Goodbye 2009...

We had a FUN night ringing in the NEW YEAR at the Bragelman's!

Rich and Sam stayed home still recovering from their sicknesses....so Max, Luke and I had a fun night whooping it up with everyone!

We played an awesome game of SPOONS!

Lukie didn't quite make it to midnight....
Max is ready to CELEBRATE!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lynn, Laura (Lynn's friend from church) and Annie...HAPPY 2010!

The BEST BREAK EVER with our BUDDIES!

Max and Luke got to have special playdates with their friends over break.
On Monday, Luke chose Aiden from his class to spend the day with us. While he was over, Max got to spend the day at Daddy's work!
Max had his buddy, Jake, over on Tuesday. Luke got to have his special day at Daddy's work that day!

Both boys enjoyed Cedric (from Max's class) over on Wednesday! FUN TIMES with FUN FRIENDS!

Fun night with COUSINS...

We enjoyed having our sweet cousins over tonight! Our Christmas gift to Lynnette and Adam was a certificate for ANY TIME baby sitting the girls (redeemable anytime!). We had fun decorating (and eating) cookies, playing, and hanging out together! Rich is SICK...so I had to add that picture of him...poor guy was quarantined in the bedroom the whole time...

Such sweet girls and a sweet time together...

The "SQUEAKQUEL"!!!!!

THANK YOU to Granna for taking us to the MOVIES today! We loved seeing the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie....

We took up the whole row!

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful day we had celebrating Jesus' birth! (Please click on the white caption in the left hand corner to see the captions I wrote.)

Christmas Eve 2009...

We had a nice Christmas Eve Celebration with my family!

We went to the Bragelman's church and loved how the pastor called all the kids up (with their parent's keys to shake!) to sing Jingle Bells!

We then headed to Granna and Grandpa's house to enjoy our traditions of Granna's FAMOUS letter cookies! She makes EVERY ONE'S letters in their names...
She did a fun game this year where she picked a letter out of the bowl, and if you had that letter you raised your hand and got your letter to spell out your own name! She had the most "N"s of any letter!

Max was smart this year, and asked Granna to spell out his FULL name...MAXWELL, not just MAX!

Luke was very patient waiting on his letters...

Sam got started on eating his letters before he got them all...

This is before the presents were opened...

...and after....THANK YOU Granna and Grandpa for a FUN night and WONDERFUL presents!

Fun night out!

We had a fun night out looking at Christmas lights (Sam missed them, because he fell asleep in his car seat)! We first stopped at Dairy Queen, and used our gift from Aunt Louise and Uncle Mike.....gift cards for each boy! Then we went to a great street full of beautiful lights....Cherry Street. One of the houses has a whole "Walk Through Bethlehem" in their backyard....so cool. The boys favorite house is the "Sponge Bob Square Pants" house!

Luke's choice...chocolate dipped cone!

Sam's choice...vanilla with sprinkles!
Max's choice...nut and fudge waffle bowl!

Sponge Bob Square Pants house!

This is how Sam enjoyed the lights.....EXHAUSTED!

Boomtext Christmas Party!

We had a GREAT time at Rich's Boomtext Christmas Party on Monday night. YUMMY food (catered by one of our customers, Jimmy's of Chicago) , CRAZY white elephant gifts (I'm warning you now before you look at the pictures!), SILLY games ("Cursed" is my new favorite game!), and GREAT company! Click on the little white symbol for "captions" in the bottom left corner to see the captions I wrote about the slideshow.

Our visit to see Santa...

We decided to go visit Santa at the mall on Sunday morning...with the rest of Arizona! The line was literally wrapped around the mall......so......we went with "PLAN B". The BRILLIANT folks at Chandler Fashion Mall had "Dear Santa" paper, pencils, and a mailbox for the kids to write to him! The boys were totally fine with "waving" to Santa and writing their letters and placing them in the mailbox for him! We WILL get our annual picture with Santa this week, just not at the mall!

Sam wants a new "Barney" video for Christmas
Max wants a new video game for the Wii Luke wants a new "Webkinz" (a bullfrog plush toy)
Oh....I hope Santa brings it all!

Magnificent Run of MESSIAH!

Oh how I LOVE this time of year! I look forward to this every year....singing the MESSIAH! It is the foundation of my faith, and I love singing it and sharing this gift with everyone. We had a fabulous time on Saturday night at The Royal Palms after one of the performances. Maestro Michael Christie joined us for the celebration! Good times with great friends!

Jingle Bells....Batman Smells.....

I had the PRIVILEGE of attending the theatre with my favorite first grader, Luke, and his class. We went to the Tempe Arts Center, and watched the Child'splay Theatre performance of "Junie B Jones Jingle Bells, Batman Smells". It was ADORABLE. Junie B is this adorable character from books that the kids read. She is in the 1st grade, and narrates her life, mostly about situations she deals with in school with her classmates (from a mischievous, sometimes naughty little girl perception I might add)!

