Temple Lights

Ok, I know there are no lights in this one but thought it was a cool pic.

Holy Santa Batman!

We went to Shani’s school today and we couldn’t believe it……. Santa Claus was there!!! Finally a decent photo of the kids with Santa!

The Polar Express

Well the Polar Express has come and gone and it was fun. We drove up on Saturday and the kids were so excited that they put their cloths on along with their coats and beannies and did not take them off till bed time. About 15 miles before we hit Flagstaff it started to snow a little which was cool. We got to the hotel and checked into our room where Bodin and McKinna did a little exploring. Bodin opened up the closet and yelled “Awesome, a surf board!” pointing to the ironing board, too funny! Then they found the luggage holder and tried to jump from the bed to the holder which only has three straps across it, knuckleheads!!!

Our train ride wasn’t until eight so we went to the “Restaurant” (cafeteria) and ate gourmet food buffet style. It was finally time to get on the train and we had to wait in a line in the open air where there were 30mph gusts of very cold wind hitting us, the kids loved it. We got on the train and started to head to the North Pole. On the way there we each got a cup of the richest, creamiest, hot chocolate in the world along with a scrumdiddlyumptious cookie!! Ok, I have had better in a box in our pantry but the kids loved it and made it worth every penny. We reached the North Pole where Santa was waving to us. We left the North Pole and made our journey back to our hotel that was millions of miles away but we went through a cool hyper speed tunnel and made it in approximately 45 minutes. On the way back we sang Christmas carols and who appeared?? Santa Claus!!! The kids were sooooo excited and they each received a bell from his sleigh just like on the movie. We got back to our hotel where we were all ready for a good night sleep.

We knew it was going to snow so the next morning Shani was the first up and saw it snowed about 2 inches. Once the kids got up Bodin ran to the window and yelled in a very excited voice “Dad, there is snow eeeeverywhere” I know bud. “Dad, there is even snow on the road” I know bud, isn’t that cool. “Dad, there is even snow on the cars!!” That is awesome bud! On the way to breakfast it took us about 10 minutes longer to get there because the kids had to stop and play in every bit of snow they saw. We checked out and went about 5 miles up the road and let the kids play for a bit which was fun. Thanks to my dad letting us borrow his truck we made it out alive. The roads were packed with snow and very slick. I had to use 4x4 for most the time driving out of Flag, thanks again Dad.

A first time for everything!

The other night McKinna and Bodin were showing off their gymnastic moves by doing cartwheels in the living room. Me being the bully I am would catch their legs in the middle of the cartwheel and push them over. You could almost see Bodin’s hamster running at full speed in his head as he got the idea to push McKinna over in the middle of her cartwheel. Bodin puts on his biggest smile because he can’t wait to see his sister fall to the ground and ruin her acrobatic act. Bodin times McKinna’s cartwheel and makes a mad dash to push her over. Well….. Bodin’s timing was a little off and his smile turned to a look of excruciating pain as McKinna’s foot came up between Bodins legs and nailed him in his FRANK AND BEANS dropping him to the ground crying. YES MINE WERE HURTING TOO AFTER WATCHING THAT, IT’S A GUY THING! Poor Bodin is lying on the ground probably in the worst pain he has ever been in and his sympathetic dad is on the couch laughing so hard that I almost fell off the couch! Shani, laughing with me, looks at me and tells me “You’re a guy, help him!” Help him?? What was I going to do, hold his frank and beans for him, I don’t think so!

A little while later when Bo finally calmed down and the painful make you want to vomit feeling went away he decided he was good to wrestle but with a little more caution this time around. I was so proud, my boys first kick in the nuts! One of many to come.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I got home from work Sunday night and the kids couldn’t contain themselves, they wanted the tree (fake, sorry) up! I have never seen Bodin so excited, maybe too excited as he got in trouble for not being able to calm down (dang DeSpain genes). After the kids helped put on the ornaments, we are now minus a few, I had to go back over the tree because the kids seem to place all the ball ornaments in one place as you can see in the pic. Bodin has also made it a tradition to break one of the snow globes every year, we are so proud of him; he is only four you know. I would also like to thank Donna Schaub for the fantastic stockings she has made us every time I manage to slip one pass the goalie!! Thanks Donna, they look great!