Holly Jolly Christmas 2013

This Christmas season has been so lovely

sweet time with family

happy kiddos

A spectacular neighborhood Polar Express party

Gorgeous weather for being outside!

Family time with Grammy and Grandpa Knight.

If you haven't lauded "Headbandz" yet, crawl out from under your rock and buy it!  So funny!

Pet-sitting our friends' Christmas puppy.

We're classy!

Christmas wheels!

Gorgeous mint green beach cruiser.

And new doll outfits.

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Village

A local resort has a "life-size" gingerbread village every Christmas and we made a stop to check it out.

The sweet smells were amazing and I especially loved the stained glass windows made of sugar!

I'm pretty sure this gingerbread girl and boy would have loved to move into these tasty creations, or at the very least break of a bit of a roof for a small treat!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

 

We began our Christmas celebrations attending Tessa's school Christmas concert.  In the sea of faces, her's was radiant, in spite of her eyes smarting from a little bout of pink eye.  Such fun, though!  Grammy and Grandpa Knight were able to join us for the festivities.

You can go here to see bits of their "Little St. Nick" and here for "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".  

Cheering for the Christmas Parade

Tessa's cheer squad were a hit in the Glendale Christmas Parade! 

It was a chilly morning with freezing temperatures but that didn't slow these girls down!

Once the sun cleared the buildings we thawed and cheered right along with them!

Grammy (see the thumb) and Grandpa K, along with Aunt Cindy from Oregon joined in the celebration, cheering on our cheerleader!

The Big Man himself even made an appearance!

Lunch at here favorite restaurant afterwards made for a fabulous day!  Great job, T!

Light the Lights

Risking life and limb, my guys adorned our home with our red and white lights by moonlight.  After seeing how they precariously perch themselves in this task, we decided we'll only do the bottom level in the future!  I just about barfed watching them up there!

Christmas Concert

Bryan's concert choir blew our socks off again with their classy performances.  Sorry, but no videos to share, since we're able to purchase one they produce.  Needless to say, we were disappointed when it ended and both sets of grandparents in attendance couldn't say enough of how impressed they were.

We're sure proud of you, Bryan!

Mesa Temple Lights and Such

Of the Christmas traditions our family celebrates, this has to be at the top of my list.

The decorations honoring and celebrating the birth of our Savior at the Mesa Temple are just gorgeous.

Such a great way to feel the true spirit of Christmas and enjoy time together...being cool...

...and goofy...

...and spiritual...

...and then goofy again...

...yep!  It pretty much never ends!  Gotta love it!

Happy Thanksgiving from Mexico Part 3

the world was our playground

miss mermaid

the sand shark Mark grabbed from the ocean - what a brute!

Mexico 2009/Mexico 2013

love these faces!

singing and sharing testimonies by the camp fire

played hard