On The Eleventh Day of Christmas

My grandparents gave to me... games to be played. On this day the kids got game pens. Courtney got Boggle. Jackson got Trouble. Bowen got Etch-A-Sketch and Cooper got a play dough pen. They were a huge hit with the kids.


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Deck The Halls

Here we are all decorated for the holidays. My sisters wanted to see what the house looks like since we are far away. Tip Junkie is also having a virtual home tour . Click here to see it. I love to take pictures every year so I can remember where the heck everything goes. Nothing new this year. Same old. I do love christmas decorations. My brother says I can't do any more stenciled signs. A little overkill on those, I know, but they are cheap and take up space.

Basket in Entry Way

The Fireplace

The Stockings

The Kitchen

I Love Old Fashioned Candy

One of the pictures from a Christmas Card of the past

We had this picture taken of all the grandkids for my mom and dad one year. She has it blown up huge! I love it.

One of my good friends Cathie helped me make these mittens out of sweaters we bought at the DI one year. Cathie--I miss you!

The Tree All Lit Up at Night

The Village at Night

The Village

Yet another Sign

On The Tenth Day of Christmas

My grandparents gave to me.... a movie for watching. Kung Fu Panda! Yea! That show is a crack up. Also included was a box of Christmas Funfetti cake mix and frosting, with instructions to follow the COOKIE recipe on the side of the box instead of the cake recipe. It was delicious even though I do NOT believe in canned frosting!!! As an added bonus my little sister Ashley, he kids and my mom and dad were here visiting..She brought her kids gifts and they opened them with us on two mornings! It was great that my mom and dad got to see the fruit of their labors.

On The Ninth Day of Christmas

My grandparents gave to me... gift cards for spending. Needles to say this was a very exciting morning. The kids got gift cards to Target. I am currently trying to convince them to use the gift cards to buy gifts for others. We shall see.

I'm A Finalist!

Over at Tip Junkie they are having a Christmas card contest. My card from last year is a finalist. To vote for me just click here and then go her sidebar and vote for "Game of Life". Here it is, enjoy it because it is most likely the only one you will see from us this year.

On The Eighth Day of Christmas

My grandparents gave to me....a book for reading. Today the kids got this darling Christmas book. They read it as soon as they opened it. Christmas books are our favorite!

On the Seventh Day or Christmas

My grandparents gave to me......straws for drinking (and lots of things to drink). For this day my parents sent these fun Christmas straws. They also sent hot chocolate mix, apple cider mix, and Kool-Aid mix. Yes, I have been mopping up small sticky puddles all morning. PS I know full well my camera stinks. It is my back up as my brand new camera was stolen. Please bear with me.

On The Sixth Day of Christmas

My grandparents gave to me.....puzzles for doing. Today this kids got a hard puzzle and an easy puzzle. Perfect. My kids love doing puzzles and puzzles are a huge part of our holidays traditions! Guess what we will be doing after church tomorrow.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

My grandparents gave to me.....a nativity. This is always one of my favorite days-nativity day. Last year my mom gave them this Playmobil nativity set. They played with it for hours, and now it is on display in the toy room with nativities of year's past. This year she gave them this cute plastic nativity. It is not Fisher Price, but it looks exactly like the Little People. I love durable nativities, ones the kids can carry around and take apart. This one fits the bill perfectly. The kids love it. She also gave them their own little Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus set for their rooms. Yeah for nativity day.

Feel the Thunder

Focus Ocho Focus

A Great Tackle


Number Eight with the Carry

I have been very lazy in posting about the recently finished football season. Jackson was able to play his first year of tackle football this year. He played for theDesert Hills Gold team. You have never seen a more excited boy. Ever. His true passion is football. All 65 lbs of him is in love with this sport. Get this- one of the boys on the line weighed 180 lbs. Yes 180 lbs! Poor little scrawny Jack. But the kid is quick, which saved him from being plastered most of the time. He was so excited to have pads and a real jersey. He was number 8. We had a great time calling him "Ocho" from the stands. We found out that we are not a family that is afraid to cheer.

He practiced every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights and had a game each Saturday. He had an awesome coach who was kind, and very motivational. I think it helped that he was a very large Samoan man. Jackson adored him and he was great at teaching fundamentals. He also taught them some chant that made them sound very intimidating. Jackson had a great season playing tight end and receiver. I love watching him play. There is nothing like a Saturday, fall football game. We are proud of you Jack.

Jackson with his teammates

This picture shows the difference in size!
Best Game of the Season -Virgin Valley


Jackson liked defense better than offense


Jackson just caught the longest pass of the season!

Doing the Haka

Playoffs against Hurricane or Hurricun

Ocho goes for the tackle