Merry Christmas!

Buddies

Up until recently I thought Gus was just being nice with Caroline. One of those pets that somehow knows to tolerate children's handling because they're just a kid.

He lets her push him around in the baby doll stroller. All the time.

He even entertained Morgan one morning while Caroline was at a friend's house. They played with this pop-up tent for at least 20 minutes!

Caroline is ALWAYS holding him. The moment we walk in the door, she finds him. She holds him while watching TV or playing. We have to tell her to put him down when it's time to eat! So I always figured he was just putting up with it. Dave said he might actually like it, but I didn't believe him until last night.

That's when Dave went upstairs to check on Caroline before going to bed and told me to come look at her.

There they were - he was snuggled against her even without her knowing! (on the floor of course. what does this girl have against beds?!) He was there not because she made him, but because he wanted to!

So I guess he does actually love her. Good thing, because I don't think she was ever about to let up!

Gingerbread Housing

For Family Home Evening we decided to make gingerbread houses. But since I'm a cheat, we bought a prefabricated kit.

Starting:



After 15 Minutes...



AND... 2 minutes after that:


AND ... a few seconds after that:

Therefore:

'Tis the Season!

Tucson

Tucson was great. I didn't take as many pictures as I probably should have. Sometimes I feel like when my face is constantly behind the camera to preserve memories, I'm not enjoying those times as much as I could while they're actually happening!

So my lack of pictures doesn't mean I didn't have a good time - it's just the opposite. I love visiting my family and friends and would rather spend my time talking and playing instead of being the photographer.

BUT, here's a few that I did capture!

Aren't they sweet? Caroline absolutely loves her cousin Brandon. They play SO well together. The moment they see each other, it's hugs and smiles and they play until we rip them apart! I wonder how long these kinds of boy/girl/cousin relationships can last this way - so I cherish it while it lasts!

We went to a gymnastics school that has an open gym hour once a week. It was so cool! They just ran around like crazy for an hour - SO fun!

Love this one of Caroline and Grandpa Bud!

Caroline thinks her older cousins are the coolest things on Earth and they painted her nails after our "Thanksgiving" feast. How sweet they are!

We found most of the kids playing on Grandma's guest bed. It's amazing how well they play together with all their age differences. We only had to break up one little spat (over a My Little Pony thieving scandal - it was actually kind of funny!)

Again, the whole trip was great and it made me miss being close to our families. We like living here in the south, but we will always think of the southwest as our home.

Thatcher

I'm just now getting around to putting up pictures of our great AZ trip. We spent half of our time in Tucson and half in Thatcher. It was really such a great time, that it was hard to come back!

Nana reading night time stories.

One of the best parts about Thatcher is that so many of our friends from college are there. We had such a great time getting together with some of our friends from our good 'ol days at EA!

And Caroline became fast friends with their daughters! It was so cute to watch them run around together like best friends, even though they'd only just met!

Nana and Grandpa's backyard is so fun!

Kuli, catching some air.

Dave and Caroline with cousins Max and Maya.

Max and Maya also brought their super cool Power Wheel, which was a BIG hit!

Good Times with friends and family. Tucson to come soon.

BDay Weekend Part 2: Caroline

We got Caroline a bike for her birthday and she loves it. Too bad it's going to be too cold outside to ride it soon!

We actually found it at a thrift store and it was in surprisingly good shape, so Caroline got a Barbie bike and Mom and Dad got a great deal - it's win/win!

Caroline had requested one of these Barbie cakes. I could go on for quite a while about the mistakes/disasters/frustration that came with making this cake, but I'll spare you since it turned out ok in the end. I will say this though, that I learned a lot while making it and if she ever requests one again, I'll know how to do it really good the next time!

This year we went with a family party and Caroline had a blast with all her cousins.

I did a "treasure hunt" for all the girls. We put clues around the house until they found their goody bags. It was fun to see them working together - the older cousins helping the younger ones.

What a fun group And a fun day!

So after we put her to bed after her 4th birthday, I had a little Mommy-melt-down. Dave held me while I cried, "I can't believe she's four!" over and over. Really, it's amazing how time has flown and how big she is. While it hurts that she's getting more indepenant and less little, it's amazing to watch her become such a fun girl. We can play pretend, have converstaions, go out for lunch, play board games and it doesn't feel like work or like I'm just keeping her busy or entertaining her - it's actually fun! She is definately one of a kind and I feel so blessed to be her Mom.