Christmas 2010

What a wonderful Christmas we had. The Cuties are at the most perfect age. Well...except Charlie. She could care less. Here's how we celebrated.

Christmas Eve. We relaxed the morning of Christmas Eve and finished up some wrapping. Around 2, we headed out to celebrate with Bryan's grandparents. What a lovely visit we had..chatting, and laughing, and of course, gifting. Around bed time, we allowed the Cuties to open one present...jammies! They were washed and folded and wrapped up for them to be able to wear right then. And, boy oh boy were they SOO excited! We made cookies for Santa, read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and tucked the Cuties in bed. Then, Mr. and Mrs. Claus went to work. Around 9pm, Mrs. Claus made a quick trip to Walgreens for more tape. Sheesh, Walgreens was PA-A-A-CKED! We finished up, set up the gifts, nibbled the cookies, and made it to bed just before 1am.

Christmas. Brady woke up just before 6am. This was the VERY FIRST year that Brady ever woke up on his own. We were SUPER excited! It's just not the same when you have to them up. The quote of the day was..."Santa came. There are so many presents...and he didn't bring any ROCKS!!" Apparently he was worried!! Lily soon followed and then Charlie just after 6am. Bryan and I got up, brushed our teeth, and prepared to hand out gifts. We have to leave at 9am for my parents...so we like to make sure we get an early start on our Christmas! The Cuties all took turns opening, opening, opening presents. We were spoiled. All of us. Santa sure was generous to each one of us! Once we finished up, the Cuties got a few minutes to play and then we got everything ready to head over to my parents. We all wore our jammies, so it was pretty easy. Once at my parent's we ate breakfast and then gifts. Again....spoiled. The kids are sooo much fun on Christmas when they are all together. So excited. It's contagious and I SO, SO, SOOOOOOO love it! We then went back home where the Cuties continued to play with all of their new toys. Around 4pm, we got ready and headed out for the Pasquel side Christmas. So much fun. We ate, and chatted, and celebrated the holiday with the whole family. We revealed our Secret Santa families. I told everyone how I actually told our family that we had them for Kris Kringle. Yes. I did that. It was tragic. The adult boys were all gifted some male panties as a gag gift. It was so, so, so funny! The Cuties all fell asleep in the car on the way home. Bryan and I cleaned up...and yes...even took down a couple Christmas decorations. I know. We're psycho!

What a great day. I love Christmas.

Zoolights 2010

We thought we were smart. Going to Zoolights during the week...instead of the weekend. Perfect, we thought. We'll go right Christmas Eve Eve. The kids are off school and it's a Thursday.

We were so wrong.

SOOOO busy.

SOOOO many people.

Such big lines.

I bought my tickets earlier in the day. We cut in front of about a million people. We were THOSE people. awesome.

And...I think this may go down as the only time in Zoolights history that Brett did not stop at every vendor for a snack.

My favorite? The dancing trees.

The Cuties favorite? The Carousel.

Next year...we are SOOO NOT going Christmas Eve Eve! But, it was still a great time!

I Know...It's Been a LONG Time Since I Blogged

I'm sorry. I've been MIA on my blog. I've been so busy. It's that time of year.
Shopping.
Spending money.
Holiday parties.
Crafting.
Wrapping Presents.
I feel like I haven't slept in the last two weeks.
I'm not one that needs a lot of sleep, but man could I use a good, solid nap.
But...then I'd be cranky, so I'd better not.
This is what we've been up to....

Quick trip to Maine for a snowmobile class. Shopping and lunch in Kennebunkport. Shopping in Newport. I was also introduced to Christmas Tree Shops. We SOOO need those in Arizona! I also missed the snow by 2 days. Aww...Shucks!

Secret Santa continues. We love our Secret Santa. And...everyone else has been having a good year, too!

Decorating the Christmas tree at my parent's house. It's an annual tradition. This year, my parents kept their super tall tree in the box and purchased a beautiful real tree. It's a nice change. The kids made s'mores (in the microwave), drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, and decorated. My mom told stories about every ornament and we laughed about her paper clip hooks on a few of them.

Charlotte is a sitting and rolling machine. Thank goodness. She did have one episode where she landed face-first on our hard as a rock carpet...but, other than that - she's good. She still has no teeth and we are beginning to wonder if she even has any teeth in there at all!

Last week, the Babcock's invited us to a Christmas Light Looking Caravan. We started at the 44th St. house (that's what we call it) and ended up at the Mormon Temple in Mesa. It was a blast. The best house was actually a cul-de-sac street of houses around Extension and Guadalupe. OMG - it was SOOOO awesome.

I love the one above...the kids are running around the driveway of lights. They thought it was simply awesome!

This one person on the awesome block converts their backyard to The Town of Bethlehem. Seriously.

Family pictures. Kaitlyn at Bryan's work took some pictures for us. She is starting up a photography business. Thank you Kaitlyn!!

Shopping. Lots and lots and lots of shopping. We're almost done. It's a miracle.

Birthday party planning. Lil's birthday is 11 days after Christmas. She had a very quick, thrown together 1st birthday party and has never really had one since. Yes, we've had family get togethers (which still end up pretty big), but this year - it's her turn to have a party. So...I'm preparing for a PINK, girl's only, fluffy, pinkalicious party. That reminds me...I really need to get moving on that!

Crafting. I like homemade gifts. Hopefully other people do, too....because I made a lot of stuff this year. Here is a sanitizer I made for Brady's teacher...

Wrapping. Wrapping, wrapping, wrapping until the wee hours of the night. Or morning, depending on how you look at it. Of course, the Cuties gifts are still in hiding from Santa.

Shipping presents. Unfortunately, just about everyone in Bryan's family lives out of state. So, we must ship out all of our presents. This forces me to shop early (well, still late for some people, Ashley and Brett!!) I was literally that crazy lady that flew into the UPS parking lot, cutting people off for a spot, unloading the van (box by box), running into UPS at 5:20pm for a 5:30pm cut off. On the very.last.day. of standard shipping. I made it. That's all that matters.

Getting a new (to us) desk for my "office." Yes...we have replaced the bed with a desk. Thank you Julie Thorn!

The kid desk to the side is Lil's new desk from my Grandma. She LOVES it and thinks it fits perfect next to my desk.

Addressing Christmas cards. I'm late. So, so, so, SOOOO late. But, they're out. Whew! Here is this year's collection of cards we have received. You can barely see the metal wall hanging I connect them all to.

The Majercin Christmas celebration. We tried something different this year. Every single Christmas Eve of my entire life has included the Majercin Christmas celebration. This year...we changed it to the 18th. Why? Well...with the family getting so big - there are lots of other celebrations going on and everyone always struggles to get together at the very same time on Christmas Eve. This year was lovely. Lots of time to spend together. No rushing. As for the White Elephant exchange. Best. Ever. SO Fun!

The picture above shows our White Elephant gifts. Mine - the DVD player (I also got a silver coin that my dad says is awesome.) Bryan's - a scrapbooking kit. I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing that wrapped up for me on Christmas. :)

Today is Sunday. I planned to finish shopping. But, instead I've been crafting. I've been lounging. I've been blogging. I've been watching football. I haven't even showered. I'm still in my jammies. I think I've unconsciously decided it's a lazy day. We deserve it!