Goodbye, Mack

      Well our Christmas Elf has left us, but we have a few pictures to remember him by.  Till next year, Mack!

Upcoming Family Vacation

      We are a spontaneous family, and if you know us that probably doesn't come as a big shock.  But even for us, this is a little more spontaneous than normal.  A couple of days ago I booked a Caribbean cruise for our family.  Sail date, January 28th.  Spencer and I really wanted to vacation with our boys this year, but we came to the realization that we couldn't because flights are so out-rageously priced.  But we lucked out!  The cruise package I found was un-believable, but most importantly, the flights to Ft. Lauderdale were almost all covered with points!  We just happened to find the perfect window of opportunity that allowed this to happen.  We are both excited to take the boys on this vacation.  The duration of the cruise is 4 nights, and it offers some awesome kid friendly fun.  I can't wait!!

 

The Great Wolf Lodge

      Spencer and I like the idea of using the money we recieve from our parents for Christmas to pay for a fun family outing.  Last year we went to the Great Wolf Lodge before Christmas, and this year we went the day after.   When we sent the kids on a scavenger hunt to find their last present, a night at The Lodge, I was disappointed with their reaction!   I wondered if maybe we'd been there one too many times?  Now looking back, I think the kids were just so overwhelmed with all their gifts that they were on excitement overload.  Not surprisingly though, we had a great time there.  We were fortunate again to meet up with several friends of ours from Seattle, and their families.  There were 9 total families in our group, only 4 of which I personally knew.  Some of the highlights include:

• Holding Amanda's 3 month old Conner!  I actually looked at Spencer with a question in my eye, you think?  He said No!
• Spencer arranged for a Mexican restaraunt in Tenino to stay open just for our group.
• Watching the kids run around and go down slides wearing the GoPro!
• Riding down the Tornado with 3 adult Men.  I seriously thought we were going to lose Sam!
• Mike adjusting my back on a small wooden coffee table in our room.
• Needing another adjustment after riding down the Tornado with 3 adult Men!
• Spencer and the guys sneaking out late in the night to see what was happening at the Lucky Eagle.

      I love this little tradition that we've started.  The kids have buddies to play with, and we have friends to talk with.  It's the perfect family outing in my opinion!

Christmas 2012

      Christmas this year was a real treat!  My Mom & Bill from Washington came down to spend the holiday with us, which meant we got to have Christmas Eve in our home, a first for us.  I wouldn't trade being close to family for anything, but one of the drawbacks is we usually go elsewhere for dinner and such.  If only I had the perfect house for entertaining (sigh).  Anyway, with my parents coming I was thrilled to be able to be home on Christmas Eve.  For dinner we went with the meal that was tradition in my house growing up which was Mandarin Chicken.  Oh it's delicious!  After dinner we went on a drive around town in search of Christmas lights.  After the kids went to bed, I had several loose ends to tie up (aka. presents to wrap) and so we put on National Lampoons Christmas Vacation for some laughs.  In the morning the boys were happy to have found that Santa came and brought them what they wanted.  Austin:  Skylanders Giants game & Nerf gun.  Cameron & Andrew:  New bikes & Nerf guns.  They also were sent on a scavenger hunt to find their last present from Spencer and I; A night at The Great Wolf Lodge the following day. 

      We invited the rest of our family over for brunch and served a breakfast casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls, then we went back to bed!  Christmas dinner was held at Mom & Dad's house and we had the most delicious Prime Rib, prepared by Marie, and homemade chocolate & key lime pies by Mom.  Seriously, the food was just amazing this year!!  To top the night off we pulled out the chimes and played some Christmas carols.  I don't know what it is about the chimes, but there is just something joyful about playing them during Christmas. 

      Looking back I feel like this was a perfect Christmas.  We spent a lot of time with family and friends, but we also talked a lot about our Savior.  As a family we wrote down something that we can each give him during this next year.  I feel extremely blessed to know what the Spirit of Christmas feels like and I only hope that I can keep that feeling strong all year too! 

Christmas Eve Bowling

      We probably go bowling as a family twice a year and one of those times is always on Christmas Eve, if we're in town.  Spencer couldn't make it this year but we had a great time anyway.  Cameron rocked the house with his score of 129 and landing 2 strikes in a row!  I on the other hand did terrible, and the sad part is I was trying to do well!  Andrew is also competitive and was pretty bummed about his score too, but coming in 3rd & 4th place is still fun.  After bowling we walked over to Burgerville and had lunch and cupcakes for Josie's birthday.  And thanks to this tradition our family gets Burgerville at least once a year too.  I can't afford it the other 11 months, just kidding ... almost! :-)

Austin, Cameron, Baby Andrew, Mom

Preschool Christmas Party

      I volunteered to help with Andrew's preschool party this year and came away with two funny memories from it.  The first one involved a game I was in charge of providing.  I found a really cute BINGO card from Pinterest and printed it.  I then went to the local printing shop and had them make me 10 copies.  Shortly before the party started I cut one of the BINGO boards for me to draw from and then I realized, all of my BINGO boards were the same ... DUH!!!  The thought never crossed my mind that each board would need to be different.  Luckily I was playing with preschoolers, who all but one, never even noticed :-)  And ironically, when all was said and done, I'm kind of glad it worked out that way because everyone won at the same time, which meant no sore losers! 

      The other funny memory I have from the party was watching Andrew play a bean bag tossing game.  There were 5 trays set on the ground and points were assigned to each one.  Most of the kids who played gave great effort trying to get the bean bag on a tray and would still end up missing several of them.  Then Andrew walks up and effortlessly tosses a bean bag on to each one of the trays continually as if he wasn't even trying at all.  It was funny.  The games were fun, but Santa's special appearance at the school was by far the coolest thing!  And I have to say, this Santa looked like the real deal.