Merry Christmas

This Christmas we went back to the tradition we had when my dad was still here (last year we went to Disneyland). We all spent the night at Grandma Becky's house and woke up early Christmas morning to see what santa brought. The kids were so excited and they got nearly everything that was on their long Christmas lists. After all the chaos of opening presents, we had our traditional breakfast of chorizo and eggs, tamales, and homemade tortillas. Yummy!!

The kids had a great day but it just wasn't the same without dad. We know that he would want us to keep with the Christmas traditions he created and we tried our best. Merry Christmas dad - we love and miss you!!

Happy 6th Birthday Taylor!!

Taylor is now officially 6 years old. When asked if 6 felt different than 5, she said, "Yes, I feel bigger." These last 6 years have gone by so fast. Happy birthday to our favorite little girl!

Visiting Santa

Every year one of our friends has Santa come to her house but this year Santa was too busy so he had to cancel. When we told Taylor she broke down and cried so we promised to take everyone to the mall because he would be working there until Christmas. She finally accepted our offer but she still wasn't too happy. As we were tucking her in bed she asked, "why is Santa working at the mall in the Arizona? What about all the other kids in the world? Shouldn't he be at the north pole getting ready for Christmas?" We fumbled our way through some lame excuses that seemed to satisfy her. Needless to say, she is way too smart for her age and we are afraid this will be the last Christmas she believes in the fat man. Bummer.

BTW the stuffed elephant Taylor is holding is "Teeny" the kindergarten class elephant. It was her day to take care of him.

Boys' Christmas Program

The boys' preschool had their Christmas program Monday night. Tanner was shy as usual and pretty much just stood there looking at us and smiling. Ty participated a little more but wasn't as animated as normal. Anyway, they looked adorable and said they had a good time.

Taylor's 6th Birthday Party

On Sunday we celebrated Taylor's 6th birthday at Bounce U. This was a kids only party, so we will have another party with family on her actual birthday. You don't think we're trying to overcompensate for her being born close to Christmas do you? Anyway, she had a great time with her friends.

Go Daddy Christmas Party

Saturday night was the annual Go Daddy Christmas party and it was nothing short of amazing. It was held at Chase Ballfield (BOB) and the Gin Blossoms played live as the main entertainment. The president "George Bush" even showed up to give a speech. It was actually an impersonator and he was hilarious. Brad and I had our picture taken with him and if I can ever figure out how to get it off his cell phone, I will post it. There were free racing video games set up where up to 4 people could race against each other, so Brad and I faced off against my sister and her boyfriend. Guess who won BOTH times.....ME!!! My car was pretty beat up at the end but who cares because I won! I won! I won! :)
Bob Parsons, the owner of Go Daddy, pulled names out of a bowl and gave money away all night (tax free). Brad won $1000. This is the first time he's ever won anything at a Christmas party and it was a blessing because we have to pay for Christmas somehow. At the end of the evening, they opened the roof of the stadium and had an awesome fireworks display.
Thanks for an unforgettable evening Bob!!

Tooth Fairy Time!

Taylor lost her first tooth this morning. I can handle just about anything when it comes to my kids but this whole loose tooth thing really had me grossed out. This morning when Taylor woke up her tooth was literally just hanging there. I told her it had to come out so I gave her a washcloth, told her to grab her tooth with it and pull. She got it out on the first pull and was surprised that it didn't hurt. I was relieved she did it herself because not only did I not want to do it, but if it hurt, she wouldn't never trust me again.

Right after school I took her to the store "Girly Girlz". They put her in a tiara with a tooth on top, took her picture, and gave us 10% off anything in the store. All for losing a tooth. She was so excited at all the attention she received. With her discount she got a Hello Kitty art set and has already been drawing everyone pictures. Now we will just have to wait and see what the Tooth Fairy brings her tonight.

New York

I'm back from New York! I spent 5 days there with my mom and sister and it was awesome. We did some serious shopping, sightseeing, eating, and saw a Broadway show. I think in order to see everything, you would need to spend about 2 weeks there but that would get really expensive. It's definitely an adult city - not a place for small children. After shopping in New York, the malls and stores here are pretty lame. The Broadway show we saw was "Wicked" and it was great. I was a little unsure if I would enjoy it, but after experiencing it, I would recommed it to everyone. It's an experience you don't want to miss. We tried to visit Ground Zero but since it is being rebuilt, it was entirely closed off and they have moved the memorial to a church across the street. I'm happy to be home with my family again but would love to go back one day.