A 2nd Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We were unable to go out to eat during our vacation so we went out to eat at Stacks on Friday the 28th of December. Phoenix had her usual chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancakes, but Axel branched out and had a bacon, egg and toast meal. Rubix was happy grazing off our plates and going from one side of the booth to the other side of the booth. Keith and I have come to the point in our lives where we are no longer coffee snobs. We drink coffee because we generally like it despite its source. We enjoyed receiving a thermos of coffee and having unlimited cups. I did have a moment where I thought, "Are we too young to be at this point in our lives?" Well, that momentary thought didn't stop me from having a second cup of coffee, but it did hold me back from having a third cup. When I begin to replace coffee for water, I know that I am officially in middle age. I love you Grandpa Burgess (Don)! It was one of my fondest memories to see my Grandpa drink one cup after another, after another. He thoroughly enjoyed it and I love him for that!

On Saturday the 29th we headed to the Jolley's for a small Christmas celebration. Unfortunately, Grandpa Brian was not feeling well enough to join us, but we did enjoy seeing Grandma Susan. Here is cute little baby Aya with Uncle Ryan!

Here are the 5 cousins waiting to open their Christmas gifts. I took about 20 pictures and this was one of the best. Maybe next year! The girls had fun playing dress up and being Princesses as usual. Axel enjoyed spending time with Grandma Susan. I was jealous of how much time he got to visit with her while I ran around chasing Rubix. Rubix had his first fall downstairs. We are not quite sure how far he was up the stair case, but we are sure of the loud thump. This was of course, the one time I decided to not chase after him. Parent fail!

After a wonderful Mexican meal and opening gifts we headed to the park. Grandma was itching to get home and check on Brian and my kiddos where itching to play outside so it was a win, win for everyone. Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

These three are quite the combination. They are either all getting along or one of them is feeling left out. (It is typically one of my children who are fighting over Braylin's attention). Maybe one day they will learn.

I tried one more time to capture the 5 cousins in the same picture. You can see charming Axel again helping out with baby Aya. He still is a sweet, caring boy. After an hour and a half of park play we headed back to grab a snack before heading home. We lucked out with great traffic. Keith and I had an awesome rest of the weekend with three dates! We were able to ride together Sunday and Monday morning and go out to the movies on Sunday night for New Year's Eve. We saw Jumanji. We both can't remember the last time we laughed so hard. It was a really nice change from the serious Star War movies that we have seen in the years past.

Here is Rubix strutting his new outfit that Auntie got him. He is so cute! He truly is the most caring child I have ever met. He gives hugs and love all of the time without prompting. Anytime he sees someone crying or looking down he goes up to them and gives them a hug.

I have been so overwhelmed with the kids, work and the holidays that I have done a horrible job at connecting with friends and family. I feel so bad about not reaching out, but every time I am not consumed by the kids I have my face in a book reading about how to be a better parent, or in the bible seeking guidance or doing something like the blog or their scrapbook or trying to find new recipes. I am totally in my little world. The bad thing is I love my little world. I just wish I had more time in each day to still have time for other people. I am sorry to all of you that I normally call during Christmas! I am still thinking of you despite my poor communication!

We were hoping for our schedules to lighten up after the holidays, but it looks like we are going to be just as busy. We have 4 birthday parties, including Pheeny's 5th birthday, Axel's Pinewood Derby and lots of paperwork to apply to Harker and Challenger for Kindergarten. Despite this business, we try our best to live in the moment and enjoy each day to the fullest. 

We wish all of our friends and family a very Happy New Year!