Temple Lights

When I was a kid I have fond memories of going to the Mesa Temple to see Christmas lights. This year our family went with Mike's brother and his wife. Thankfully it wasn't too cold. I remember freezing when I was a kid. Afterwards we went to their house to have some coco and watch the Suns game.

The Gang

Marley & Daddy

The Nativity Happy Michael

Michael watching the game with uncle Jared.

Ward Christmas Party

So again, I'm catching up.

Here are some pictures from our ward Christmas party. This was also Marley's first time seeing Santa, and she was sooooo excited. It was the cutest thing all she could say was "Santa Clause" then she'd throw in an "I love you Santa Clause". Now when we go to church she thinks that Santa will be there.

Marley's Birthday!!!

On Tuesday we celebrated Marley's birthday, and I can't believe that my baby is already two (wiping tears). Where did the time go?

Well since this birthday is one that she may have fond memories of in the future, I wanted to make it extra special. We started off the big day with breakfast in bed. This is a tradition from Mike's family that I absolutely love. He always does this for me even if he still has to go to work. On my birthday this year I ate breakfast in bed at 3am then went back to sleep after Mike left for work. So I made Marley french toast with bacon and OJ- her favorite. It was so cute I came in singing-mind you this is at 6am, which is normally the time she wakes up- but this particular morning she was still sound asleep. I sang happy birthday twice before she really knew what was happening. The look on her face was priceless. She was excited, yet still groggy.

Don' mind her hand me down jammies. I'm way behind on laundry. :-(

After the rest of us ate breakfast we got ready to go to lunch with Mike. We decided to take Marley to McDonald's for lunch. I know this sounds very basic but this was Marley's first time getting a happy meal and playing at McDonald's. We want this sort of thing to be special for her, instead of something that she does once a week. So we went to McDonald's by Mike's work in the ghetto. The nice thing was there weren't any kids there, but the crappy thing is that the play place was disgusting. When we got there, Marley was so excited and kept asking to go play. After she finished eating we let her loose and she became scared. I think the play area was overwhelming since it was so big. So she didn't really end up playing much in it.

After lunch we went to the US Airways center- one of Marley's favorite places. Since Marley is a huge Suns fan we decided to take her to the team store to get her a gift. We found her a shirt and some hairbows to wear to the games. Later that night we got together with Grandma and Grandpa for some yummy cake and bubble gum ice cream and so Marley could opened her presents.

The yummy cake, made by moi.

Marley after blowing out the candles. She's finally learned to smile for the camera. She's also holding up her fingers to tell us she's two. We're still working on that.

MMmmm Cake!

Grandma & Grandpa's present.

Suns hair bows.

Yay, a new Suns shirt!!

Scared to tear wrapping paper. What's wrong with my child?

A Little People Princess Carriage with blocks. Pretty cool!

Reading a card from Great Grandma.

All in all, we think Marley had a great birthday. I'm so happy to be the mother of such a wonderful child. We love you Marley!

Thanksgiving

So we decided this year to go to Nogales to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. We loaded the car and headed down on Wednesday after Mike got out of work. We arrived that evening and couldn't have been more excited to just relax and enjoy our time with family.

Watching football.

Grandma sneaking Marley food before dinner.

The yummy food.

Anxious to eat... Maybe next year.

Stuffed.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for inviting us to come and visit. We had a great time.

Tree Time

I know this is really late but I'm catching up. This Thanksgiving we went to Nogales to spend time with my parents. But before we could go we had one thing to do.....

Decorate the Christmas Tree.

This was a lot of fun especially with Marley since she's getting older and is into Christmas a little more. She had a blast helping decorate the tree while listening to Christmas music. Michael did a great job supervising and hanging out, without managing to eat anything. We're really looking forward to Christmas this year!!