Amazing Kailyn Date

This past Saturday, Dec 29th, Kailyn and I got to go on a fun date to a place called Amazing Jake's. it is basically an indoor amusement park. Perfect for Arizona! We played lazer tag, road the carousel, the train and the spinning teacups (yea, I will never be doing that again. Let's just say that I felt "funny" for at least an hour after that silly ride. Oh, to be a child again!). We also, got to race around the go cart track, play arcade games and enjoy an all you can eat buffet while watching Disney movies (she opted for "Hortan Hears a Who"). She is such a sweet, loving girl. I feel so lucky to have a spirit like her!

When we returned from our mommy/daughter date, her and Hunter decided that they were going to get married. They were setting up for their wedding reception!

Wii-haw!!- Dec 2012

Oh man, let the adventure begin. We were given the Wii, from a friend, for Christmas this year. We were super excited, but a little hesitant. Are we ready for this new phase?!?! Anyhow, after the kids (except our little night owl Alton) went to bed, we thought we would try out the Band Guitar Hero. It was pretty fun, but we were terrible at it. I was especially bad at the drums. I best just stick to the guitar and singing. Anyhow, I can tell this will lead to a lot of laughs in the future!!

Camelback Date with Hunter

Well, on Christmas Day, the family attempted a hike up Camelback. We were sort of doomed for failure because by the time we found a place to park it was way into their normal nap times, but at least we didn't just sit at home, right? Anyhow, Hunter said that he wasn't tired and that he new he could make it to the top. I promised him I would bring him back and we would go take a picture by the "surprise" at the top (a Christmas tree). Besides, I hadn't had a chance to venture to the top myself since we got back to AZ, so I was due for a good hike. Anyhow, last Friday, Hunter and I headed out toward Camelback. He has done this before (granted it was over 3 years ago and did an awesome job) and we were determined to succeed. Because of the mountain's popularity/holiday, we had to park quite far and so we got adventurous and also a little tired by the time we got to the main trail. We had fun laughing and exploring the desert! He is such an awesome kid. Once we made it to "the Iron Rod", he was tired and pretty nervous at what he was looking up at. The iron bar is sort of a steep area of rock that is best climbed by holding on tight to the rod and not looking down. I tried to encourage him (this is definitely the hardest part of the hike), but he made it half way up and froze. We promised each other to come back another time! I remember when I used to run up and down this silly mountain. Oh, those were the days! Smiles!!!

We celebrated our adventure with a yummy lunch at 5 Guys! So fun!!

Christmas Moments 2012

Thought we'd share a few fun Christmas moments from 2012. We tried our first very impromptu re-enactment of the Christmas story. Kailyn made a cute Mary, Hunter was the character of all trades, Alton was on strike and wanted nothing to do with our celebration, and Kinley just wanted to chew on her costume. I will be better organized next year. I have always wanted to do this with costumes and just had them passed down to us this year. Yeah!

I finally got around to making our little Carolina girl a UNC stocking with matching pillow/blanket. It was really pretty easy (thankfully) and fun to make for her!

We also had the opportunity to go to the North Pole Experience with Grandma & Grandpa Mullin. We had a fun time having them visit with us!!

Also, there are pictures of some super excited faces as they received gifts from their Grandparents/Great-grandma. Christmas this year was priceless!