Christmas at a glance

Once again, we were all spoiled this Christmas.  Santa was VERY good to the 5 of us!  So very blessed!

 We had such a great time with family and our cousins Bryn, Avery and Emily were here! 

Neighborhood Holiday Party

We love going to the clubhouse to celebrate the holidays with our friends and neighbors! 
The highlight is always the horse and carriage ride through the neighborhood!  Rachel loved every second of it!  Even the stinky horses!

After the horse ride we went inside for yummy food and hot chocolate!  And of course to see Santa.  Rachel was scared to death of him!  She would NOT let go of me.  We decided not to push it this year to get a picture.  But Molly and Ava were more than happy to pose with Mr. Claus.

Ava's Christmas Program

On Monday night, Ava had her performance.  She was an angel and had a speaking part!  We were very proud when she spoke clear and loudly into the microphone!

Molly's Christmas Program

Holy Moley!  Tis the season to be behind in blogging!  So much going on!
Last week Molly had her last Christmas program as a preschooler!  Makes me a bit sad.  The girls' preschool always does such a great job celebrating and teaching the true meaning of Christmas.  Molly was a bell ringer.  We had a crazy busy night that night.  Molly and Ava both had gymnastics.  So, we had an half our to change clothes and eat dinner before Molly performance.  The pictures showed just how exhausted Molly was.  I did get some good shots after the show though!

Light Parade

Our whole family had quite the treat on Saturday night!  My parents braved the freezing cold temps and took all 3 girls downtown Denver to the parade.  My dad has taken Ava before but this way the first year for Molly and Rachel.  Aside from the cold temps,  they had a GREAT time!

And Mike and I got a much needed date night!  We did a LOT of talking, had Sushi and got some shopping done!  GREAT night! 

Stolen camera

Not sure when but the girls took over my camera.  I didn't realize it until I downloaded them onto my computer!  Here is some of what I found.  Mighty creative!

A day of fun with my girls

Lately, I have been feeling that time is going by way to quickly!  We have been so busy.  I have decided to take advantage of having Molly home two days a week.  Next year with her being in Kindergarten, I will not be able to do activities during the week anymore.  This makes me very sad.  I have grieved when this happened with Ava so it will be easier but my babies are growing up way too fast for my liking! Next year it will be just Rachel and me!  I realized that Rachel has never been to the Children's Museum.  I think I took Ava and Molly there once a week when they were her age.  So sad!  We had fun and it's so much easier with two instead of three!

Gymnastics

A couple of weeks ago, Molly and Ava were in a gymnastic show. We weren't sure what to expect because this was our first of it's kind. We were expecting a "show" of some kind. Although it had a disney theme, it was more of a mock meet. We followed both Molly and Ava through all the events. The floor, the beam, the bars and the vault.

Molly is advancing rapidly!  She was asked to be in an "invite" only class back in March. She goes for two days a week for an hour a class.  The week before Thanksgiving she was moved up to the next level.  She will now go two days a week for 90 minutes a class.  She LOVES it!  Selfishly I am not sure how I feel spending so much time at the gym!  She is on the fast track for sure.  The next level, meets 3 days a week for two hours a class!  Such a commitment!  And with three kids?  Life is going to get even more crazy than it already is!!

Thanksgiving 2011

We just returned from yet another wonderful trip to AZ!  Traveling is getting so hassle free.  No more strollers, and only one car seat and two boosters!  And Ava and Molly can carry them. Makes such a huge difference.  The weather was beautiful.  Close to 80.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family we always welcome us with open arms.  The girls have such a GREAT time with their cousins!  Wish we lived closer.  Here are some highlights from our trip.....

To celebrate Uncle Kevin's and Emily's birthday, we went to a bbq place called Buffalo Chips.  We all loaded into two suburbans and were taken by drivers.  We were in the red car equipped with red bandannas.  The other car was the blue car and we were challenged with trivia.  So much fun!  The girls had a great time and Aunt Nancy thought of everything!

 One morning we visited the train museum park.  This is one of my favorite places to visit in Scottsdale.  Such a great park with a train and a carousel.  We had a picnic lunch there too!

 One night we went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner.  Mike and I had eaten there before but the girls hadn't.  Rachel LOVED every moment of it!  It was so much fun to watch her reaction to all the animals!  The food wasn't that great and was very overpriced but the experience was worth it for sure!

 And of course Thanksgiving day!  Aunt Nancy brought gingerbread houses to occupy the girls while dinner was prepared.  Such a great idea!  The girls loved it!  One of their favorite holiday activities!  I just wish we could have brought them home with us!!