debated and debated about going this year since our schedules would only allow us to go on Saturday and that's the busiest, most crowded day. But when it came down to it, we just couldn't see ourselves missing it either. The boys did great for the first half before they got tired and bored. Faith loved all the trees and spent the majority of the time pointing them out to us and yelling at us to "wook!"  Here's a few pics of our fun and a couple of our favorite trees of the year. Enjoy!

 

 

 



Prancer and Vixen

I forgot to mention that while doing Santa pics, the best part was the kids getting to see a couple of Santa's real reindeer. I'm pretty sure this is Prancer and Vixen. I didn't ask, but it's gotta be!

 

Santa Pics

This year we decided to try out some Fotofly Santa for some fun Christmas pics. We had heard about it but  have never been able to get an appointment, so I was on the ball this year and booked a few months ahead of time. The idea is that you get great Santa pics, without the "scary." So they have Santa suits on hand that the parents can wear to get the job done. Mike was a good sport. Here's a pic of him getting ready. 

 

Faith was still not so sure about this, even with Santa being Dad.

 

They do have a real Santa there too in case the kids don't want to use the parent one and to let the kids see Santa when they are done with pictures. Zaric was the only one that would go over. He told Santa his name and that he was 4 and that he wanted "presents" for Christmas. And he proceded to give Santa big hugs. 



Here are a few of the final results. Zaric was such a ham during our session with the photographer. I think it shows in the tongue pic. He was being so silly with him, he couldn't seem to keep that tongue in his mouth.

Since this was our first time doing this session, we were unsure what to expect from the kids and the photographers. To be honest, we were a little disapointed in the experience and the amount of families they were trying to herd through there at one time. It was total chaos and they only did really 2 poses and didn't spend much time asking what we wanted or getting it just right. So I'm not sure if we'll do it in the future. But I'm still glad we did it this year and have at least one good pic for our Christmas card.