It was very well put on by this theatre group, and the characters answered questions afterwards, and talked with the kids.

We then headed to Desert Breeze Park afterwards for some lunch and FUN! The kids needed to RUN OFF some energy after sitting so well for a long period of time!

It was a special afternoon with my special, sweet Luke.

A very special guest came to visit us....

RUFUS! Luke's class mascot! He got to stay the night with us last night! Boy did Rufus get to experience a lot of fun with Luke!

A fun after school snack while watching Sponge Bob...

He went to basketball practice with Luke and Daddy!
He went on a date with Daddy and Luke to Panda Express after!

What a day....

Thanks for coming to our house, Rufus....I hope you can come again real soon!

Most wonderful package of the year...

Every year we look forward to Aunt Gail and Uncle Jim's package of GOODIES from their kitchen! They make us DELICIOUS buckeyes, white chocolate pretzels, and seasoned oyster crackers. We whipped up some hot chocolate, put the goodies in special Christmas bowls, found a fun holiday movie (Eloise at Christmastime) and INDULGED!

Thank you, Aunt Gail and Uncle Jim!

It's time for some HOOPS!

Max and Luke started their basketball seasons on Saturday! Both boys did GREAT at their first games (Lukie's first EVER!).

Luke's SO happy to have Daddy as his COACH!

Max getting some "pep talk" after the big game!

A very special morning!

I love when important paths cross! I'm speaking of the paths of school and church! These beautiful ladies (Sloan, Jennifer and Cherie) are mommies of Max and Luke's friends at school AND we get to see these friends at church in Sunday School and bible study. Thank you to Sloan (friend in the pink shirt) that hosted a BEAUTIFUL brunch at her house to celebrate Christmas.

Webb Family Christmas

We had a WONDERFUL morning celebrating Christmas with Papa, Grandma, and the Rasmussens! Papa and Grandma thought of every little detail...everything was so special and memorable. We started with an awesome family picture....would you believe it we actually got the whole gang to look forward and smile on the FIRST try?! Papa then gathered all the kids and read to them out of Joan's children's devotion book the story of Christmas. He then asked them questions (PRECIOUS) about what he had read. After that, we sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus", and had a birthday "cake" (cinnamon rolls!). Grandma then led us all in Christmas carols at the piano. We then opened presents, and had a DELICIOUS brunch together! Thank you, Joan and Richard for a wonderful morning of celebration. We love you!

Luke's Holiday Concert!

The Cubs Singers put on another FABULOUS concert under the direction of their AWESOME director, Ms. Holemon! I was so proud of my little tenor...

A Cozy Home for "Gingy"

The boys and I had a fun time making a Gingerbread House and Man! Thank you to Aunt Patty for giving the boys the kit! "Gingy" enjoyed his cozy home for many days as we picked at it!

Happy Day After Thanksgiving...

We had a fun DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING celebration at Granna and Grandpa's....we had a Mexican Fiesta! Complete with a Pinata and BINGO! Thanks, Granna and Grandpa for a fun night....

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We had an excellent Thanksgiving celebration at Patti and Jason's! After a YUMMY feast, all the kids put on their annual Thanksgiving play...this year it was called "The Nightmare Before Thanksgiving"...so cute! Then Kathryn, Erik and Niklas performed some songs from their ever so popular band "The Tree Huggers"! Then we had a dance party in the garage! It was a wonderful celebration with wonderful family and friends...

This is what happens...

when a 9 year old figures out how to use the video recorder...

Luke's Thanksgiving Presentation!

Luke was a "Pilgrim Father" in the Reader's Theatre presentation of The First Thanksgiving...


Check out these little turkeys singing a cute song...

Happy Birthday, David and Kyle!

My sweet nephews, David and Kyle, turned 7 years old! We had an awesome celebration at the BOWLING ALLEY! The kids had a blast (us grown ups tore up the lanes pretty good, too!).

We love you, David and Kyle, you are our precious miracles!

Party like a ROCK STAR!

We had so much fun at Devil's Martini at the Celebrity Martini Casino Night with our Boomtext family! We were invited by one of the guys' customers, and had such a fun time! We danced the night away and stayed out way too late...but it was totally worth it!

What a HAM...

My nephew, Daniel, played the role of Little John in the 5th and 6th grade production of "Robinhood" at this school. Daniel BLOWS ME AWAY with his talent. He is SO expressive and confident and just DARLING up there on stage. He definitely stole the show with his adorable acting as he batted his eyes and "posed" like Maid Marian - it was priceless.

What a lucky girl...

I can count on my hands the amount of times I have received flowers from someone.

But 2 in one day?! How could I be so lucky?! Aunt Patty brought me these beautiful roses when she came over...

and there was a knock on my door, and I had these beautiful dasies sent to me from my sweet neighbor, Karen, for getting her tickets to the symphony....
Getting flowers sure brightens up a girl's day!