Christmas

  This year for Christmas we went to Palm Desert to visit Shad and his family. It was so fun to spend time with them. The adults loved visiting and the cousins loved playing. Here are a few highlights.

 

Favorite Quotes:

"Bum bum Owweeee Me." James after sitting strapped in his car seat for four hours straight. What troopers. Both boys were amazing travelers and we could not have asked anything more from them.

While pointing at Mary in a Nativity book I asked James: "What is her name?" His response: "Mommy."

James: more pretzels (our car ride staple)
Daddy: say please
James: please
Mommy: please what?
James: please Mommy?

Favorite memories:

Daniel right along with the ducks eating the bread we were feeding them.
The boys' eyes light up Christmas morning.
Seeing turtles at the duck pond in the rain.
Watching Tanner and James play. James adored him and Tanner was so sweet with the boys.
Watching Tanner and James show off to each other to prove what cool cousins they were. (Did anyone else do this when they were young?)
Being outside!!!
The Sandbox.
Swimming in the hot tub.
Learning how to make bread.
Cuddling with James while Daddy drove us around the block in the golf cart.
My one and only exercise walk pushing Kate and Daniel-- Kate was joking with Daniel which made him laugh so hard.
Eating out at this yummy Pizza place with pears, gorgonzola cheese, etc on them.
Daniel's little laugh-- it is the cutest thing and his face is irresistible.
Being outside and with family all day at the Zoo.
Watching James give a goat a hug on his very own.
All the time Shad took off to spend with all of us.
Two date nights back-to-back. We saw Little Fockers (hilarious) and The Tourist (need to watch again).
Watching my boys go gaga eyed when the babysitter walked through the door. We weren't sure we'd be able to leave them the next night--until she came. They were smitten and she was so good with them.
Seeing our kids enjoy their cousins and get to know them better.
Meeting Baby (10 month) Elle for the first time. She is so cute and such a little sweetheart!William Sonoma outlet store in Prim.
Driving the back roads, including Route 66. I loved the town of Cima which looked a lot like Radiator Springs.
How well we all slept in the same room.
Laying down nose to nose and forehead to forehead with James until he fell asleep.
Breaking up the drive and sleeping over in St George both ways.
Playing at McDonald's in St George. The boys LOVE it and they are a great age for it. Mike and I played in it too :)
Wearing shorts and short sleeves.
All the yummy food including the crab legs and scampi on Christmas Eve.
Late nights visiting.
Lizzie getting watery eyes while holding Daniel. It was so tender. He's got a tender and special little spirit.
Watching my Technologically brilliant husband set Shad and Lizzie up with Apple TV, their new iPad, and a new all-inclusive remote control. Mike jokes that he's a computer nerd by profession, but nerds can't communicate with people and Mike is an incredibly gifted teacher. He explains this so they make sense without coming across remotely condescending.
All that time in the car. Amazingly, even though the thought of a road trip raises my blood pressure, they've always been so fun with Mike. We love that uninterrupted time together to visit and enjoy each other. We also enjoy listening to marriage, parenting tapes, and other self-help type books. They give us a lot to talk about and think about. Now who's the nerd??
The iPad. Oh blessed iPad to entertain our boys when we have exhausted every other legal and safe option (they would love to have had free reign in the back seat). I broke up the trip by giving them presents to open, had a bag of books, we sang some songs, cranked up "Mama Mia" (James' favorite song which he likes loud), brought some favorite toys, etc, etc. They still ended up watching Mickey's Christmas 4 times, Mary Poppins, and Lady and the Tramp II. Plus, James played some games on it when Daniel was sleeping.
Watching Shad drive us to a gas station that still had free Air for tires. And then watching an older man in a nice car wait in line so he too can get free air (even though just around the corner he could pay $.75)
Lizzie taking our Family Pics again.
The hotel deals we got on priceline.com
Starting the new year with my three favorite boys
The camel ride. My boys can now say they've ridden a camel :)
Trying to learn how to use my camera and amazed at how much Lizzie knows about hers.
Palm trees.
Picking tangerines and grapefruit.
Juicing the tangerines--YUUMMYY!
Tasting Lizzie's "healthy" muffins that only the kids eat and being amazed at how similar they taste to the ones I make. That's awesome that someone else cooks like me! They're the muffins that we warn our husbands about in advance because they're not tasty. Little or no butter, sugar, and white flour-- all the stuff that makes for a yummy muffin.
The amazing cook that my husband is. He made homemade pumpkin pancakes one morning and some amazing raspberry vinaigrette (my recipe but has never come out as good as his). He's really good at following directions...
How Amazingly helpful Mikey was! He was superman. Helpful dad, continually cleaning, watching kids, and thinking of others. On his one and only "Man Day" to do what he wanted, he chose to go visit his sister 2 1/2 hours away because that's what he wanted to do. He's such a good person.