Look at him go...

Merry Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas, and Santa brought everything the kids asked for. :) I thought it would be lonely not going anywhere this year for Christmas, but it was actually quite nice just spending a quiet day together in our home.  I promise Shane was a part of our Christmas, even though he's not in any pictures.  I guess that's what happens when you're the photographer.  My sweet husband really spoiled us all way too much with gifts!!  We are so blessed, and so grateful for this special season when we can celebrate the birth and life of Jesus.

Michael sorting everyone's gifts!  Matthew is trying to figure out what is on his head.

I ended up opening all of Matthew's gifts, he just wasn't that interested.  He would rather play with all of Michael's toys then his own.

It's funny how you go through all this work to buy gifts for Christmas, but as soon as it's over you never really remember what you got.   Well, here it is Michael.  His big gift was from Grandma Chism, he got a bike!!

Matthew was holding onto the two little guys that go in the cars the entire day.

Just hurry and take the picture Dad, so I can start opening presents.

My happy guy!

Look what Santa brought.

Having a Kung Zhu Battle.

Snow at La Encantada!

We went to the La Encantada Mall in Tucson just before Christmas. The kids loved watching the snow fall, even though it was fake. :) Michael was prepared to throw snowballs at everyone, he even had gloves. The snow didn't stick, so he was out of luck! It was fun, and it helped to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Lovin it Outside

Cat Mountain Mud Run

Father and son pre-race.

Cat Mountain in the background.

Michael impatiently waiting for the race to start.

Go Dad!  I was so proud of Shane he won 1st place in his age group!!

Swan dive into the final mud pit.

At the finish line. Can't see his bloody shins.

Michael in the lead.

Like father like son.

All done!

Santa + 1 Year Old = Scary

Waiting in line for you know who!

Hmm, this didn't go as well as I had thought.

I guess Michael is getting too big for this, he has this look like "this is lame".

My First Turkey...

We stayed home for Thanksgiving and I cooked my first turkey.  It turned out pretty good if I don't say so myself.  The only hard part was carving it!  That's when I wished I had my Dad around!!  He always carves the turkey.

Trying to get every last bit of turkey off those bones. :)

He's not as innocent as he looks here!  His job was to take all of the CD's out of their cases. :Z

Michael still thinking about what to wish for.

Dinner is all ready to be eaten.  I made potatoes, gravy, rolls and bean casserole.

The day before Thanksgiving was my birthday.  Shane gave me some beautiful tulips and took me out to eat at Olive Garden.

It was such a nice day we went for a walk to the park, and played on the playground.  Matthew is getting to be such a good climber.  He climbed all the way to the top by himself.

Michael was being CRAZY at the playground, trying to do stunts with his skateboard.  He would ride it down the slide, not too smart.....!!

A Dude, Snake Eyes, and a Crocodile

We went trunk-or-treating on Tuesday night. The kids had a blast, and got lots of candy! There was also a cake walk where Michael got a cupcake.

Zoo day

Trying to get a peek at the giraffe's.

Michael hanging out at the splash pad.

Matthew just watching the kids run back and forth from the water pump.

He tried to catch the peacock's tail, but didn't succeed. :)

Just hanging out for Dad to get a picture.

Apple Annie's in Wilcox

The sunflowers are always so beautiful.

Trying to figure out the next clue in the corn maze.

Matthew trying to head back in after we were done.

Just sitting in some corn.

The kids loved playing in the corn while there was a rain storm going on all around us.

Michael found our family pumpkin.

We ended up getting him the white pumpkin -- or as Michael likes to call it "the ghost pumpkin".

This is our favorite spot to take a nice family picture, except I was the one taking the picture.