Risenmays come to town

 Aren't we so happy!?

 Sporting our BYU hats - honestly I can't remember what game was on, but there was a BYU game, so we watch - must have been basketball.

 This girl loves to dance!

 BYU did something GREAT - actually it was the Super Bowl.....shows how much I cared. :)

 See, there the Risenmay Grandpa and Great Grandma are - Ammon is teaching them how to 'sort cards'.

 Clearly the game was so exciting. :)

 More card sorting. Grandma and Grandpa were fighting over the 'good' cards, ummmmm, Ammon didn't care.

 We put together a puzzle that Lucas made in primary:

 We love it when our family comes to visit! Uncle Vacamaca Steven, Grandma Judy, Grandpa Riz, and Great, Grandma Riz who might never come back and visit as a result of the activities in the next picture. Sorry. :) Some of us are really competitive, others like to sabotage, others just like to pester - some like to do all 3......just saying, but I'm sure you could figure out who does what. As a side note: if you want to beat Jeff, have someone call him while he's playing - he can't multi-task! :)

 Another snake was made - this was our Christmas present from Crazy Uncle Vacamaca Steven.

 The snake ate Lucas

 Then ate Abbey and Ammon.

 Then became a jumping spot, soon to be filled with:

 pillow, blankets and stuff animals!! Seriously isn't that a bit excessive for Arizona???

Snake Guy

I sent Jeff, his brother Steven and Lucas to Lucas' friend's birthday party - the Snake Guy was coming to entertain. I don't like those types of animals and neither do my girls - we opted to stay home with the visiting in-laws.

Smarts

 3rd Qtr came with one small hitch - both kids received awards for their grades. Lucas made Principals list with all A's, Lea made Honor Roll. Principal's list kids got to dress down the following Monday....this brought much tears from the eldest child because she didn't get the same reward. We're very proud of both of them as long as they try and ask for help when they struggle.

 Had to sneak pictures of Lea - she was too embarrassed or too cool for me that day. oh boy.

Merry Christmas!!

  Jeff hung Christmas lights we purchased LAST Christmas in the kids room....Everyone slept through him climbing on the beds, stepping over them and making quite a bit of noise. Luke's room glows!! The girls have multi-color lights - not quite as bright as Luke's, but they were sooo very excited!!

 Jeff helping Ammon read his new book - Brown bear, Brown bear, what do you see?

 They were more excited about the food and new toothbrushes in their stockings.

 Lucas has been wanting a 'mote control car' since last year. Couldn't find any.....I really did try. This year I found a whole bunch! This one was awesome.....and lasted all of 6 hours before it broke. We returned it a few days later for a pimped out truck. Oh well - see how happy he is?! :)

 Accountant + Statistician = 4 very happy kids with calculators!!

 Wahoo - a Kindle Fire!

 Testing the durability of our legos. ha!

 a new game, water cup, lunch box and picture of Christ for Jeff

 Off to Church in our new clothes!!

Christmas Eve

Since Christmas was on Sunday, we decided to spend Christmas Eve in Wickenburg with my brother and his family. Our kids get along great - someone for everyone to play with. And we get along with Steve and Rozann too. :)

We enjoyed yummy food, desserts and the beautiful AZ winter.

 Gets a little cooler in Wickenburg than in Laveen, hence the red nose.

 There were some injuries - Abbey got bowled over while she was running.

 Played Mr/Misses Shark - a game they learned in swim lessons

 Riding the pink radio flyer scooter. 

We had a stirring performance of the Nativity:

 Taylee

 and Ammon played the extras....

 The Narrator encouraging the donkey to not drop Mary...

 the donkey helped Mary wrap her baby.

 A sweet Mother Mary and her baby Jesus.

 The cast: Tanner (donkey), Lucas (Joseph), Brianna (Shepherd), Shay (Angel/Star), Ashley & Lea (2 of the 3 wise men)

An Encore presentation: same cast, different roles :)

 

 With that, we headed home for bed to see what Christmas morning would bring and go to church for one hour.