Christmas

December 2012

 Riparian Preserve

A few months ago, Brooks went with me to the Riparian Preserve. He had never been even though it is only three miles from our house. Ever since our first visit, he has been hooked. He takes the boys there occasionally without me and the boys enjoy riding their bikes while Brooks takes pictures. 

Hieroglyphic Springs Hike

On Christmas Eve, we headed up to the Superstition Mountains for a hike. I did the Hieroglyphic Springs trail many times while I was growing up and this is one of my favorite kid friendly hikes in the area. It was chilly when we started, but we warmed up quickly. The boys did well and only complained about their legs being tired towards the end. 

When we got to the water, the boys discovered how slippery the rocks are. They turned the slippery rocks into a slide and had a blast sliding down over and over again.

Children's Museum

The boys love the Phoenix Children's Museum, but Brooks has never been able to go with us. We picked him up from work and went to the free night at the museum. It was insanely busy, but the boys didn't care or even notice. It was nice to have Brooks come and enjoy it with us.

Christmas Crafts

I made an advent calendar this year and we filled it with fun things to do everyday in December. Some were simple like attend our ward party or make hot chocolate and some were a little more involved like go see the temple lights or make a Christmas craft. We made paper Christmas trees, Santa with a rolled beard and graham cracker nativities. I also checked out a bunch of Christmas books and wrapped them up in Christmas wrapping paper. Each night we opened a book to read before bed. Some nights were about Santa and some were about the birth of Christ. There were a few about service and looking out for others. It was one of my favorite things we did this year and I want to keep this tradition for years to come. 

Having four year boys at Christmas time was a lot of fun. They were excited every morning to change our Christmas count down and to see what was in the advent calendar box. One of the things we did that surprised me how much I liked it was to check out the loop of lights in Pecan Creek. There was one house in particular which was set to music and had an insane amount of lights. We sat and watched the house for 30 minutes or so. 

Bike Riders

Brooks got off work early the day before Thanksgiving. When he got home, we spontaneously decided to take the training wheels off the boys' bikes. As a parent, this is one of those things you look forward to and it did not disappoint. Landon picked it up almost immediately and Elliot was right behind him. They were both riding with no help within 5-10 minutes of the wheels coming off. They are already almost too big for these bikes, but they were a great size to learn on. Since this day, they ask to ride their bikes almost every day. 

Lakeside

The last weekend in November, we drove up to Lakeside to stay at a cabin with my family. We went up to celebrate Amerae's 21st birthday and enjoy time with family. We didn't do much while we were there, but it was nice to spend time with family. On the way home, we took the route through Globe and the canyon was stunning as we dropped into it. Brooks took advantage of a good photo opportunity. 

Family Pictures while we were there

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. We had lots of leftover birthday cake from the night before which was about to get thrown in the trash. So the kids took their shirts off and had chocolate cake for lunch on the porch. They were pretty cute doing it!

After leaving the cabin, we went to the park for a bit. Audrey's hair is another highlight from the trip. It reminds me of Harry from Dumb and Dumber.