Christmas Eve 2009

The holidays this year have been really fun because the kids are just at that perfect age where the magic is still alive. Were still figuring out our family traditions and what works best for us and something that the kids will always remember when they are older.

We want the kids to understand the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate this day. Cameron was excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday and for a school paper even wrote his favorite Christmas story was the birth of Baby Jesus, and all the visitors Jesus had. One day on the way home from school he was reading "The Story of Christmas" and when he came to the part about Joseph and Mary, he asked me if we had anyone in our family named Mary, I told him I had a cousin named Mary and then he said Dad's mom is named Mary. He then asked me if they were named after Jesus' mom and how come we didn't name Morgan Mary. I love how his little mind works:)

We started our Christmas eve doing some last minute shopping, making sure we had all the staples we needed for Christmas dinner and stuff to make cookies for Santa. We got home early afternoon and baked some cookies and then off to church we went. The kids got their Christmas Church clothes. I love the fancy dresses that Morgan gets to wear, and Cameron always looks so handsome in his vest and tie.

After Church we went to my sisters for dinner and opening of presents. We are lucky to have my parents visit us this year for Christmas and it was our first Christmas with my sisters oldest son Sam.

After a great dinner and lots of fun we headed home to put out milk and cookies for Santa and to read the Night before Christmas.

Cameron set out the cookies for Santa and Morgan did not like the idea of setting out cookies and she doesn't get one.

We put the key out of the front door so Santa could come in and then off to bed for the little ones.

Cameron's Best Day Ever!!!

Well, in Cameron's words "the best day of his life". Today I took Cameron to go see "Star Wars in Concert". He knew I bought the tickets a few weeks ago but his behavior at school has been so bad lately that I told him I gave the tickets to his good friend Austin and he wasn't allowed to go. Not really giving the tickets away and not being able to sell them, I couldn't let them go to waste. So Rich and I talked about it and we have been really hard on Cameron lately we decided a 6 year old needed a break and a good day. Rich had homework to do so I got to take him. Secretly I really wanted to go with him so I could see his face and how he reacted.

All day he kept asking me where we were going and I would just say "not sure yet". So once it was time to leave he wanted to eat lunch at Subway (his favorite place), so that was our first stop.

After lunch we were headed out, the stadium is about an hour from our house so the whole way there he kept trying to guess where we were going. Once he saw the stadium he asked me if he was going to a football game and I said maybe. He then continues to say, that is a really big stadium not sure if I am ready for something so big, I just smiled inside. He kept talking about how cool it was to watch the Cardinals play for the first time, and asked if it was tackle football and if people were going to bleed. As we drove past the first stadium I told him we weren't going to a Cardinals game but we were going to the Hockey Stadium where the Coyotes play. He then goes on about how he has never been to a hockey game and how cool it was going to be. So we parked the car and walked inside the stadium, and there was a huge sign for "Star Wars". I told him that Daddy and I loved him very much and we decided to let him see the concert, he hugged me and said "I love you so much and this is the coolest thing ever". He then said, does Dad know we are here? I told him yes. We continued on and there were displays of the characters and then we saw storm troopers walking around and got lots of pictures.

Once inside and we found our seats, we were in row 27 from the stage. The show started, laserbeams and smoke were all over the place. The concert was a full orchestra playing Star Wars music while scenes were being shown in the background. The guy who played CP-3O was the narrator and did an awesome job. The show lasted for about 2 hours and had Cameron's undivided attention the entire time. He was sad when it was over. All the way home he just kept saying how awesome it was and he had so much fun. When I put him to bed tonight he told me this was his best day ever, and thank you for such a fun day!!!

This will be a day we will both remember and I am so thankful I shared it with him. To see his face lightup when he saw where he was going was priceless. He smiled the entire time we were there and truly loved every moment of it.

How we stayed cool on Saturday

We knew it was going to be around 115-117 degrees on saturday so we decided the pool was out and we needed something to keep us busy. Cameron had a basketball game at 8:00 that morning, so we got an early start on the day. After the game we went back home and decided to pull out the tent and tunnels. The kids always love it when we get them out, they are just so big and bulky you don't want them up forever. It is a good treat for them.

Later in the afternoon we decided to go to Build a Bear and get some new animals. Morgan thought it was super fun giving her puppy dog a bath after we stuffed him and gave him a heart.

After we stuffed and dressed our doggies we decided to go play in the outdoor play area at the splash pad and playground.

After all of that fun we decided to go Dairy Queen for some ice cream. I just love days like this.

Look Who Turned 2!!!

I can't believe my little girl is 2 years old!!! It was just like yesterday that she was being born and Cameron was just going into Pre-K, my how time flies. Morgan is the piece that c ompletes our family. Her little laugh and smile brighten the room the minute she walks in. I love how she is so caring and loving. She is a great snuggler and loves to give hugs and kissess. I can't imagine our life without her. She is truly our little princess.

We had a small party for her last weekend with a few friends over. She loved having people over but did not like the attention on her. She particularly did not like us singing Happy Birthday to her.

She did a pretty good job opening up her presents. After about two or three she was on to better things but luckily Tucker was there to help finish up the job.

4th of July fun

Have I mentioned how much we enjoy camping, and would go all the time if we could. So spur of the moment we decided to leave town on Friday July 3rd and head it up to Prescott, where the weather was much cooler. We arrived at the campsite around 7:00 or so, and were not impressed. But we were there and going to have a good time. Once we found a place to call home for the next few nights the kids were running around and having fun chasing each other. And as the night became darker that meant SMORES.

Morgan also lover her smores but she prefers the marshmallows by themselves :)

We didn't plan this trip very well, when we go camping we always bring the dog. Those that don't know our dog, we have a very fat dachsund. The next day was the 4th of July and there was a big festival downtown we wanted to go to. So we drive there and the walk to get to the festival is 1 mile and here we have a dog we have to bring with us who can't walk that far and we were not about to carry him, plus the heat was awful. So what did we do? We took both strollers with us, the double stroller for Cameron and Rusty (dog) and the small one for Morgan. We made it over to the festival and the kids did a few things but not much. It was really hard with the dog, he was hot and not enjoying himself one bit. But while we were there Cameron got to ride a pony and play in some boune jumps. Morgan played in the sand while brother was off having all the fun.

The kids had a blast back at the campsite for the rest of the day before fireworks. Cameron rode his scooter and Morgan walked the dog. They climbed on rocks and loved all the really tall trees.

Later that night we watched the fireworks from a parking lot so we could miss all the traffic and get back to camp at a decent hour.

Cameron's Performance at Queen Creek "Camp Rock"

This summer for something different to do Cameron went to a summer camp for the performing arts. He had so much fun, and loved learning the new songs and how to dance to the music. They performed songs from the show "Camp Rock". Each age group did a little skit. I can't get
the video to upload so the pictures will have to do.

Below are some pictures of his performance and us afterwards.