holiday work parties

In all the holiday chaos, this never got posted....

After seven years of ridiculous US Airways holiday parties that we usually didn't attend (they made the employees pay to go!), it was nice to be invited to a REAL company holiday party this year.  Dinner, dancing, professional photographs, casino tables (we decided not to embarrass ourselves!), and prizes.  It was fun to feel appreciated and treated like a valued employee at a prosperous company for a change.  It was also nice to meet some of Kevin's co-workers, though we felt kind of old and boring since most of them had very young children (or none at all) and several were from other countries.

Kevin's boss also hosted another party at her home for all her immediate employees and their families (about 30 people).  As fun as the formal party was, I actually enjoyed this casual setting more.

We do occasionally miss our flight benefits, but we have been extremely happy with Kevin's new job.  We have lots of free products (saves us money on gift giving!) and Kevin is enjoying his work as well as his co-workers.  We are so glad we took a leap of faith with this job offer. 

more holiday fun

Here's a few other random photos from our holiday fun.

Church a few days before Christmas was wonderful, and especially nice to have Grandma & Grandpa visiting.  We've been on the 8:30 a.m. schedule the past two years (already looking forward to our new 1:30 time next Sunday!), and the kids were not thrilled to pose for pictures after church...

Lots of play time with cousins.  I think we've seen my sister and her family more in the past few weeks than the rest of the year combined.

Temple visit for the adults.  We always love it when the Turners join us! 

And of course the annual temple light display.

mccormick-stillman railroad park

One of our favorite places, especially over the holidays when they have a great train ride light display, is McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park up in Scottsdale.  We went in the afternoon so the kids could enjoy the two different playgrounds.

Tyler and Sean were again dressed as twins.  These boys are so funny!  I am thrilled they get to grow up together and are best friends.

6 of the 7 kids (Ryan had to work):

Natalie found a spot to jump off and I had fun taking lots of pictures of her many crazy poses mid-air.

We had a picnic dinner and tried to stay warm while waiting for the train ride.  Brooke is always so good with Natalie.

Brandon and Kelly

Proof that my Dad & I were there!

We finally made it on the train and enjoyed the light display!

We finished up the evening by visiting the model railroad exhibits, which were very crowded because they were indoors and warm.  And then we had to torture the kids with one last photo on the way out!

christmas 2012

We had a low-key Christmas this year...just the way I like it!   We opened our presents here in the morning.  It's always interesting to see what gifts are the kids' favorites - it's not always what I expect!

Brandon loved the zombie shirt in his stocking:

Among other things, Tyler got a large Lego set and a camera:

And Natalie's Christmas was almost entirely Hello Kitty, Barbie, and Disney Princesses.

We got to talk to Kevin's parents on Skype for a bit, then we headed over to my sister's house for the afternoon.  We forgot to do our traditional grandkid picture in front of the tree last year so we were sure to remember this year!

Top row L to R: Ryan (16), Kelly (10), Brandon (10); Bottom row L to R: Brooke (13), Natalie (5), Sean (7), Tyler (7)

The kids were spoiled as usual by Grandma & Grandpa:

Tyler and his cousin Sean, who are four days apart and best friends, were dressed appropriately as twin Angry Bird fans.

My sister's in-laws who are very much a part of our family and live nearby joined us for Christmas dinner and dessert, then we recruited them to take a few quick family pictures.  We missed my brother Eric, his wife Amy, and their son Matthew being with us this year - they were in Utah with Amy's family.

Let's not kid ourselves, here's a much more realistic look at the Carlson clan:

Merry Christmas 2012!

ice skating

At the school fall festival I won a raffle prize for ice skating tickets to a special holiday event in downtown Phoenix where they install an outdoor ice rink for a few weeks.  I know you're supposed to be cold and bundled up for outdoor ice skating, but 68 degrees was perfect in my opinion!

My kids have never been ice skating before so it was quite an adventure!  We recruited my sister and her family and Grandma to come as extra help.  On the drive there, Tyler and Natalie were talking about how they were going to do figure-eights and write their names in the ice with their skates on. We laughed and explained to them it would probably be slightly harder than they expected.  I knew we were in trouble when they could barely walk from the seat to the rink entrance!

