It Was Merry, Indeed!

It was a very merry Christmas around here.



Aw, there's nothing like that first Christmas ~ unless it's your thirtieth and you're getting a new bike!



...or it's your fourth and you're getting a new kitchen to make yummy things in...



...or you have a new way to emulate your hero...



...or your eighth and your parents give you new ways to guarantee bumps and bruises...



...or it's the Christmas you're given a second chace at the modeling career you always wanted.



All that to say, we had a positively lovely Christmas, and we pray that it was the same for you!

Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas, our dear friends!

We pray blessings and peace for you and your family on this blessed day!

Love,
Paco, Jamie, Gi-Gi, Bubba, Ya-Ya, and JuJu!

Cookie Cut-ups

Fact: I am a Norman Rockwell lover.

Fact: I want every holiday to have that Rockwell-esque feel to it.

Reality: It never happens that way.

Yesterday, I thought, 'Oh, wouldn't it be fun to make and decorate cookies with the kids. It's such a perfect Christmas thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.'

Fun, it was. Perfect, it was not.

It started like this:

*Please note my husband's face and the fact that Ya-Ya is ducking her head.

Here's why:


The result?

An adorable Ya-Ya covered in powdered sugar.

So, while Mama cleaned it up,

there was an expedition to the front door to enjoy the short afternoon rain shower. (Do you know how rare those are in Arizona?)

After the explosive powdered sugar was cleaned up, we rolled:


and we sprinkled:


Even Ju-Ju got into the act as a taste tester:


The Rockwell family model we are not!

Who wants to be perfect anyways?

I hear it's completely overrated.

Guess I'll never know.

Because They Are Just So Darn Cute!

Because I am a proud mama, I wanted to subject you to more pictures of my amazingly sweet children.

Seeing as it's my blog, I don't think I'll hear any objections.

Because, really, they are just that cute!




Yes, these are my children. Yes, I gave birth to all four of them. Yes, they are worth all the stretch marks.

Well, of course they were going to end up cute with parents like these!


Biased, you say? OF COURSE!

I am just one of those mamas.

My camera is one of the first things I would save if my house was on fire.

*Notice, I said things.

Brace yourselves! Christmas pictures will be coming soon. Prepare to be subjected once again.

Do I hear any objections?

I thought not.

Together Again (At Least for the Weekend)

Celebrate good times, c'mon!

Good thing you can't hear me singing that right now. I think it's stuck in my head.

Oh, dear.

We had some good times this weekend, let me tell you.

There are some families out there who have reunions every year. Not us. Oh, no. We're on the twenty year plan. Seriously.

We figured the last time my mom's family was together was Thanksgiving 1988. I won't even tell you how old I was then.

Let's just say, no one was calling me Babe or Mama.

Why, oh why, do we wait so long?

I'm not sure, but we did finally get everyone together this past weekend.

We laughed, ate amazing food, made announcements, swapped funny stories, and got to know each other a little more. Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, parents. Together again to celebrate (that and eat).

We celebrated being in Arizona in November:


We celebrated eating (as if there was ever any question):



We celebrated the next generation:





We celebrated new love (and engagements):


We celebrated being together:


But most of all, we celebrated our matriarch:


Because without her, there would be no one to come to the family reunions.

There would be no family.

Thanks, Grandma.

Our Fall Adventure

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

More Yumminess

This is what happens when your big brother and sister don't obey and put the crayons away.



He seems to like it, though.


Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi

Just glad it wasn't lipstick...