Winterhaven Festival of Lights

There is a community here in Tucson called Winterhaven. With a name like that, it's only fitting that they go all out to decorate for the Christmas season, don't ya think??!! We went to check out this spectacular display of lights tonight and it did not disappoint. Despite the chilly night, it was fun to get out and walk around this neighborhood to see all the lights!

There was even a snow machine that the girls got a kick out of!

That's the kind of snow I can handle!! :-)

Awwwwww....if you can't tell, that is mistletoe that we're standing under!!

And I didn't even have to twist Kevin's arm to get this picture!!! (okay, maybe just a little!)

A Visit with the Jolly Big Guy...

I took the kids to visit Santa today at the mall. They were so excited to see him and talk to him and tell him all their wishes for Christmas this year. That is, until it was actually our turn...and then Payton didn't want to go anywhere near him, so I got to be in the picture for the 2nd year in a row!!

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Merry almost Christmas!!!

Daddy/Daughter Date

Payton got her very first official one-on-on date with daddy tonight. AND it was also her very first UofA Basketball Game. We were a little worried how she would do since the games are about 2 hours long, and she's only 2 1/2...but she lasted the entire game!! She kept her eye on Wilbur the Wildcat the whole time and enjoyed some popcorn...but best of all, she got daddy all to herself! Have I mentioned how happy it makes me to know that this is so important to Kevin...to establish these daddy/daughter relationships with his girls?!! I LOVE it! And I love how much they look forward to these dates with daddy! I hope it always is this way!

..::Barrett: 8 Months::..

8 Months!!

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The happenings for Bubba Man this past month:

*Sat up from crawling position - November 23rd

*Took forward crawling steps - November 30th

*Sat up in crib for first time - December 1st (he's now sitting up every time we go in to get him)

*CRAWLING!!!!! - December 5th

*Clicks tongue - December 10th (he finds this pretty funny when we do it back to him)

*Says "Ma-Ma" - December 10th

*Starts pulling himself up on things - December 15th

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So we're in major baby-proofing mode now that Barrett is a full-fledged crawler! He is like a little puppy....ANYthing he gets his hands on goes straight to his mouth! And now that he's pulling up on things, there's more to get into! It's so fun to see all the learning he's doing though. He is such a sweet, funny little boy!

Happy 8 Months Bubba!!!

Tubby Santas

I'm not usually one for posting pictures of the kiddos in the bathtub. HOWEVER, as they were giggling and splashing away tonight, I went in to make sure water wasn't all over the floor...and I found too little Santas playing in the tub! So I quickly handed them some washcloths for modesty and snapped a couple pictures! Pretty cute bubble beards, don't ya think??!!

Oh these girls make me laugh!!!

~Letters to Santa~

Today was our annual trek to Santa's special mailbox at the mall so the girls could send their letters to him. I think Payton actually gets it this year. Even though last year she was all about pointing out each and every Santa she saw and saying "ho, ho, ho" all the time...this year, she understands the whole concept of Santa, and being naughty or being nice, and the consequences of both.

We even started a new tradition called 'Elf on the Shelf' where an elf joins our family, we name it (ours is "Fizzy") and this elf sits on a shelf and SEES and HEARS what goes on each and every day. And each night, Fizzy reports back to Santa. The kids can't touch Fizzy or her magic goes away and she has to return to the North Pole forever. Part of the fun is finding where Fizzy comes back to each morning. The girls LOVE it and I have to say that it's helped in the behavior department....to a degree. At first, it was like a Christmas Miracle...it helped Payton stay in her bed at night for a full week straight. I think that novelty wore off already!! :-( But it's been great reminding the girls each and every day, sometimes MANY times a day, that Fizzy can hear them and do they REALLY want her to tell Santa how they're behaving?? Needless to say, it's a tradition we'll be keeping for as long as we can! We're already looking forward to Fizzy coming back next Christmas season!! Can she stay all year????? :-)

..::Barrett: Pulling Up::..

Our little Bubba man is now pulling himself up on things!! He actually started doing it yesterday but today is when we decided to document it on film!! Way to go Barrett!!!

