Catching Up...

Yes we are still alive! We are finally starting to get over the brochitis, colds, and double ear infections that we have had the past couple of weeks. We were able to squeeze in some holiday fun. First, thanksgiving. My parents and Karls parents both came. Here is the turkey.Everything turned out really good, and the meal was a success. Whew! I was pretty tired though, so I decided to leave all of the pie making up to my sous chefs. The did a great job! :)The day after thanksgiving we made our way up to Phoenix, for a Suns game (Karl's birthday present). We went to the rainforest cafe for dinner. It was fantastic. The kids just wanted to look around at the resturant the entire time...I didn't have to pull our coloring books, or playdough. This was Kyle's expression most of the time. We also made a stop at the Phoenix Zoo. The highlights were the petting zoo, and this play area for the kiddos based on the Little People Farm. The kids loved, and especially the giant sandbox. We were also able to go down to Sierra Vista, and see the Electric Light Parade. Here are the kiddos cheesing it up before the Parade started.

We also went and enjoyed the Zoo lights at the Reid Park Zoo. It was such a beautiful night, and the kiddos loved to see all the lights, and sit on Santa's lap!

Then of course, the decorating of the tree! The kids are FANTASTIC with the tree. We put a couple specific ornaments toward the bottom, that they can take on and off, and then they leave the rest completely alone. I was AMAZED. The presents are a slightly different story. Kyra carries one around most of the day, and says "Santa said it was okay that I open it early."

Kyra loves every aspect of Christmas. All of the songs, the stories, the Christmas movies, the decorating, the presents, EVERYTHING. She came home from preschool the other day and I asked her what she learned, she said "I learned that Rudolph has a Mommy and a Daddy, and that they were married in the Reindeer temple!" This year is so much fun, both kiddos are so excited and they both kind of "get" Christmas. The best part is that Karl has 17 days off in a row!!! So it will be great to have him home with us. Now if we can all just stay healthy (and if I can get my house clean from 2 weeks of neglect!).