Ringing in 2010

On Thursday December 31, 2009 we had friends over to ring in the new year. Nothing big. Nothing special. Just good friends, good food and good fun!

We grilled burgers and dogs with all the fixin's, played, talked, laughed until...

...the clock struck 10pm! Yep you read it right...we rang in the new year at 10pm AZ time which was midnight NY time! With the little ones, we thought 10pm was late enough so we watched the ball drop on CNN and toasted in the New Year with lots of good cheer!



We had sparkling cider (YuM!) and hats and noise makers and confetti and lots and lots of fun!

The kids toasting in 2010!

Payton, Colin, Teagan, Brendan, Dakota

Gayle & Todd

Ryan & Me

Here's wishing you and your family a blessed 2010!

I'm Gonna Miss This...Christmas Morn

Pam over at Your Gonna Miss This is the hostess of this weekly meme that helps you to remember and cherish the little things in life!

Since I was on a bloggy break, my computer's choice, NOT mine, I know these are a little late, BUT I want to continue using this at my scrapbook...so here is Christmas Morn! I am gonna miss seeing the tree right before heading to bed in all of it's splendor...becuase one day it will just be me & Ryan!

...and I will miss putting the boys in matching PJs for Christmas Eve so I have cutesy pics on Christmas Morn...and making them stop for pics in the hall before seeing the tree for the first time on Christmas Morn!


...I will miss the look of excitement when they turn the corner and do see the Christmas tree for the first time!
...I will miss the joy on their faces in finding what they asked for!

...and the thrill and excitement over every little thing!

...I will miss the smiles on their faces for the rest of the day!

I know that one day, all too soon, they won't be happy to dress in matching PJs, they won't stop for me to take a picture and they more than likely won't throw their arms up in excitement for the gifts that they get...but while they do, you can be sure that I am gonna capture every moment!

What are you going to miss? Visit Pam and let her know!

Where's Mom?! 38/52 Photos of ME!

Are YOU a mom? Are YOU missing from the pictures? Most moms I know are, but here is a fun meme that brings us moms out from behind the camera and puts US in the spotlight! Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans is the hostess of this year long picture project; and just think, after a year, you will have at least 52 pictures with you in them! It can be scary, but com'on, give it a try! It's easy, all you have to do is hand over the camera and smile (or not, it is completely up to you!!). And the best part is, you can jump in and start whenever; for me this will be my 38th week!

So I mentioned on Tuesday that I had some pics of me sledding but I was saving it for another post...well...here is another post! I was saving it for pics of me!

Look at me go...I went down once by myself...and once with Ryan. That was enough for me...as I knew I would be more than sore the next day...and I was!! But it was so much fun!

Here we are posing 3/4 of the way up the sledding hill


What a beautiful view...the mountains...not us!!!

And here comes me and Ryan!! With all that weight...we were flying!

We had so much fun that we are going back up to Williams over our 3 day weekend in a few weeks! We weren't even on the road when the boys were asking when we were coming back!

Now it's your turn to join the fun...hand the camera over, say cheese, and smile!

WW~Family Christmas Picture 2009

Snow Much Fun

So the other day, I posted about our trip to Williams to ride the Polar Express. Well, we got up there early and guess what...it was snowing!! The boys were so excited! I am not so sure why since they kinda grew up in the snow...but for whatever reason it was like they were seeing snow for the first time in their lives! So before we boarded the train, we played in the snow! Luckily there was an empty lot next to the hotel we stayed in! They ran and played and threw snowballs and pulled each other on the sled and made snow angels and caught snowflakes on their tongues...they had such a great time!

I even joined in and had some fun too!

Here are the kids climbing the HUGE snow pile in the parking lot!

On Wednesday (12/30) we decided to find a big sledding hill and have some fun!

We were there at 9am and the only ones there at 9am! It was fun to have the hill to ourselves for the hour that we went sledding!

The hill just wasn't big it was HUGE! The boys only tried to sled down from the top once! Most of the time they went down from 3/4 of the way up. My niece Kennedy only went down from the half way mark!

Here is Brendan getting some major air on the way down!

And here is Colin sledding down from the tippy top...there were lots of divots so he only made it about a forth of the way down before falling off! Needless to say...they wanted to try to sled from the top, and once was all they did...too bumpy!

Ryan even got in on the sledding action! (I did too...but that is a post for another day!)

Ryan & Colin

Ryan & Brendan

Since we didn't have the appropriate sledding clothing (we live in the valley of the sun ya'know!)...an hour was long enough for us! After that we headed back to the hotel to thaw out with warm baths and hot chocolate!


Thanks again Grandma & Grandpa for the fun get away!

We had snow, oh I mean SO, much fun!!

The Polar Express

Hi Friends!! Ooh how I have missed bloggyland! I have finally figured out how to use the external hard drive to download my pictures and then use my school laptop to blog...not so much learn, but give in!! It is a lot harder for me to blog this way and I have been fighting it...but to no avail, I have given in and I learned, thanks to my hubby. Our hard drive to our desktop finally gave way to it's slow death and with Christmas...well we decided that we would just use our school laptops! So anywho...I hope that all of you had a fantastic Christmas and a great start to 2010! We did and now that I am up and blogging again, I am sure you will read all about it very soon! Now onto bigger and better things...

Since Ryan and I are both teachers, we are fortunate enough to have 2 weeks off with the boys! Most of our vaca, we have been hanging out and relaxing, but we did take an overnighter with extended fam up north!

Can you believe that only 2 and half hours north of The Valley of the Sun...it is COLD...VERY COLD...COLD enough for SNOW?!? Well it is and even though the boys were born in Michigan and played in snow for the first years of their short lives...it was though they had never seen the white, cold, wet stuff before!!

Well up north in Williams, there is The Polar Express. This is a train ride that takes you to the North Pole to meet Santa and is based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg. My parents treated us and my sister and niece to a night away to experience the magic! We, all 8 of us, left the sunny, warm valley and headed north on Tuesday 12/29. The farther north we headed...the faster the temperature dropped. BBBRRR...for someone who grew up in Michigan...I have become a big, fat wimp when it comes to the cold!

Before boarding the train, we stopped at this quaint little diner just around the corner from the train station. For those who were brave enough...PJs were donned! I was a brave one...me and the kids anyway!

The boys looking for the train...

Kennedy, Brendan & Colin standing in front of the train...

All Aboard...

Once inside, you found your seats and got settled. It was warm enough inside the car that we were able to take off our coats and get comfy.

Once the train started...the conductor came around to check tickets and hot chocolate and cookies were passed out. YUMMY!

After the goodies, they read the story. Our chef, Mike, walked up and down the aisles showing the pictures. The story was read by Liam Neeson.

After the reading of the story we passed the North Pole all lit up outside. We saw Santa in his sleigh waving to us from outside. Little did we know that he boarded the train and came through all of the cars to say Hello and give each kid a sleigh bell.

He even stopped and talked to my parents...giving them each a bell as well! When we got home, I made the bells into ornaments for our Christmas tree!

The kids chilling out, listening to their bells as we head back to the train station.

The ride lasted about an hour and a half and great fun was had by all! While riding we also had a sing-a-long with Christmas Carols!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for a great time! We can't wait until next year!!