Christmas Eve night, Christmas Day, Christmas parties

Christmas morning...
This boy has an OBSESSION!

This boy also has an OBSESSION, with cooking! This year he got expensive cookware from santa's lil' helper!

We managed to put together a Trampoline on Christmas Eve in OUR backyard without the kids knowing! Who said parents can't still be sneaky! They were so shocked when they went outside, it was great to watch their faces. It makes it worth every penny.

The EVE night...they always get jammies from Santa!

Naughty or Nice this year, Brent??

We always enjoy going to Aunt Barbara's house for the Porter family Christmas Eve program and dinner.

The following pictures are from a night out at the nearby mall's outdoor play area and then dinner afterwards!

These following pictures are from a friend's neighborhood Christmas party...

Snow in December...in ARIZONA?

We were driving home from dinner early in the month of December and happened to pass a parking lot with some mounds of snow! We were shocked, confused really!! It never snows in Phoenix, it was probably about 58 degrees that evening! We came to the conclusion that someone must of had a work party in that parking lot, and paid to have snow trucked in from who the heck knows where...Our kids were yelling "SNOW! SNOW! I wanna go daddy!" Even though 2 of them had no clue what "SNOW" was. I seriously doubt Kenzie knew what it was except from seeing it on movies!

They weren't really sure what to do with it, they actually started crying once their hands touched the snow...I think they thought it was torture! My poor deprived Arizona kids, haha!

Notice Brent's short sleeve shirt! Maniac! It was actually really cold, even though the snow didn't come from the sky!

Halloweem 2009

I didn't get any really good pics this Halloween for some reason, but nontheless, we had a great time! First we had a ward party outside in the park area on Wednesday, then we had a festival at school on Friday, and then on Halloween night we went around our neighborhood trick-or-treating. The girls decided to change their costumes the last night...if that is a preview of life 10 years from now...oh, hell!

Diane, Thank you for all you do! You will never know how truly grateful I am for having you in my life! I love you!!

Sept. 11th-13th '09 - Ruidoso, AZ / Grandma Hunt

Brent had to work over the weekend in Ruidoso, AZ which is about 2 1/2 hrs. away from where we live, so we decided to tag along. We were planning on staying 2 nights at this beautiful hotel. Our room's back patio door opened to the golf course greens and we had ducks come straight up to our back door looking for a hand out. It ended up raining and lightening horribly for a couple hours, but the kids wanted to swim so bad...after all, what else do you do at hotels? So we swam anyways...all the old people looked at us like we were crazy and probably thought we were so irresponsible!

We had a blast the 1st day we were there! However, later that evening, both our cell phones started ringing non-stop...Brent's dad, John, was trying to reach us...along with his other siblings. Diane, my mother-in-law had a massive heart attack, had been rushed to the ER, and was taken immediately into surgery. I will never forget how it felt like my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as I listened to the voice mail on my phone left by John. We never packed up so fast in our life...and the drive home, it felt like it took 5 hours instead of 2 1/2!

Everyone in the family, myself included, was suddenly about to loose the one woman in our lives that was dearest to our heart. Brent, working in the medical field and doing some extra research on the side, knew her odds. They weren't good, to say the least. Throughout all odds, she fought hard, and was able to keep her name off the Donor's List and was able to slowly strengthen her heart so she could go home. We pray for her daily. We pray that she will have many many more years with us.

Diane means so much to me. She excepted me into her family with open loving arms. She has shown me how to be a wonderful mother, wife, and sister-in-law. She has helped me be a better woman, and member of the church. She is an exellent grandmother, not just to my kiddos, but equally to all her grandkids. She showed me what it is like to be in and to have a great family.

Ward campout Oct. 2009

Not only was this our first campout in our new ward, but it was our first campout EVER in our entire married life...and I have to say...I would definitely do it again!

We didn't get there until after dark. So needless to say, it was an adventure setting up our tent, unpacking the Expedition and trying to prepare dinner with no flash lights of our own and no where to park! Thank goodness for the Burkinshaws (mostly Janae ;) ), Greg Cauthen and Rory Lunt who lent a hand (or 2!).

We had our tent right on the outside edge of the campout and as the night grew longer, the skunks grew hungrier! I was in my tent and stood 2 feet away from the lil' thing, as it almost came in my tent! Once we were in our beds and had cleaned up the grounds, they began to come out in packs!!! Nasty! Thank goodness no one was sprayed (that I know of)!

Playin' catch up!...

Sooo... I have been neglecting my blog for the last 5 months so the next few blogs are going to be me tryin' to catch up!