Riding the Light Rail

Yesterday, we wanted to ride the new light rail. They were having free rides this week Monday through Wednesday. I thought this was something that we would never use it and so I wanted to check it out while it was free.

We got on it at the beginning in Mesa (Main St. and Dobson) and rode it all the way to the end in Phoenix (19th Ave. and Bethany Home Rd.) and then back again. It was actually pretty cool! The ride was smooth and it was really nice. The kids loved it. I was actually quite impressed myself. It was really cool to see lots of places I haven't seen in a long time. I got to show the kids places like, my old apartment I lived in 15 years ago and lots of other places.



Here's a pic of the ASU stadium. It was so cool how close the light rail is to the stadium. I actually think that next time we go to a game, we'll probably take the light rail. We got to see "A Mountain" up close too. It was really cool. They had the 3 wise men on the mountain and a big star. The kids thought that was really cool.

Christmas Day

We were so blessed this Christmas!! We had lots of fun with each other. I took a few pics, but then I forgot about the camera. Here are the kids Christmas morning waiting to go into the living room. They were so excited!!

I love their expressions when they came around the corner. I wish I got some better pics, oh well. It all happened so fast.

They were really excited to get new bikes. They really needed them!

Checking out the stocking stuff. I think we need bigger stockings.

The kids were so excited to give the gifts to each other!! They couldn't wait to have us open what they got for us. It was so awesome! We had lots of fun together.

Uncle Todd came over in the morning and we had a great time with him. Then we went to Uncle Hyrum's house to have Christmas with the whole family. We each did a short presentation about what Christmas means to our family. The kids did a gift exchange, then the adults did a white elephant gift exchange. It was all a lot of fun.

Fun Christmas Activities

We did lots of fun Christmas activities before Christmas. We made a wreath out of the trimmings we got for free from Target. It turned out actually not too bad and it smelled so amazing!! We all loved smelling the wonderful smell since we didn't get a real tree this year.

Then we made dough ornaments. We made the dough and rolled them out, cut them out and baked them one day and then painted them another day. It was so fun!! Here are some pics of us painting our ornaments.

Loegan and Malia (and me too) made lots of ornaments and little ornament things that weren't ornaments. They gave some to Grandma, Grandpa and Aunties, Uncles and cousins. It was lots of fun!

Our trip to Payson

Okay, so I am waaay behind in my posts and pics. Before Christmas we went to Payson to see Grandma and Grandpa. We had such a fun time. On the way out of town, James spotted an eagle. This was such an exciting thing for us. The pic isn't very good, but here it is.







Then, in Payson, we had a really great time with Grandma and Grandpa. James made them some back steps to replace old ones. I was quite impressed, actually. Then Malia helped Grandma decorate their Christmas tree. They did a great job!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for having us. We had such a wonderful time!! We wish we could come up to see you more often!!

School is no longer in session until Jan. 5

Woot! We are officially on Holiday/Christmas/Winter Break!!! We are so excited. We have lots we want to do in the next few weeks like, make ornaments, make cookies, etc., etc. Hopefully I'll remember to take pics. Merry Christmas to all of you!!

The Quiltmaker's Gift

Last Monday, we had the privilege of going to a play with a group of homeschooling friends from church. We had a wonderful time!! One of the Moms in our group has a connection with a woman who works at the theater. She asked us to come early so she could read the book to the kids. The kids loved it. This is a wonderful book! Definitely, find it at the library and read it to your kids. I really want to buy this book now. It's a wonderful story! Anyway, here are some pics from our "field trip".

Journey to the Center of the Earth and paper airplanes

I just had to show these pics from a few weeks ago. We were watching Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D, which was pretty cool, I might add. Loegan must be like his mother and has to be doing more than one thing at a time. Is multi-tasking hereditary? So, that's why he's making paper airplanes with 3D glasses on. His new obsession is making paper airplanes. He loves to make them!! Good thing James works at a paper printing place and is able to bring home "scraps".

Merry Christmas from the Elfs

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