Monday, December 29, 2014

Pre-NYE Celebration with the Yangs

After all the fun we had last year with the Yangs the night before New Year's Eve we decided to make it a tradition...although this year we would do it the Saturday night before New Year's Eve and make it the Cool Carats company holiday party :)  We kicked it up a notch by getting our hair done at a new blow dry bar near our house...
....fail!  Sara fixed it when she got home.
And make-up done at Fashion Square.
For Julie, that was a fail. 
 Sara's was pretty good for a night out!  Just looked kinda fancy for at the store!
What were the kids doing all of our festivities?  They were with Nana and Papa Steve at our neighborhood hay ride to look at the lights!
Yes, even in AZ do you sometimes need hat and gloves!
Back to our night out though....we stayed at the W hotel in Old Town.  Yes, this year required a hotel and Bobby and Julie so generously provided a huge suite for us to stay in while they stayed in a studio.  It was nice to have the living area though for everyone to hang out in! So after getting dressed we headed out!
We ate at Mastro's City Hall and had a wonderful meal.  What an amazing way to celebrate our friendship and Cool Carats success!  (Have you ordered your car seat cooler yet??  Summer is rapidly approaching!)
Awwwwwwwwww :)
We hit up some bars, played some cards and overall just had a really great time.  Thank you guys so much!!  We are blessed to have Bobby and Julie as such close friends and look forward to our next adventure with them to Napa in February!!

It's also easy to get away when you know the kids are in such good hands.  They always do such neat things...like this...bubbles on plates!
And Ziggle walks to the park.
Our little engineer figured out a way to not have himself or anyone else carry his playground goodies.  Could he be any smarter or cuter? 

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Suns Game!

On Tuesday the 23rd we had a nice relaxing day...starting with learning how to play the wii...
Daddy and Trevor even got in a movie at the Movie Grill!
And then that evening Mommy and Daddy went to their first Suns game with friends Kaelyn, Nick and their 4 week old baby girl Kiera.
She is so precious!!!  And love that she's wearing Ashley's old trumpette bow socks!!
Their tickets are amazing right at half court and come with free drinks and food.  We never really got into basketball back in MN because of the Timberwolves but this game was fast paced and good!  Plus the Suns won!!!
When we got home that evening we were so excited to see that Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve arrived safely after their two day road trip to get to AZ!  Now it really feels like Christmas!!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Polar Express

On Monday the 22nd we took off to catch the Polar Express!  We were all so excited, we'd been waiting for months to go!  It's about a 2 and a half hour drive up to Williams and as usual the kids were excellent travelers.  When we got to this cute little town we found a friendly cafe and to pass the time we read the Polar Express book!
After that it was time to board!
And yes, even though Mommy swore she would not wear matching jammies, it's hard to turn down your son who is so excited about the girls being elves and his Daddy and him being Santa's. 
It did make for pretty cute pictures and we sure got a lot of compliments!
Before you knew it, it was time to go!  By Mr. Elf!



Bye everybody!  We're off to the North Pole!
Pretty soon we had singing chefs coming through our train car singing and having a merry ole time.  Well, at least one of them was!


They passed out hot chocolate, that wasn't too hot for kids!
And warm cookies!


After that the conductor came by to make sure we all had tickets.


And he did his magic punching!


Pretty soon we were approaching the North Pole!!


Oooohhhhh!   Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!
Trevor was a little disappointed because he didn't see any elves (like he saw in the Polar Express movie) but that passed pretty quick because then Santa was on our train!!!
Everybody was in awwwww!  It really was magical!!
 Funny story is that Ashley must have picked up that you tell Santa what you want for Christmas so as soon as she sees Santa she starts excitedly saying (yelling) baby!  baby!  Santa hears this and says 'you want a baby doll for Christmas?' And Ashley says 'No!  Baby!' Santa replies 'Well, that one is up to your Mommy.' :)
 We all loved the Polar Express trip!  The kids were the perfect age to go for their first time and it got all of us in the Christmas spirit!
 Oh yes, how could we forget!  They handed out bells if you said you believe and we sang Christmas carols the whole trip back to Williams. 
It was a magical trip!  So glad we went!  And dressed in matching jammies ;-)


Friday, December 26, 2014

Cardinals Game!

On Sunday the 21st our good friends Bobby and Julie took us to our first Cardinals game as Cardinals fans!  We had been to a Vikings/Cardinals game back in 2008 but that was before we moved here and came as Vikings fans.  

We had a really good time even though we ended up breaking most of the tailgating rules like no charcoal grills or glass bottles.  Oops!
 The weather was perfect....
 ....even if it was a bit chilly for the Arizona 'natives'
 Once inside the game it was just like the good 'ole days of our days attending all of the Vikings games. 
 Brian and Sara both agreed that we miss our football Sundays and the excitement that comes with game days.  Some day when the kids are older we'll get back to being season ticket holders!  Most likely with seats not half as good as Bobby and Julie's...wow!!
 And yes, Sara was double fisting.  When a person can only really drink wine and certain vodkas because of allergies...and said drinks are on the other side of the stadium, you load up and double fist!
 Cheers!  And go Cards!

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Remember the reason for the season! 
And may 2015 bring you everything you are looking for! 

Saturday, December 20, 2014

La Casa de Cristo Preschool Program

Trevor had his final Christmas program at La Casa (sniff, sniff).  He looked so handsome in the corduroy sports jacket he picked out to wear!
When did he start looking like he was 8 (again, sniff sniff).
The kids all did such a good job singing and doing all of the motions!  It was just precious!
And of course they lined up just right again this year to capture his two besties Connor and Tristan just above him!
After the program Trevor's class put on a live nativity.  Their wasn't a dry eye in the house when they were done.  And this is just one of many reasons we are thankful and blessed that Trevor goes to a Christian preschool. 
Trevor was a proud Shepard.   
After that we went back to Trevor's room where he showed off all of his Christmas artwork.
He loves showing off his work!
Such an angel ;-)
Our elf!
And he made us a snowman!
Their classes angel this year:
And we snapped a few pictures of us with our son.  (Ashley was in school)  Seriously...could they look any more alike?  Same nose, same jaw line, same smiley eyes!  Adorable!
Mommy and son!  XOXOXO
And the three amigos!  (Yes you aren't mistaken, Sara colored her hair darker for winter :-))
One last one at our annual picture spot.  God is Good!  Love this little guy more than words could ever say.
 In case you want to check out the program, here's the link!  (You do need Flash, Trevor's class is on the left as you look at the screen)
http://vimeo.com/album/3180470/video/114909560