Snow...in Arizona? Can it be true?

We headed North to Flagstaff on January 27th to hunt for snow

Yippie, we found some

Caitlyn LOVED sledding and of course going fast

Emma the little snow bunny

Caitlyn the little snow angel

Our snowman- it only took 5 adults and 2 kids to build this masterpiece

A smile by the snowman, but Caitlyn is in sledding position should someone push her unexpectedly

Nana and Papa and Mr. Snowman

Dinner at Beaver Street Brewery

Cheese

We went to see the movie Tangled after dinner, it was a fun night

The three ski amigos - last time we all skied together was in Park City, spring of 2004. It was fun to ski, tease each other and enjoy the outdoors.

PS- watch your speed on those green circles Nate

Miss Em had a blast at Ski Wee school. She skied from 10-12, had lunch with her class and then went back out from 1-3. We were so proud of her for being brave, trying something new and having a great attitude about it. She really liked it and wanted to ski some more after her lesson.

Em on the bunny hill conveyer belt

Down she goes. Emma wanted to go down the big lift after her ski school. We told her maybe next time.

What a beautiful day at Snowbowl. There is nothing better than skiing in the sunshine. It dumped 14 inches the following day. We can't wait until Caitlyn can join us on the hills.

Christmas

A family picture before mass on Christmas Eve

Sweet Sisters- I love this one !

Family photo after Christmas Eve Mass at St. Tim's

-the poinsettias on the tree were placed there to remember all of those loved ones no longer with us

Spreading reindeer food on the front step - who knew reindeer like glitter in their oats?

Christmas Eve dinner- shrimp soup and appetizers in honor of Great Grandma Velma

Papa is famous for his chex mix so we painted personalized chex mix bowls for the fam at As You Wish Pottery. It was a lot of fun, the girls loved it.

Milk and cookies for Santa

Santa came - yay

Fun new toys to keep the girlies busy

He even brought a play mobil farm set and had it all set up on the table ready to play with !! He dropped some play dough by the back door on his way out. It must have fallen out of his toy sack.

Christmas morning

Uncle Nate and C bear checking out this year's calendar

Hanging with my little bro-

Nate's famous "uncle" comment of the holiday "watch your speed" as the girls flew by him (inside on the new scooter and plasma car) We have been laughing about it since, mostly because my Dad caught it on video and Nate is half asleep when he said it. We used his comment a lot while we were skiing and would then die laughing!! Thanks for the unclish advice Nate.

Dinner at Great Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Paul's-

(normal shot) ha ha

OR is this the normal shot !!!!

Who knows?? we had a lovely afternoon together normal or not .

December festivities

Little Elf Feet

Rudolph

Cottage Fair at Edu-Prize

Family Traditions

Emma's was baking Christmas treats with family

Emma studied traditions from around the world this December- Holland, Germany, Mexico, China and the North Pole

We wanted a picture of Emma and Mrs. Lang, Caitlyn insisted on being in the photo. She is so ready to be 5. Bryan and I think that we need Mrs. Lang to join us for family photo shoots.

Caitlyn and Mommy went to the PJ and cookie party for the second year in a row- there was a little doggie named Max that Caitlyn loved on for the whole morning

Emma and Garrett at PJ day at school. This is the little friend that "plays" Emma's husband on the playground. Garrett's Mom told me that they hear about Emma at home. Too cute. They like to giggle at each other.

We enjoyed an evening at the Stenhoff's home making cookies and exchanging gifts. Thank you for a fun time, we love you guys.

We finally found a Gingerbread house that is actually enjoyable to put together, thank you Trader Joe's for a successful (meaning simple and easy) and cute gingerbread house.

By far the best "Santa" pictures yet. Emma told Santa that she wanted a "hair salon" and Caitlyn asked for a real doggie. Santa said he would bring a stuffed doggie if Mom and Dad said no to the real one. They both loved visiting with him this year. Santa would also be welcome to join us for family photo sessions. he he

A Christmas dance performance

The girls chose their outfits and hair accessories and put on a show for Bryan and me.

Em's daisy scout troop went caroling in the Corley's neighborhood. This was the last house we stopped at and the sweet little couple invited the girls in for hot chocolate and cookies (planned of course). It was such a great evening.

Practicing before they headed out to sing- the pink theme was not planned !

There were lots of little baby daisies or seedlings as we called them that we joining in on the fun- too cute

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

note: the seedling in the front (Ellie Corley)

The Daisy Scouts and the sweet neighbor couple

We enjoyed a morning of making and decorating sugar cookies- what do you mean that is too many sprinkles ??

Caitlyn's strategy was: sprinkle some on, taste some and repeat

Merry Christmas 2010

What a wonderful holiday season it has been so far !

A Gift for Jenni

Jenni is the little girl in the front with the long hair

As a family and extended family (Bryan, myself, Emma, Caitlyn, my parents, my brother, Bryan's Mom and Doug, Grandma and Aunt Jane) we decided to donate the money we would usually spend on one another to an organization called the Farm of the Child. Farm of the Child USA is a Catholic, non-profit organization dedicated to support Finca Del Nino, a family-style orphanage that provides education, health care, spiritual formation and community outreach in Trujillo, Honduras.

We got paired with a little 10 year old girl named Jennifer Cristina Murillo (Jenni). Nathan's friend Laura worked at the Farm and personally knows Jenni which makes it an extra special connection. Our financial donation will help to support her for the next year. We will also be corresponding with her.

Emma and Caitlyn's part - the first Sunday of Advent we sat down with the girls and explained our gift to Jenni. We of course used pretty simple terms, explaining that her parents are sick and other adults help take care of her and that our money would help them take care of her. We asked them if they would like to take some of their Christmas money and give it to her instead of buying toys. They both said "yes" and seemed to understand it, especially Emma.

So, each day they both have the opportunity to earn 4 stars. If they earn their stars they earn 1.00 to put in Jenni's basket. Between them, they will donate 50.00 by Christmas day. They both talk about Jenni, draw her pictures, say goodnight to her picture and tell her they love her. It has been such a great way to begin to teach them about giving to others and thinking of others in need. We hope to do something like this every year.

Caitlyn, Jenni and Emma on Christmas Eve

Trimming

This is how I found Miss Caitlyn after running upstairs to put laundry away. I knew she had gotten in the drawer because she had her shades and a pencil. I thought, oh what a little cutie pie...what I didn't know was ....

while others were trimming their christmas trees, she was trimming her hair with Emma's scissors !! Later in the day when I took her pony tail out, this chunk of hair came with it. AHHHH

This is the "after" look- uneven baby bangs...I am just thankful that we did our family pictures weeks ago ! Ohhhh, Miss Caitlyn. She assures me that she will not do it again. I ran her into my hair gal to see about damage control. She said there was not much we could do. Caitlyn kept saying "Ashley gonna fix my hair, Ashley gonna fix my hair." Sorry baby, only time will fix this little experiment.