-Gingerbread Houses-

This is totally a messy and time consuming Christmas tradition but the girls loves it...so it's worth it! It didn't help that the icing package split right next to where it dispenses from and so it made it EXTRA messy this year! Hopefully we'll continue to improve on our gingerbread making skillz as the years go by!!

Christmas Pageant - Preschool Style!

Tonight was Alexa's Christmas program at her Preschool. She has been sooooooooo excited about this. They have been practicing their songs for weeks. Her class was dressed up as the shepherds and she couldn't wait! I love that she thoroughly enjoys going to school and learning, she just soaks it all up. Poor little Payton though, couldn't understand why she didn't get to be up there with her sister. We had to pull her back down to where we were sitting probably 3 different times! Next year, Payton, next year!! :-)

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(Alexa is the cute little shepherd in purple stripes, if you're having a hard time locating her. She was especially excited about the song "Come Let Us Adore Him" and so, although you can't really see her, I had to put that video in too!)

Temple Lights

Today, we headed up to Phoenix for our nephew, Connor's, baptism. It was a great day to be able to spend time with family on Connor's special day. And since we were already up there, we figured it'd be the perfect time to go see the Christmas Lights at the Mesa Temple. The girls loved it last year and we knew we wanted to make it another family tradition at Christmas time. However, today was a very rainy day for Arizona and COLD to boot! But we knew it was going to be chilly and perhaps rainy so we came prepared with umbrellas and warm clothing. Thankfully though, the rain stopped while we were walking around so it was still pretty chilly for us not used to that kind of weather, but at least we weren't getting wet too! :-)

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(My camera was set on a weird setting so all our pictures from tonight are dark and fuzzy!)

It was a fun evening with our little family, enjoying the Spirit of Christmas right on Temple Grounds. The lights were beautiful but they only added to the beauty of the temple!

This Girl...

...is such a girly-girl and totally a stinker, and she knows it! I fear she's giving us a good taste already of what her teenage years are going to be like...and the forecast isn't good! But OH if she isn't so darn cute!!! Attitude, sassy-ness, drama, emotions and all...she's a keeper!! :-)

Oh the places he can go....

After tubby time tonight, I came back downstairs with Barrett and put him down on the floor so I could make up a bottle for him. When I turned back around, this is what I found. He'd scooted himself over to the exersaucer and then crawled in. He was so proud of himself. It really won't be long now until he is crawling all over!

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And just for fun, I had to do a comparison of all three kiddos...it's been a long time since I've done one of these. You can definitely tell the kids are siblings but Barrett is just a much more masculine version!

~Family Pictures~

About a week and a half ago, we decided we should probably get some family pictures taken so we could send out our annual Christmas Card. It worked out nicely that Kevin's brother, Duane's father-in-law (who dabbles in photography) was in town for Thanksgiving, and so we went over to their house and used their backyard. I'm pretty happy with what we ended up with. Here are some of our favorites:

And here are some of the funny ones...

Be on the lookout for our Christmas card, coming to a mailbox near you soon!!!

Season of Thanks

Thanksgiving 2011

Football

Playing

Being Cute

Lots of sliding

Conversations with Cousins

Chillaxin' with buddies

(Barrett with his cousin, Christian, who is 2 months older)

Eating

Lots of yummy food

(the luscious 4-layer pumpkin cake I made)

Making turkey rice-krispie treats

Jumping on the trampoline

Turkey Hunt

"I Found One!!!"

More sliding

More being cute

(he can't help himself!!)

Snuggle time

Hangin' with Gramps

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We had a GREAT Thanksgiving. We went up to Darron & Ann's this year, along with David, Kevin's parents, and Georganna and her family. As you can see, we had a lot of fun! We have so much to be thankful for; our Savior and the Gospel, our family, our health, wonderful friends, a good job...the list goes on and on. We're grateful for the time we were able to spend with family this weekend and look forward to the upcoming Christmas Season and the time we'll have to reflect more on the birth and life of our Savior and Redeemer!

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Happy Thanksgiving!!