It is of Halloween 2004! {and you thought you were behind} Courtney was this darling little petite baby and I stuck this enormous blonde wig on her. Who would have thought down the road that she'd have the same lovely, golden locks? It must have given her good hair karma.
Xander Man is getting so speedy on his rollerblades. {obviously--my camera can't even keep up with him!} We're wearing out the asphalt in our cul-de-sac this winter.
Love this kiddo! Courtney took a break from biking and must have found this light saber in the process. She was being so crazy, I couldn't resist!
Ross, $3.99! I love my annoying-ly yellow lemon juicer. A trip to the backyard, a couple packets of Splenda, some ice, a squeeze, and I'm sippin' sunshine!
Let me rephrase that. Courtney loves her sparkly new pink bike but is scared to death of how tall it is. So... Darren revamped Alexander's old bike {completed it with a girly basket} and she's as happy as can be. It is still VERY slow going... I got to walk my bike on our first excursion to the park {which is less than a mile, but took us almost 3 hours!} 
XanderMan is our pro and such a good sport. He is always so kind to help Courtney and encourage us along.
Today we rode to the entrance of our neighborhood to let the kids play. I love it-- it feels like a tropical oasis in the middle of the desert.
Beautiful AZ in the wintertime
Yeah, yeah, I know... you can stop laughing at the weird lady on her pink cruiser. I must say, it is still an exhilarating rush to ride. The day was absolutely perfect and Alexander and I had a fun 4 miles around the loop!
Darren was the CSN-V {Courtney Support Non-Vehicle} on the way to the park today. He's the most accomplished biker of us all, and training to do another race {Tour de Cure} for Diabetes this year. fyi, if you want to make a donation to the Tour de Cure, you can at:
They just released these divine new shapes {chandelier, crowns, damask} and I had to try them out today. Just as I'm thinking, "I SO love QuicKutz," the doorbell rings.
It's QuicKutz. {Or the UPS man with a box from QK} He delivered the rest of my goodies from my winnings! I am so excited... 
As we were driving to church today, Alexander was reading one of these gems, and Courtney said, "Xander, you shouldn't bring one of those books into the church. People will think that's wicked inappropriate." {"Wicked" is a term we picked up living in New England. There it means "really." Wicked cold, wicked good-- you get the picture} I laughed out loud! Our Maine-born child is true to her birth state!
Xander Man was so excited about his DS. We are having a difficult time pulling he & Darren away from this little toy!
He has been wanting this toy for a year... Crash & Smash Stadium. He & Darren are faithful Monster Jam attendees {minus the mullets}.
A dollhouse for the Barbies!
This was my Christmas surprise! A pink beach cruiser. I haven't ridden a bike in probably 10 years, so it should be an adventure. Darren got it home by strapping it to the front of his Jeep! As he was in the middle of figuring out how the heck he was going to get it home, some good friends of ours pulled up next to him in the parking lot and helped him strap it down. Thanks, Kim & Elliot:) 
Darren's Christmas was pretty boring... new brakes for his Jeep.
This year we decided to keep that tradition and drove 2 hours to spend the day in the mountains east of Payson, Arizona. This is our kind of snow... one magical day that requires no shoveling.
The snow was fresh, sparkly and still clinging to the trees. It was breathtaking!
The snow bunnies:) We have no winter attire, so we had to improvise bigtime.
WooHoo! The girls were too chicken to walk down this hill, so Momma became the human sled.
Happy to see the snow-- for about 5 minutes. She told us, "Next time you need to find some warm snow. This kind is too cold!"
The snowball throwing champion. We all got pelted pretty good by this boy. It doesn't help that we watched "Elf" on the way up here.
We always pull off at this beautiful campground, just up in the mountains a bit. Darren brought his camp stove and we devoured chili and hot cocoa. Notice how far my table sank into the snow!
Brrrrr it's cold! Look at those poor little fingers & red nose! 36 degrees...
Aahhhhh... back to reality. 63 degrees and 2 hours later, we're sitting in the backyard {notice that Xander doesn't even have shoes on} around the fire, eating pizza. What a day of extremes.
Happy Christmas Eve!
Pictures don't do this temple justice. It is so beautiful.
Palm trees+night+rain
Alexander rode his heelys all around the temple grounds. It is usually packed this time of year, but because of the rain, attendance was sparse. Only the tough Idahoan Maineacs can withstand these harsh Arizona winters:)
Courtney's favorite was the big nativity they have on the grounds. We went to a live nativity on Saturday, and she giggled through the whole program because the goat kept saying, "Maaaaa."
Inside the visitor center they have nativity sets from around the world. Here are some of our favorites. 
We dried off a bit in the theatre as we watched Luke 2. A soggy but wonderful night:)
The last 2 cookies...
Having kids help in the kitchen is so fun. It's usually easier & faster to do it myself, but the kiddos love helping and get such satisfaction when I brag them up to their Daddy when they've helped make something. We're trying to keep busy this last week before Christmas:)
Here are their cute little gingerbread people. We went for a walk around the block to look @ Christmas lights & warmed up afterward with cocoa {stirred with candy canes} & delicious gingerbread. 
Christmas cards for the kids' teachers...
They looked a little goth, so I blinged them up with some Stickles to make them look more festive:)The other day, I was perusing YouTube videos & came across this classic by Weird Al. Courtney was in her office, doing homework. A little while later, we were making dinner, and I asked her something. Her response was, "But Mom, I'm just a white nerd egg." I guess she was listening to the "White & Nerdy" video after all. She's been singing her version of it all week.
{Darren says this is disturbing on so many levels because he can relate:}
I didn't know how I could possibly make holiday gifts in purple packaging, but a trip to Scrapbooks, Etc. later, and the universe was at peace once more. I went with a winter/snowflake theme instead:) It's a work in progress-- I ran out of cellophane bags!
Chicken Noodle Soup
These noodles are the secret! I thought they could only be bought in Idaho, but since then I've found them @ Super Wal-Mart. They look a little funny {Alexander thought I was adding rubber bands to the soup:} but SO good!
Darren brought back a chess board for Alexander {that nerd convention must have rubbed off on him}! The kids love it & Darren enjoys imparting his words of wisdom as they play.
And Here!
And here! {all in one day!} Yep, you guessed it... Las Vegas, baby! 12 years ago, we came here on our Honeymoon, and haven't had a getaway since. My wonderful Mother came to tend the kids, and Darren & I got to have a very fun & relaxing vacation. You know, no matter where you are, {even in cheezy/sinful/noisy Vegas} beauty can still be found. 
Darren's convention was held in the Venetian, which is a lavish and gorgeous hotel. They have this amazing river running through it, and Darren took me on a romantic gondola ride. Kissing under the bridges is supposed to bring good luck! We have high hopes for 2009;)
