Our Christmas Tree

On Saturday night we headed out to find the perfect Christmas tree! This is a fun family tradition, as daddy insists on having a real tree, and it was awesome to see how excited the kids got over trying to find "the one"!

After picking our tree, we hopped in the truck and drove through the Arizona Celebration of Lights! It was an unexpected detour, one we didn't plan for, but a wonderful surprise! We listened to Christmas music and ooooh'd and aaaah'd at the beautiful lights!

We had the truck (to get the tree obviously), which has a moon roof, so the kids enjoyed much of the show just like this, standing on the middle console with their heads poking out the top (in fact, Kyan rode the entire way like this)!

We got home pretty late, so we just set the tree up in the water and decorated it this morning when we woke up! The kids were so excited to help!

And here is our finished tree, both day and night views! We love it and it smells so good!

The countdown is on to Christmas now! Just need to start adding the presents underneath! I have been doing lots of online shopping and trying to support my favorite etsy shops! I have also done lots of ordering from Amazon.com, I love them ! No tax and because I am a prime member, I get free 2 day shipping!

So how about you... real or fake tree at your house?

All That Glitters

Is Glendale!

On Saturday we went to watch Jayla perform at Glendale Glitters! What a big girl she was performing in front of hundreds of people! I tried to capture some pictures for mommy and daddy to remember the night and was squished between Jearel (daddy) and Phyllis (grandma) who were so proud of their girl and were there to capture the moment as well. Cutest thing I heard her daddy say was, "I am so nervous I can't even snap a picture"! Melted my heart a little bit! He didn't need to be nervous at all, Jayla did great!

The second she was done performing we dashed to grab a bite to eat! The kids could have cared less about eating though as soon as grandpa bought them their glowing things! Kept them entertained for sure (and came in handy later)!

We were talking about taking a carriage ride earlier that evening, so after dinner we headed to the spot, only to see the very long line that we thought might take us two hours to wait in. We tried walking away, but this little one turned out to be quite convincing to her grandpa and well...she won! She is very good! I think it is because she talks with her hands so much!

So we stood in line for about 45 minutes and waited to get on our carriage. I thought that there was no way that the kids would behave for that long, but they were very entertained by grandpa and the line was right next to a stage so the kids were dancing in the street and didn't even realize that it took as long as it did! It was while waiting in line that my mom realized just how many pictures I take when we are just hanging out. Chad told her this was normal and that he was used to it. I just smiled, hopefully one day my kids will be grateful that I documented our life and don't just have posed pictures of them. I am not saying posed pictures are bad, I love them (wish we did them more than just once a year), but glad that I have hundreds of pictures of them being THEM!

Dancing Queen! She was gettin' down!

All I needed was one picture of the two of them all bundled up...instead I got these! They make me giggle.

Me and the hubs! Tried to make him get in on the fun of waiting in line too!

And finally, we got a ride in our carriage! Lola made sure that she rode by grandma and grandpa and even told me that I had to get my own horse-y! Ha! When she realized that we could all fit and that she could sit between them, she was a happy camper and all was well! Kyan was excited to get to sit by mom and dad so it all worked out in the end! The ride was worth every penny (especially when dad is paying)! It lasted about 15 minutes and the kids had so much fun! At one point, Lola looked up at her grandparents and said, "You know guys, I love you!" It was so sweet!

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Our Turkey Day

We spent a wonderful afternoon with the Habermacher Family (Chad's Aunt and Uncle and cousins) for Thanksgiving! We don't get to see them as often as we would like, but jumped at the chance when they invited us to spend Turkey Day with them (Uncle Daniel is a phenomenal chef, who usually has to work, but not this year)!

I tried to get as many Black Friday tips from Aunt Lori and Danielle, as they go every year and are pros, but Black Friday is a whole other story that I don't even want to discuss right now! Let's just say I am sticking with Cyber Monday from now on or forming a Black Friday team to tackle that madness (This was my first year going, and I went by myself?! NEVER. EVER. AGAIN)!
Thank you so much for the yummy food and wonderful company! We even found a little time to squeeze in a few family photos!
Thank you again Habermacher's! We love you!

I NEED THIS!

Ok, so I have been seeing this bad boy all over bloggy blog land and I decided that I NEED ONE!

Just so happens that some of my favorite blogs (and a few new ones too) are giving one away! I am so excited that Silhouette is Mac friendly and I am crossing everything, just as this machine does everything, (I would start with vinyl lettering by the way...) that I might win one!

You wanna try and win one too?! Head/Click on over to any of the blogs below to enter!
Be Different Act Normal
Centsational Girl
Dollar Store Crafts
Eighteen25
Homemade by Jill
House of Hepworths
Infarrantly Creative
Kevin and Amanda
Love Stitched
Shanty 2 Chic
Tatertots and Jello
The Idea Room
Ucreate

Each Other.

Kyan + Lola = Best Friends
I am thankful that I have been blessed with the two of them.
Lola looks up to her brother so and wants to do everything that he does! Her attempts often times land her with a giant goose egg on her noggin or an ouchie on her knee, but she wouldn't have it any other way!
Yes, Kyan has to put up with a lot from his little sister. That being said, he is so good to her and deals with each and every one of her moods quite well! He is a true big brother and I believe he will watch out for her forever.
Love you Kyan and Lola.

Second Place!

In between photo shoots today, I was able to make it to Kyan's TKD tournament! They changed the time at the last second so I was able to sneak over and I am so excited that I got the chance!
Kyan in action!

Lola was so proud of her big brother! So were we!!! Congratulations Kyan on your second place medal!

It's That Time!

It is that time of the year to start thinking about sending out Holiday cards to all of our family and friends and I think I have just the picture that I want to be on our card this year! I am hoping to get family photos done, but I have been so busy over at Rosie J. (as it seems it is the season, I have four photo shoots this weekend alone) that I don't know if I will have time to schedule our own family pictures (unless it is last minute, which it usually is)! Hoping Lola's big goose egg or should I say unicorn horn will go down in the next week or two (she thinks she is as big as her brother lately) so that we can sneak them in! But if not, I do have a back up plan!!!

There is only one place that I will go to get my Holiday cards!

I am drooling at all of the Holiday cards that Shutterfly has to offer and have several in my projects section of my account! For some reason, this one stands out and seems to be very fitting for the two of my kiddos!

Any guesses as to who is the naughty and nice one at our house?!

Really, I drool over just about everything they offer and order all of my prints/photobooks for clients and myself via Shutterfly! Their quality is exceptional and their timing is incredible!

Wanna know something even cooler about Shutterfly? If you are a blogger, you could get 50 free Holiday cards! How cool are they?! Cool, right? I know!

Follow this link and you will be on your way to your own!