Early Christmas

Since Stephen will be in Kuwait for Christmas, we celebrated early this year. We didn't want to miss being together as a family for Christmas, so we created our own Christmas while he was home. We did everything we would have done if it were actually December 25. We are sad to have Stephen gone again, but are looking forward to him coming home for good in April.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Breakfast

Our first traditional breakfast of orange sweet rolls and hot chocolate. Never mind that it was still in the 70s outside and I was clad in my new fuzzy and so warm pj's (thank Lois! I love them and they are so comfy) and had to change because the combo made me so hot! Typical Christmas in Arizona!

Mock Christmas Eve

Since Stephen is leaving for Kuwait on Tuesday, we are celebrating Christmas before he leaves. Tonight was our Christmas Eve and we decided to have our traditional Santa pinata. I cheated a little and bought a bag with Santa's face on it instead of painting a Santa. It was a project I knew would end in tears if I tried to tackle it.

After the pinata we went to the Mesa Temple to look at the lights. Kensley fell asleep about 30 seconds after we got in the car. Once we got there, she woke up and loved all the lights and wouldn't stop running everywhere.


Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Beals for the new nightgown!

Look What the Cat Dragged in

The other day Kensley went down for a long nap and almost three hours later she was still asleep! Just as I was wondering whether I should wake her up or not, I heard a noise behind me and this is what I found!

Song Practice

Turkey Cookies

We spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with Stephen's family and for a Thanksgiving activity for the kids, I brought stuff to make sugar cookies so they could decorate them to look like turkeys. Kensley loved decorating cookies with her cousins and was very proud of the end result!