AZ Christmas- Part 6

I know you are probably wondering if we really did come back to CT at all, but I can promise you that we are here and that I am just about done with our AZ trip blogs.


After leaving Adam's homeland after Christmas, we shot on over to my parents home, a mere five hours away, where we celebrated New Year's with them.

First, we got together to with my uncle and aunts kids that were all home for the holidays. These cousins were our closest friends growing up and it was really great to see them all again and their growing families.


Emma and Emma

Ellie and Hannah

Another group to convert to Settlers of Cantan



Later that week we spent some time visiting the local historical markers. I had never known the stories of most of the places we had visited as kids, but my dad really was a great tour guide. Who knew he was such a history buff?

Here are some pictures from our trip to see the sight of the Oatman Massacre, my grandma wrote about it here as well. As different as it is, the desert is beautiful, especially in the mild winter months when it is easy to forget how hot it usually is there.






Ellie is trying to draw on the rocks like the Indians did.

And JUST BEFORE going HOME, we celebrated Emma's third birthday.
Grandma made her the birthday cake of her dreams and she loved all her presents.

And we returned home well rested and warm and with lots more family memories.

AZ Christmas- Part 5

Our Christmas aftermath was filled with time. . .

. . .time with cousins

. . .time with nephews and nieces

. . .time with Nana

. . .time to be pampered

. . .time with Dad

. . .time with great- grandma.

. . . and time with the mountain. ;)

AZ Christmas- Part 4

Okay, where was I before all this "church" excitement?

Christmas Eve Night

We had a wonderful evening with homemade donuts, a very well-planned Nativity play thanks to David and Amber, gifts of matching jammies to the grandchildren, a visit from Santa Clause, carols, and Christmas lights(if you guessed, we were trying to tier out the kids so they would sleep easier).










Here Adam is asking for a paint ball gun.(but honestly, where is Santa supposed to find a paint ball gun at 9:30pm Christmas Eve?) Needless to say, Santa didn't get him one.



Christmas Morning

Matching scooters from Santa plus lots of Barbie Island Princesses and Dora.




Every year Santa leaves Band-aids in their stockings and they love it, except I think Ellie is over the novelty this year, "Why did we get band-aids Mom, I don't have any owies?" Meanwhile, Emma is plastering herself with hers. I guess it is an under four-year-old thing.

AZ Christmas- Part 3

Christmas Eve Day

Point of interest- Gila River
Equipment needed- Quads, paint guns, sand toys, and lots and lots of sandwich makings


It is a holiday tradition for the Marble men to go out to the river with their toys and leave us home to wait for their return. But this year, I think our husbands grew a little smarter and invited us along. We grabbed the sand toys, kids, and coolers and we rode down to the river bed. The men loaded their paint guns and started blasting each other, while Papa lead the girls and children on a four-wheeler ride. We then ate lunch, played in the sand, and watched some intense paint ball wars.







Thanks guys for letting come along, what a Win Win.

AZ Christmas- Part 2

Touring Grandpa's Farm

My dad was in the middle of harvesting his grass right before Christmas, but he took some time to take us on a picnic and show the girls some of his big tractors. We also grabbed the dirt bikes and took them for a spin.

AZ Christmas- Part 1

I had hoped to keep up with my blogging while on vacation, but early on I realized that I needed to spend all the moments I could with the family members we were there to see, and not glued to their computers. I really enjoyed reading of everyone else's holidays and can't wait to show you ours.

Our first event was the marriage of Brad and his new wife Valerie. We love Val and are so happy that Brad was lucky enough to find her. We may see more of them this summer as they come out to work for Coverstar again.





Our next adventure took us to Disneyland, CA. It was the first time for our girls and it was MAGICAL. I don't know who had the most fun, the girls, or Adam and I watching them. We spent a lot of time in Fantasy Land with the Princes and Princesses. Another favorite spot was Tomorrow Land with the Buzz Lightyear and Autopia rides with the insistence of Adam we rode each twice. Ellie and I tried Splash Mountain, but after the first splash Ellie cried the rest of the time. We thought about going on Indiana Jones, but backed out when we saw Ellie's face as we entered the line at the scary pyramid.

Ellie practices her curtsy and Emma(and Adam) are dancing around the May pole

We saw the 3D movie called, "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" which totally freaked Ellie out. The professor is supposed to be showing off his shrinking machine to earn a prestigious award, but ends up shrinking the audience(us), letting lose a thousand rats, a huge snake, and a dog. All the theatrics really did not agree with Ellie, especially the snake. Later that day, we found a Bugs Life movie playing and as we were about to enter the theater, the attendant handed out the 3D glasses and Ellie burst out crying, "I don't like these kind," and we left.

Ellie and Emma with the Big Mouse himself. The little boy in front of us gave Mickey the longest hug I have ever seen, it was pretty cute.


BUT the MOST THRILLING THING was DINNER with

THE

PRINCESSES

after an expensive(but highly worth it) meal of mac and cheese, each princess came to each table talked with the girls, autographed their book, took a picture, and gave them a hug. They loved it. I think Sleeping Beauty was their favorite. She was exceptionally friendly.

Emma trying to comb her hair like Ariel

AND WE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER