A "Dear" in Headlights...

Ava said all she wants for Christmas are her two front antlers. The teeth are a little more painful and can wait, I guess. (:

Our cousin party!!!

It's funny how a visit from some family members can be JUST what you needed to find the Christmas spirit. I think the kids may have felt it even more than we did with how much playing they got to do. Our visit from the Mortazavi family and half of the Wilmsen clan (we love you, Lori and Matt!) was a wonderful Christmas blessing and we had a BLAST! It seemed like every kid had a partner- Kam and Mase ran and jumped and had a great time on the "mystery slide", Laney and Zoey played kitchen and LOVED all of their new Dora products, and Will and Ava created a great bond by drooling all over each other and making the other smile. It was so cute. But I enjoyed my sister time more than anything, especially that last lunch where none of us sat by our kids (hee hee) and we just talked. We missed you, Tina, Jana, Cari, and Lindsey! I had so much fun that I can't even imagine how crazy and fun it will be with ALL of the cousins in January!!! We love all of you and are excited for the crazy Yuma madness next month!

I should've threatened that Santa wouldn't come...

Merry Christmas to everyone! Next year may we be blessed with two children who are willing to look at the camera and smile at the same time! (: Hee hee- the attempt was fun anyway and a lot of them turned out cute... Thanks Shen!

Adventures in AZ

The kids did a lot of fun things on our Thanksgiving trip to Arizona.

They got to see Santa...

Play with cousins...

Ride horses...

Discover girls...

And pose for a TON of pictures!

Not to mention seeing ALL of their grandparents and having so much fun with the family. We enjoyed it so much and can't wait to go back in January when Uncle Jon comes home!

Why siblings are worth it...

Okay, so I know I have a million siblings and they are ALL worth it, but sometimes when you are taking care of two little ones all day and they don't seem to interact that much, you start to wonder if they will ever be friends... This weekend they completely clicked! She is Mason's biggest fan (besides me, of course) and he was making her laugh uncontrollably all weekend. In these pictures, he is diving onto the couch near her feet over and over again and she cannot stop cracking up! Roland and I can put on a freaking circus and she never laughs this much, but Mase can just give her a look or make some silly noise and he is the greatest comedian on earth. (Please excuse Mason from being much of a presence in these photos... This was right between bath and bedtime and we hadn't quite gotten to the "getting him into his PJ's" segment of the evening when all the fun started happening... he promises to be fully dressed in the next pictures.)

Their first "taste" of autumn (LITERALLY for her...)

These are some quick shots of the kids in our front yard... As you notice, Ava was too obsessed with grabbing and trying to eat the semi-wet colorful leaves for me to get a good picture of her face. Most of the time, she was just staring down at the covered ground. Anyway, we had fun throwing the leaves around!

Could she BE any happier??

This little angel is amazing! She is a smiling, happy, laughing little joy and we are so grateful to have her. From day one, I just felt that she was a peaceful little girl, and she really is. Don't get me wrong, there's some serious drama at times, but mostly she is almost the definition of content. We love her to pieces!

Daddy's Girl

These two are crazy about each other! Every day, Ro finds a new way to make her laugh and she can't get enough of him. There really is something about a Dad and his little girl...

Super Sappy Mommy

So, I know this picture may not be all that great to you guys... Yeah, it's a little blurry, the kids have red-eye issues, they aren't looking at the camera, they both have a bit of an uncharacteristic underbite going on... But to me, it's PURE bliss!!! This is the first picture that I have of the two of them together (after many attempts, believe me!) where you can tell they are having fun together. Oh I have pictures that look like he is choking her and many pictures where she is just a blob sitting there with no emotion at his feet, but when I look at this picture, I see two kids who I hope will be friends forever! Lately, all she is doing is looking around the room trying to spot that guy who runs around all the time but sometimes comes over to play peek-a-boo with her. He can make her smile at any moment now, which in turn makes us smile. So I thought I'd share this perfect picture (in a mom's eyes) with everyone and hope you can see the love in it, too!

Those Eyes...

Yesterday after church, Mase was rubbing his eye frantically... I asked him what was wrong and he kept saying "I need to get it out!" so of course, I looked in his eye expecting an eyelash or a speck of dirt or something worse, like a sliver... I didn't see anything, so I asked him what he was trying to get out and he said, "My teacher said I have a sparkle in my eye!"

Cover Girl

I always dreamed of having a little dolly who I could dress up and play with... Sometimes I am certain she gets sick of me changing her outfits so much, but they don't fit for very long! Anyway, I think she likes being a little dog WAY more than that scary elephant...

Wasting Energy...

Who am I kidding, this kid will NEVER run out! We had a great time at the park, though!

The Frightened Elephant

So I tried Mason's old Halloween costume on Ava, and she seriously looked like somebody was in front of her trying to steal her tusks or something! Actually, after thinking about it, I believe we have this exact picture of Mase from when he was an elephant. Spooky. Anyway, she will have to skip the drama this time as she will not be dressing as an elephant this year, but she will be a cuddly dog. This was all orchestrated by Mason, who was supposed to be The Big Bad Wolf this year and she was going to be one of the three little pigs.
Well, I overheard a funny conversation between Mase and a new friend he met at the park (a big 3-year-old you could tell he wanted to impress)... The kid was telling Mase about his Halloween costume and Mase said, "Oh yeah? Well, I'm going to be CAPTAIN FEATHERSWORD for Halloween!" So this kink in my plan led to a new one, which involves the four of us (Ro and I plus Karen and Tustin) in some bright colored shirts and funky belt buckles. Oh and Laney as Dorothy the Dinosaur and Ava as the lovely Wags the Dog. Gotta love the Wiggles! Mmmm, I think I'd like some fruit salad now...

Recording History...

So, I grabbed the camera today to take a few shots of Ava as she was doing a great job with tummy time. After I uploaded them, I had to take a second look after I noticed a small, bare leg in several shots. You see, he is finally potty-trained but that often means running around in just his skivvies (if we're lucky). Some pictures are better with some hidden amusement in them, right?