Even ice skating, their respective personalities were seen...
Brandon was nervous and slow and cautious:

Tyler thought it was like running and fell at least 100 times, but was not deterred:

Natalie was cute and graceful and only fell a couple times.  I didn't realize they also had double-blade skates for the little kids, but she didn't need them!

Natalie adores my 13 year old niece Brooke and stayed with her most of the time.  Despite the strange look on Brooke's face in this photo (she was looking up at her dad taking photos), Brooke is so kind to Natalie and very helpful!

Proof I was there (I managed to stay on my feet the whole time and even get some decent photos!):

The boys were finally able to stay mostly upright after about an hour and even completed a few laps without any falls. 

My brother-in-law was up on a walkway above us taking video.  Here is Tyler after almost an hour of ice skating - notice how soaked his pants are!


We were all pretty tired and sore and bruised, but it was a fun holiday memory!

science center

We got a family membership to the Science Center so we decided to go on the first day of our winter break, since most schools still had school that day.  I thought it would be fairly empty, as most schools had holiday parties, so I was surprised at the number of field trip groups.  But after lunch it quieted down and we had a great day.  We haven't been there in several years so it was fun to see the new exhibits and re-visit some of our favorites.

They added an outdoor water play area.  It would have been really fun in the summertime, except it was about 48 degrees outside that morning and it was freezing (at least for us Arizonians). 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go over the holidays is because they have a special Lego exhibit that is only going to be there through January and I knew my kids would love it.  They could have spent the entire day in this room.

 My boys found a computer that would morph your face.  They thought it was hysterical!

Brandon was obsessed with the wheelchair race.  He did it at least a dozen times.  Here he is being a kind older brother helping Natalie try to beat Tyler.

Note to self: don't ever let my boys operate on me! They weren't concerned at all that there were pieces leftover!

 Proof that I did the bed of nails!

Natalie has become quite strong from doing gymnastics.  She pulled herself up to the top of this rope climb in about 2 seconds.

Then she walked across the room and pulled her own body weight up to the top of the pulley system on the middle setting (hard, harder, hardest).

What is it that attracts kids to dirty mud, sand, and water?  They had fun and I tried not to be too freaky about the mess.  Next time no white shirt for Natalie!

Grandma was with us too (apparently she didn't make it in the photos). Thank goodness because keeping track of three kids who want to go separate directions to explore is a challenge.  It was a fun day and we will definitely go back a few more times this year!

school holiday parties

Our kids go to a very structured school, so it's extra fun for them when it's one of their three "party days" (holiday, valentines, end of school).  Plus it was the last day of the quarter so they got to have a non-uniform dress day as well. Add in the quantity of sugar they consumed, Christmas only a few days away, and Grandma & Grandpa arriving in a few hours, to say they came home hyper is an understatement!

It was very interesting attending all three classroom parties back-to-back.  First up was Natalie in kindergarten.  Very organized with stations and about 16 parents there.  The kids are adorable and eager to please.

Natalie has the same kindergarten teacher that Tyler did.  She is amazing with the kids and has become a friend of mine.  And you know she's an experienced kindergarten teacher when during the party a girl said her tummy hurt and without even hesitating she picked her up and carried her to the nurse's office as she was throwing up down the hallway.  It didn't even phase the teacher!  And then she lined these kids up for this class picture in about 4 seconds.

Next up was Tyler's 2nd grade party.  Still mostly controlled, but much crazier and only about 6 parents helping. 

Tyler has the same teacher Brandon had for one quarter of second grade (his teacher was out on maternity leave she was the long-term sub who ended up getting a full-time position). She is very organized and keeps the kids on task well. 

Last was Brandon's 5th grade party.  Talk about chaos!  She did a book exchange with the class, which was odd given the fact they have such varied interests and are reading at many different levels.  Like everything else with 10-11 year old kids, it became very loud and competitive.

There were only 3 parents there (notice how as they get older there are less parents around?), but the kids are very self-sufficient and certainly didn't need any help with cookie decorating.  Though again that became very competitive about whose cookies were the grossest, the tallest, who could eat the most, etc.

Brandon's teacher is new to the school.  All we were told was that she was an ex-police officer.  Brandon was very nervous over the summer, but I almost started laughing when we walked into Back to School Night and met her.  She's not bending down that much in this photo - most of the class is taller than she is! She's the littlest, cutest, sweetest teacher.