adventures in Yuma

Here's just a little sampling of fun the kids all had in Yuma visiting their cousins!


Don't let him fool you, he was trying to eat the fan! And here's my little Sara, not sure if she's running FROM or TO the older kids, lol!

My little Joseph! and Sara watching, waiting her turn as Jared rides on the swing.

impromptu bottle rocket fun! As you can see, big Jared couldn't avoid the water. But all the kids had fun with that!

And last, but not least, my beautiful Kylie! Growing up too fast, she is!

the decorating of the tree

Prepare to be amazed!

So here we have various stages of decorating our Christmas Tree.


Me, scoping out where to put ornaments. Little Jared helping to get some on the tree.


Kylie and Jared getting hooks onto new ornaments, and the girls helping Dad.


Jared placing ornaments, and poor little Joseph watching from the stairs. He was locked out, because he wanted to UNdecorate the tree. (I'm sure he'll love it now that it's time to actually do that part!!)


Jared placing the star at the top of the tree!




So the tree we got this year is called a Nordman Fir tree. It is a lot like a noble, but as you can kind of tell in this first picture, the underside of the needles look silver. VERY cool!! It's a very beautiful tree, and I'll be sad to see it go soon. Here it is all lit up.



And finally, in all it's glory Christmas Eve.

Christmas 2009

So here's just a few scenes from Christmas morning! OK, so I know I'm a total goof, hahaha, but Jared got the perfect picture of me in all my true glory, the excitement over getting the Lion House Cookbook, HA! now I can make my own Lion House rolls! YUM!!





Then there's my handsome hubby with just one of his gifts. Madden NFL 10 for the wii, and you can bet he played it that day! I hear that the 49ers beat the heck out of the Cardinals in that game. ;)








Then we have Joseph. That ribbon was the most "unwrapping" he did! Which is pretty funny, because he loved tearing into his birthday presents the week before! And he's "locked" in a cage to protect the other kids presents from him. Turns out, he just preferred to watch everyone else!




And dad hit a home run, getting Joseph the Noah's Ark Little People set. He really loves that the most!








I love the look on the kids faces when they saw one of their combined "to share" gifts... the new Mario Bros game for the wii. It's been on almost non-stop since Christmas! Kylie is becoming a quick master of that game.





Then we have Kylie, she's hugging a scarf/hat/gloves set that her Dad got for her. Who thought kids would be so excited about clothes?!?!


And in the other picture she's playing with the Rubix 360 that she got from Santa.









And my little Jared, he's such a funny boy! He got a nerf gun, and I love how he partially opened the gift, then stuck his head inside to read all about the new toy! Silly boy.








And speaking of silly boys, there he is, riding my exercise bike. Getting ready for Christmas dinner, perhaps??











And finally, my little Sara. I love that she's hugging her Mickey Mouse Memory Game. She LOVES anything associated with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show!










Ah yes, and play dough! All the kids got some in their stockings, but Sara got an R2D2 play dough set! She absolutely loves it, and I love how she's so focused on the back of the box!

Joseph walking (with help)

We came downstairs one evening to this! He'd found this on his own downstairs, stood up behind it, and started walking EVERYWHERE! Now if only he'd do it without any support! I can't believe how big he's getting! Almost 11 months old now. :(

lol, and this is him when he saw I was sitting on the floor, taking pictures of him walking. Attack mom, attack the camera. That's my boy! :)

Halloween 2009

the front yard decorations. Sara checking out the jack-o-lanterns.

Sara is "pink batman" and Jared is batman. Joseph was a spider, and I was the web!

Jared carving the hack-o-lanterns as the kids watch. Kylie and Jared chose their own faces.


I don't know what was up with Kylie, but she was BEYOND goofy! And this is PRE-candy. We couldn't get her to just smile normally, so that's the best picture we have of her as Tinkerbell!

my baby sister's graduation!

Best friends, Jenny and Claudia.

as she said, doing her band thing. (I didn't have the heart to tell her she technically was no longer in High School, and therefore no longer in band... long live the nerd!) Then Jenny showing off her Diploma... pay no heed to the gross blue and white colors. :) (inside joke)

Posing.. she's so gosh darned pretty! And last but not least... the look on her face when she got her graduation present. Her gift? Her best friend, Claudia, is coming with us all to Disney World. I just LOVE that look!!

Congrats, Jenny! I love you! :)

More pictures from Yuma...

The kids and I were in Yuma for a whole week, arriving for the air show, and staying until the following Saturday... so just some random pictures from our time there...
First, there is Sara, playing at my brother's house (we stayed long enough for his birthday party), then Grandpa playing with Joseph...


Before Jared went home, he took the kids to a local park (those in Yuma will recognize it lol).. We have Sara snuggling with Grandpa, and Kylie being the monkey she is...


Then all 3 kids on this airplane they had there at the park, and little Jared coming off (or going on, I'm not sure which) the big slide at Wetlands Park.

Aren't they so cute! Sara is always all over Joseph, can't leave him alone, no matter what! And then the 2 brothers, before they both had to leave town lol...