Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas morning. The only thing that would have made it better is if Daddy/Tom could have been here too:( Oh well, at least he'll be here to ring in the New Year with us.

Santa surprised Sam with an I-Pod

And Bubba with a dump truck.

Sister got Tommy this car with her own money.

Breaking Dawn--this girl is seriously addicted to the Twilight series!

Helping Tommy open some Kung Fu Panda!

Sam was surprised with this doll from Hong Kong. She'd been begging Tom to get her one for the past two months, but he kept making excuses.

The aftermath . . .

Steve made sure Tommy had no shortage of Hot Wheels.

Cousin Ty-Ty (aka Peter Parker or Spiderman)

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we were invited to a party at the Manning's house. It was great to get together with the Memmotts, Richardsons, Orvins, and Bakers. A special visitor also stopped by to surprise the kids.

Santa Claus and most of the kiddos

Tommy on Santa's lap (I couldn't believe he climbed up there and didn't scream! I guess he was ready to see Santa, since we'd made three trips to the mall, but the lines were ginormous!)


Cousin Susie Q on Santa's lap

Cousin Kalia Sugarbaker on Santa's lap

Sam on Santa's lap

Cousin Ty-Ty with Santa (do you think there's a recorder in there Ty?)

Tommy Tinker coming down the stairs to see Santa Claus

Thank you Santa Claus! And thanks Greg and Kortney for such a fun night!

Christmas Break Activities

Christmas break left time for relaxing activities . . .

Like dressing like Santa

Decorating gingerbread houses

Going to lunch and the movies with cousins

(Susie, you're so photogenic)

Kalia and Sam

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, from our house . . .

to yours!

Maybe Santa Will Reconsider?

By the looks of this video clip, Tommy is probably on the naughty list. Only two more days to prove that he can be good . . .

Every year we take the kids to the mall to get their pictures with Santa. However, it was getting late and the line was VERY long. Obviously Tommy was NOT happy about leaving!

Tis the Season . . .

Tis the season . . . for tantrums that is! Who said Tommy would get better when he turned 3? Um, no, not even close. The tantrums have turned to full-blown meltdowns these days. And Tom has even been here to experience them first hand!

There's nothing like having my socks thrown in the toilet, syrup splattered all over the tile, and a meltdown on the floor at Best Buy to make the season merry!

So my letter to Santa will go something like this . . .

Dear Santa,

Please bring Daddy/Tom home for Christmas, and if you can't do that, I'd settle for a straight jacket made for toddlers.

Love,
Sarah

P.S. I've been very good this year, I promise .

Christmas Lights at the Temple

Tonight for FHE we took the kids to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights. Still not quite as magical as Salt Lake, but pretty nonetheless (and not to mention MUCH warmer!).

Sam and Cousin Kalia

Our little family

My two best guys

Dreaded Potty Training - Let the Games Begin

And no, that's not my toilet. It's just symbolic of my feelings for taking on potty training again.

Anyhow, Tommy just turned 3 and finally acts as if he's ready to give it a try. (At least one of us is!)

Wish me luck! And Lightning McQueen, I'm counting on you and the power of your fantastic racing undies to get us through this next stage of childhood!

Stay Far Away . . .

So we seem to have returned from Utah with a nasty strain of the flu/cold. It started with Sam, who was nice enough to share with Tommy, who in turn was nice enough to share with me.

Tom got back to the States on Friday afternoon, just in time to catch the junk from me. So on this chilly (it's only 61 degrees!), cloudy Sunday, we are hunkered down in the house feeling pretty miserable. So if you're lucky enough to be feeling well, I would stay far away from us, very far indeed.

There's No Place Like Home . . .

After a six-day Thanksgiving road trip with two kids and no husband (flying somewhere around the globe), I'm finally back home and it feels wonderful.

We went over the river and through the woods to visit my family in Richfield (first time there in three years!), then up to Ogden with Tom's family, and made a final stop at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. The kids were troopers with all the driving, and I think we must have watched Cars nearly twenty times!

Anyhow, we're back home (with colds and all!) and I'll try to get the blog updated from Thanksgiving and Tommy's 3rd birthday in all my spare time. You moms know--in between unpacking, laundry, more laundry, work, mowing the lawn, tantrums, colds, etc, etc . . .

O Christmas Tree . . .

I know it's a little early still, but we decorated the tree tonight for FHE. The Holidays are always a little tricky around here with Tom's schedule, so we try to do things like this when he's actually in the country.

The finished product--now I just need to get Sammie to haul the presents downstairs for me.

This is the first year Tommy has been really interested in the tree. I just need to convince him that the ornaments are not toys--which should be interesting, considering I just found four ornaments under the tree!

It's That Time of Year Again ...

So the Christmas shopping is 90% done and Sammie has wrapped most of the gifts. The Christmas tree will be put up on Monday for FHE.

