Gracie treated us to breakfast in our own kitchen this morning.  She did such a good job that Audrey gave her a $2.00 tip which she used toward an icee at the movie this afternoon.  Her great service gave the kids an idea to have their own restaurant for lunch today.  We invited friends over to enjoy lunch “on the house” at the “Just Like Home Cafe”.  Here are some pictures of our lunch date….

The Customers

The Staff

The Menu

Carson has avoided learning to ride a bike without training wheels for far too long. So today, the day after New Year’s Day we went to the park and decided we would make him learn. As I suspected, he took to it just fine and probably could’ve a long time ago, but just decided he was too scared or we were too lazy to push him. (Or his mother wouldn’t let me push him until now). Anyway, it’s about time he learned how and stopped riding that silly tricycle.

So that is it, the famous tumbleweed Christmas tree.  This is it’s 55th year lighting Chandler’s downtown, but our first as a family to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season by being there in person when it was lit.  Being long time residents of Chandler, I thought it was about time that we participated in the festivities.  Marc had been as a child but we have neglected our own with this great City of Chandler Christmas tradition.  Boy, did we choose the year to attend.  It was extremely cold and VERY rainy.  We were pretty drenched by the end of the evening, but somehow, we didn’t let that spoil the fun (even though the children tried their best).  Amongst the complaints of being cold and wet, Marc and I kept reminding them that soon enough they would be home in their dry, warm beds and all would be well.  Needless to say as soon as the tree lit up, Marc snapped the above photo and we were outta there!

The evening began with a trip to Santa’s house and our annual picture with Santa.  Audrey was a good sport and held Sophia to keep her comforted (I couldn’t let the fact that she is almost 12 spoil the tradition of ALL our children being in the photo).  It was especially sad since we are beyond the years of crying babies in Santa’s lap.  I really don’t know why I would make the trip all the way to the mall every year since this is right downtown and FREE!  They gave us a copy of the picture and even let us take our own shots.  YAY for the Chandler Lion’s Club who sponsor this event.

After our trip to see Santa we meandered through the crowds, local entertainment, and vendors.  We tried to keep warm with hot chocolate and waited for the parade to begin.  The kids’ elementary schools’ Dad’s club always has a float.  It was fun waiting to see it and cheering for our Sanborn Suns!  During the parade is when the rain began, Marc and I even thought we saw a few small snow flurries.  I’m serious- it was COLD!  The rain eased up a little before the big downpour toward the end of the parade.  The crown thinned out quickly and we were amongst the few crazy people to wait in the cold, cold, rain for the lighting of the Christmas tree. 

It was a fun family night though we were happy to return to our home where it was warm-ish and dry.

This was our first year ever to host Thanksgiving dinner and what a great event it was!  I really enjoyed having our family in our home and enjoying our new yard.  One of the highlights for me was watching the kids run and play on the swingset installed the day before by Marc and our good friend Stefan.  They had worked for a couple weeks sanding it and prepping it, then assembling the set so the children had something new and fun to enjoy on Thanksgiving.  It was definitely worth the wait.  Our friends Stefan and Pamela gave us their swing set over a year ago when we were looking for our new home.  It has been sitting and waiting a long time to be enjoyed and it surely was that day (and every day since).  I also enjoyed not having to transport hot food to a different location.  Those in attendance were my Mom, brothers (one of them brought a date :)), sister and her family, my Auntie Coco, and Marc’s mom and sister.  There were 21 in all. 

The food was delicious and some of us ended the evening at the movies.  We saw the new Muppett Movie and laughed A-LOT!  We also got to go through my dad’s old baseball caps and boy did he have a ton.  Us kids and the grandkids each chose some for a keepsake of “Papa”.  It was a really lovely day.  I couldn’t have felt more peace, love, and gratitude for the many wonderful blessings the Lord has poured upon me this year, despite the heartache and loss I have also experienced throughout the course of the last year.  We are a truly blessed family.

Several weekends ago on an overnight with their Grandma, the kids went to a garage sale of one of Grandma’s friends and found many wonderful treasures.  One of which was a puppy shaped cake pan.  The girls baked and decorated this lovely cake with little help.  Good job girls!