Christmas 2008

It was a fun day! It was very different from other years because we didn't see any family! Here are Taylor and Maddie playing "Sing It" on the Wii! They are pretty good! They sure know those Disney songs--Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Jonas Brothers, etc. As you can tell they really get into it!! :)


Payton sure loved her little 'guitar'! It was given to her in the hopes that she could 'play' along with the rest of the family as we played "Guitar Hero--World Tour


Emerie playing with her 'Fur Real' panda bear. She never put it down all day!

**Side note: You can see on the wall the scribbles! That is from Payton drawing in pencil and Mom's frantic erasing!! ;) There is not much you can do with flat paint but re-paint over it! :(

3rd Snow Day!!

Okay--now I am getting irritated!! This is crazy!! Three snow days in a row!! The kids, of course, were excited to stay home AGAIN!! But there is a lot I want to try to do before Christmas and I am just not finding the time or energy!! I have gotten an automated phone call at 5:58am for the past 3 days telling me that school was cancelled!!

Here is a picture from our first snow day:

Now compare that with the third snow day:

We just don't have anywhere else to pile up the snow!!


I decided since it is so close to Christmas and I just haven't found the time yet...I am doing the Sams Club picture Christmas photo cards! Anyone who knows me knows this is killing me because I MAKE my own Christmas cards every year and have for who knows how long now!! But...they would never get done at this point this year.

So...I had my kids help me stuff them and stamp them! We plopped on Maddie's bed and away we went. I got them all to the post office the same day! They are definitely not me--but, oh well--you do what you have to do!! I love Christmas cards and just couldn't bring myself to not send anything at all!

2nd Snow Day!

Well... the snow was bad again last night so they called it another Snow Day!! The kids are sure loving it--spending every spare moment in the snow!! What a mess it is when they come in--but they come in smiling!! :)

It looks as though the forecast for tonight is...SNOW!! Anywhere from 8-15 inches!! It may be a 3rd Snow Day tomorrow! Ugh!!

They only allot 6 snow days per school year and we may use 3 in one week!! :0

First Snow Day of the School Year! (No School Because of Snow!)

Well it's official! No school for the kids today!! We wondered last night when the snow started up and the news stated it was possible that 18 inches would fall throughout the night!! Kerby had to dig his truck out of the driveway but then he threw it into 4 wheel drive and off he went! Lucky he has his truck because of the hill he has to climb to get to the hospital!!

My ruler shows 10 inches on the driveway just from the snowfall last night!!
...and the snow is STILL falling!

The kids had a ball! They got on their snow gear and went sledding and snowboarding till they were soaked and tired! They even went over to the park to slide down the hills there with their friends!


I got my workout today shoveling! We have been wondering about getting a snowblower again...hmm...

Winter Piano Recital

Madison and Taylor had their Winter Piano Recital on Saturday. They did so good! They sure love their piano teacher, Gaby Emmons, and they picked up right where they left off in Las Vegas. It was a cold windy day but it was sure fun for the girls to perform for a group!

They played their recital piece first then they played their Christmas piece.

Way to go Madison and Taylor!! :)

The Polar Express

We have been waiting for so long for this to come!! We have had our tickets for months!! The kids were so excited! We all wore our pajamas (except Kerby) this year!

It was so fun to see all my friends from Tucson that I haven't seen in such a long time! We had a group of 67 all together!! We ate at Max and Thelma's restaurant at the Grand Canyon Railway! It was a buffet so, of course, the kids were in heaven!

The Beisner family drove over from Las Vegas to join us!! It was so fun to have them here!!

Then we boarded the Polar Express bound for the North Pole!! :)

Payton looking out the windows watching for the North Pole and Santa!

Laurel Beisner and Me

The Richards Family

Ford Harding, Emerie and Caleb Richards doing 'Cheers'

Caleb Richards, Ford Harding, Payton and Emerie

The Cannon Family

Emerie (peeking in), Haylee Beisner, Taylor and Monet Richards


Madison (rolling her eyes because I am taking her picture) and Sarah Reese

Taylor Harding and Elisa Reese

The Haymore Family

The White Family


The Morris Family


The Alarcon Family

Seth and Luke Beisner

Sean Reese, Ford Harding and Sydney Reese
Taylor and Cory Harding

The kids met the Conductor
Madison (hidden behind) and Sarah and Sophie getting their bells from SantaPayton was fascinated by the bell that Santa gave her!
Audrey Cannon getting her bell from Santa
Emerie and Monet with their bells
Taylor getting her bell from Santa

Hockey Here We Come!

Taylor holding her stick and Emerie balancing with a bucket.

Kerby is in heaven! He has always wanted one of his kids to play hockey! Well--we thought it would be Emerie. But she didn't really like it with all the gear and she is still working on being a better skater. The sign-up lady asked if Taylor wanted to play and we told her we thought Taylor was too old for this program because it is for 4-8 and Taylor is 9. She said she was small enough and told her to get some gear on! (I had to go to a nearby store and buy Taylor some socks because she didn't come planning to play and had on slip-on shoes!)

Taylor loved it and was pretty good at it!! Taylor is such our little athlete!! So they start up in January for the league and Taylor can't wait! ...I think Mom can wait...

Dad with Emerie and Taylor on the ice.

All the kids getting ready to hit the ice! It was pretty crowded!


Emerie getting her gear on.

Taylor getting her gear on.

Taylor ready to go!

Payton wanted to try on the helmet!

Kids Help at Little America Lighting Ceremony

Sophie and Taylor dressed up as 'Elves'! :)

The kids got to help out at the lighting ceremony for Little America! They helped at the ornament stations! They had a great time! It was a late night but what an experience!

Madison is in a stage where she doesn't like her picture taken!

Sarah Reese at her ornament station.

Emerie was so excited to help out!! She was all professional when people asked her questions at her station! ;)

Emerie and Sydney had the coloring station.

The Ornament Making room was busy all night!!



The Little America had a Birds of Prey exhibit out in the
back of the hotel. Kerby, Payton and I went to see it
while the girls helped at the ornament making.
We also got hot chocolate and wandered the grounds.

Payton, always the poser, out by the Birds of Prey exhibit.
Taylor, Sean and Emerie
Sophie, Taylor, Madison and Sarah out front of the Little America.
Dad and Payton

Kerby and I at the lighting ceremony.