Today was the day to put up the Christmas lights. I don't mind it because I like decorating for the Holidays. However, to Tom, it's just another chore on the "honey-do" list. And have I ever mentioned what a bad mood he gets in when it's time for a project?! Yikes!

Anyhow, today proved no different, other than the fact that we didn't start until nearly 9:00 p.m. (Um, honey, next time it might be easier if we actually do it while it's daylight, and a little warmer. ) Although I won't get much sympathy from the folks in Utah, I was chilly in jeans and flip-flops at 60 degrees!

So, that part is out of the way, and I've been informed that my snowman (a little ironic in Phoenix?) and light-up candy canes won't be dug out until his next trip home. Oh goody, another project for him, meaning another jolly mood! (Glad I'm never in a bad mood-he he he)

Daddy's little helper

Bubba's Got a Boo-Boo!

So here is Tommy's latest battle wound--something like a flashlight to the head on the trampoline! Truth be told, it probably could have used a stitch, but I'm not too keen on the idea of getting on a "first name basis" with the folks at Gilbert Emergency Hospital!

So, thanks to the trusty hands of Grandma, Papa, Aunt Shari, Daddy and Mommy (yes, it takes a village to raise this kid!), his cut was sealed shut with a butterfly bandage and steri strips. Of course he pulled them off the next morning, but I think he'll survive. We'll see just how well Mederma actually works now.

I think Sam still has him beat though--split down the nose, tooth through the lip, broken arm, and knocked out front tooth. Don't worry though, Tommy still has time to catch up!

And if you'd like to see more bumps and bruises, check out cousin Granti-grew!

He's Baacckk!

When we picked Daddy up at the airport on Wednesday night, Tommy was sound asleep in the back. So when he woke up on Thursday morning with Daddy standing in his room, he couldn't believe his good fortune! He just stared for a few seconds and then raced over to Daddy's arms. Too cute.

(Sorry Grandma, I know his hair isn't combed, but he just got out of bed!)

Feeding the Ducks

A few weeks ago Shari and I took the boys to Freestone Park to feed the ducks.

They started out wanting to ride the little train, but it wasn't open.

Then we moved on to feeding the ducks leftover hot dog buns.

Still feeding the ducks (Aunt Shari, Ty-Ty and Tommy) . . .

Still feeding the ducks . . . (Shari and Ty-Ty)

And this is how it ended . . . running back to see the train!

Text Messages

I love getting texts like this:

Hi Sweetie. I just had a beautiful landing here in Dubai. I am in the hotel van and will call you after I check in. Luv You.

Thanks to modern technology, we can still communicate every day, even when he's a bazillion miles away.

*Even though I complain he's a grumpy old man sometimes, he's usually a teddy bear at heart :)

Election Day

So, to put it mildly, we're not exactly happy with the way the election turned out. Not surprised, but not happy. Good thing Tom is in Australia and has something besides Rush Limbaugh to occupy his time.

This is all I have to say about the next four years--(in the words of Samuel L. Jackson in Jurassic Park) "Hold on to your butts!"

*On a brighter note, no more campaign calls and commercials!

My Monsters (and other random pics)

So here is my family. Faces only a mommy could love, right? Sam is adorned by the Scream mask, which Tom has used to scare the nieces and nephews for the past ten years. Today he picked up this new little beauty for a few dollars in the Halloween clearance aisle.

Then, can you guess what happened next? That's right, Tom slipped quietly up the stairs and scared the kids to death while they were in the bathtub. Sorry Toots, he's all yours and he'll never grow up . . .

We tried to get Tommy to play along, but he was NOT in a picture-taking mood. (He actually wasn't afraid of the masks--they had a blast chasing each other around playing "monster." He just didn't want to sit still for a picture!)

He soon went into meltdown mode (a common occurrence at our house) and I had to give up.


**************************************************

Tommy Tinker on the tiger at the mall

Daddy and Tommy watching Star Wars . . . Tom is sooo excited he'll finally sit still long enough to cuddle up for a few minutes of Star Wars . . . Sammie used to love watching them with Tom, but now she's moved on to more girly shows with me.

Fall Fun (If You Can Call it Fall in the low 90's!)

So we did the corn maze again this year. Last year we didn't have a flashlight with us, and we had the grand idea we'd pull Bubba in a wagon (of course he jumped out after five minutes and we pulled an empty wagon through the bumpy paths).

So, this year be brought along our trusty Maglite and let Bubba walk. It turned out to be a fun evening, other than that elusive #4 post we never found!

Sammie and Tommy at the entrance to the maze

Great photography on my part, right?!

Tommy pointing the way to our next post--probably the one we never found

Sam the glam

Another great shot, I know, but it was hilarious. They had a little maze set up for the little kiddos with bales of hay. Tom plopped Tommy right in the middle to see if he could find his way out. Obviously he wasn't thrilled with the idea, so he took matters into his own hands and climbed over a few bales and was out in no time. All his naughtiness has made him very resourceful!

Tommy ridin' in the cow

Happy November!