Christmas party

Today we got to have a good lesson on how to say thank you after someone gives you a gift. Ryann has it down, but Cara kept saying, "are there any more presents?" Yeah. We are working on that.

However, it was a blast at our friend's Christmas party. We ate good food, enjoyed conversation, and the kids played like crazy.

Putting up the lights

We finally have our tee decorated with help from these cuties. I think we only lost one ornament in the process. Much better than years past. Hopefully we cab glue it back together though. We'll see.

Christmas attire

This little man looked snazzy in his plaid pants and chevron shoes.

Temple lights

We went to see the Mesa, Arizona temple lights on Friday night. The girls loved it but towards the end they were STARVING which makes us all cranky. Over all it was a really fun time... even if we forgot a blanket for Mac.

Work Christmas party

Look at how cute the food was for my work Christmas party. Such a fun day last week.

Christmas Eve

These kids had a blast on Christmas eve! They got new PJs and new stuffed animals from Grandma Mingo!

Christmas Pictures take 2

We tried to get some Christmas dress pictures after church.

The hair was messy, kids were tired, but at least the girls weren't fighting over Mac anymore.

Mac's little hat wouldn't stay on, but he was still rockin it. Thanks Grandma Mingo for the Christmas outfits for the kids!

Countdown

Here is where we keep all of our presents until Christmas eve. This picture was 2 weeks ago and it is overflowing now. The girls are so excited.

This year I color coded the wrapping paper. The girls know the colors and I am quite shocked that they haven't attempted to open any presents yet. I probably jinxed myself now... but we'll see.

Anyone else excited for Christmas?

Gingerbread House

Cara has a sweet preschool teacher who makes 10 gingerbread houses each year, just waiting for the kids in her class to decorate the crap out of them. 

 Every year that I had kids it gets easier and easier to not care what the house looks likes. Cara had a lot of fun making this house and it is so "cara" to see half eaten pieces of candy on the house. 

 I especially love that I was able to take the day off in order to spend it with her. What a sweetie and baby Mac was excellent during the decorating time as well. 

Best Part of the Trip

The very best part of our trip to Napa was the hotel bathtub.

SERIOUSLY?

Well, that is what they said this morning when I asked them the best part. 

Bike Riding

When we were in Napa the girls got to spend some time riding their new bikes... and Daddy of course spent some time on the barbie scooter. I mean, what manly dad wouldn't get out on a barbie scooter to play with his girls??

 Ryann is doing really well on her bike and I think in the next month or so we will take off her training wheels. She says she is ready for it!

 Cara wasn't as happy at first because she couldn't go as fast as everyone else, but she caught on quick. 

Mullet House

The Sunday before Christmas we all made gingerbread houses. Each kid had their own and the adults shared a house. Since Rich wasn't there, Zach and I made a house together. It was called the mullet house.

Business in the front (courtesy of me and my awesome decorating skills) 

 Party in the back! (courtesy of Zach)

The kids also had an awesome time decorating! Thanks for this fun night!

Christmas Eve

We had a fabulous Christmas Eve, playing games, being silly, eating amazing food...

 And an attempted re-enactment of the nativity. I think we need more babies/ grandkids to play these parts. We didn't even have any sheep!!

Christmas PJs and Uncle Zach

Zach spent some time with us over the vacation. Unfortunately he had to leave early to go propose... ugh.. i mean... YEAH! We are so happy for him and Aunt Madeline!  Yahoo!

Anyway, he sang us some lovely songs.

 All of the cousins also got PJs from Auntie Erin and Uncle Pete. It was so fun to watch them all get so excited about these presents. 

 Cousin Dean wouldn't pose for the picture, but this was a pretty good shot- Ryann especially loved her horse shirt! Auntie Erin knows how to pick em. 

 One of the cutest things that Miss Addie does is say, "I look cute, right?"  or "I am smiling for the camera, right?" or "I am listening, right?" or "I am eating my dinner, right?"

So basically everything that I had to scold Cara for, Addie would chime in to remind me that she was doing it right when everyone else wasn't.  Not gonna lie, this is her mother's daughter. I do believe growing up Ashley was the super good kid... well, at least until her teenage years, right??

It cracked me up every time she did it. What a little smarty pants. 

Goats

We spent some time out with Cory, Katie, Dean, Lulu, Mavis, Arizona, Sally, (the other goat who I forgot its name), and a bunch of chickens. 

Cara was not a fan of the goats. 

 Ryann liked the goats but was very wary of them. She pet them, but wasn't a fan when they tried to eat her clothes or her boots. 

 She especially liked the goat Sally. Sally is one of her favorite names. (like the name she picks for every doll or toy or animal)

We also tried some goats milk while we were there. Delicious. No complaints at all. 

Thanks Cory and Katie for the fun times with the goats!

Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer

Is singing loud for all to hear!

I love that my girls love Christmas music. I catch Cara singing Christmas songs all day long. Sometimes we even love to make up our own words to the songs.

Unfortunately most of the songs end up with the word "poop" in them if it is Cara making up the words.

Good thing she is so cute.

Here is a picture from our church Christmas party a couple weeks ago. How come these girls won't smile like this when I ask them to??

Broken Tricycle

I guess it is about time.

This awesome hand me down tricycle has served both of our girls (and a couple other girls before them) very well. The Arizona sun and heat finally got to it.

Ryann was riding it and it broke.

The girls were devestated. I tried to explain to them that Santa might get them a new one... hint hint... but they insisted on trying to fix it.

They pulled out the tool  box and realized that the saw in the toolbox probably wouldn't help it. I quickly snatched that away and they went back searching in the garage for tools.

Very clever little girls.

Here is Cara nailing a screw into the wheel.  I don't think that Rich has taught them much, and if you know Rich you know he didn't teach them this.  However, he has taught them how to use a hammer and they had more nails and screws hammered into those wheels than I could believe.

Cara hit the head on the nail almost every time.

We finally made the tricycle a fairwell and off it went to the trash can.  Thank goodness Christmas is just around the corner!

Run! Run! As Fast As You Can!....

Ryann has been reading a lot of books in school about gingerbread men. Her new favorite is the Gingerbread girl who does a twirl (?) or something like that. Basically she always tells us that she will slap the fox in the face so it won't eat her. 

 Whatever. 

Oh yeah, did I mention that this cutie says "whatever" a lot!  Almost always to Cara though. At least she doesn't have attitude for us yet.  

 We have a yearly tradition to decorate gingerbread cookies, and Ryann and Cara were more than excited to do this with Grandma Mingo and the family. 

This year the frosting colors were limited to one (Best idea ever! NO fighting!!) and then they got their choice of M&Ms. What a fun time had by all.  Now does anyone want a gingerbread cookie? We have over 30.