Cabela's

We finished our Sunday with a trip to Cabela's with my parents. We wandered around and found a few items that we needed, stopped to get another picture with Santa, then had some lunch in the cafe upstairs.
Grandpa took Morgan to see the fish inside Cabela's...she loved it!

Miss Morgan

Just a video of Miss Morgan being silly....this is usually how it is around our house. Silliness all day. She has started to add so many words to her vocabulary these days. She will try to say almost anything you ask her to. Our dog Paris is her favorite...every morning when she wakes up she always asks for "Pa is". She has found a new joy for snowmen during the holiday season and Minnie and Mickey Mouse are a sure thing to make her smile! Morgan is still weighing 20 pounds. She is eating almost everything we eat for dinner...some nights she is a little picky. I continue to feel so blessed each and everyday that I get to stay home and be a mommy to her!

Holiday Fun

We started our weekend fun on Thursday night this past week. We loaded up the car and headed to the Adobe Train Park by my parents house. I never even knew this place was there until my mom received a flyer in the mail about train rides and Santa Claus...so we decided to check it out. This park is AMAZING! The trains that you ride are small, and look like real steam engines. The owners have designed numerous tracks through the desert and set up scenery along the way. We did not see everything as it was dark out and they only took us on one track that was decorated with Christmas lights, but we will definitely be going back during the day to see the rest. Morgan had her first visit with Santa at the park...she wanted NOTHING to do with him and would NOT leave Grandpa's arms.

Here are my parents and Morgan loaded on the train waiting for departure! It was SOOO cold out!

Once we were done on the train ride, we headed inside to see the very tiny trains that were set up. Zach was able to control one of the trains and even wear a conductor's hat. We had a great time at the Train Park.

On Saturday morning Morgan and I headed to Cabela's with my mom to visit Santa again. This time Morgan was even more upset!

After pictures with Santa and a little shopping Morgan and I headed to the Orpheum to watch a Christmas Ballet. This place is amazing! Morgan was in complete awe through the entire show and clapped at the end of all the dances.

After the show we waited outside to congratulated Tatum and Skylar, our friends who performed in the ballet. Morgan was having fun running around!

Here we are with Miss Tatum...her brother did not want to be in the picture, but they both did a terrific job! Morgan and I will continue to make this an annual tradition now. Along with the Nutcracker, which we will start next year with the Bondi girls!

Speaking of the Bondi girls, we also went to watch them dance Saturday night at Glendale Glitters. They were each in 2-3 dances and again did a terrific job! Morgan LOVES watching the girls dance!

In between our two dance shows we headed to Scottsdale for story time with Mrs. Claus. Morgan was okay with her.

We sat and listened to Mrs. Claus tell us the story of the Gingerbread Boy. She ran around and captured all the kids attention.

We left our house at 8:30 a.m. and did not arrive home until 10:00p.m. we were both exhausted. I was so grateful Miss Morgan slept until 8:30 to let her mommy catch up on some sleep. Today we are cleaning a bit then baking treats for our fun weekend ahead.

Christmas Trees

So I am a person who REALLY enjoys the smell of fresh pine trees, but can burn a candle with that scent and be JUST FINE with it. Shawn on the other hand REALLY enjoys the smell that actually comes from a fresh pine tree. So my mom had asked if we wanted to go cut down our own tree this year and start making it an annual thing. I thought...sure, how fun for all of us...but do I really have to put that tree in my house?? Shawn said YES YES YES, Let's do it, I CAN'T WAIT!! Well, the weekend of Thanksgiving I got ALL my Christmas Decor out and starting decorating the house...AND putting up my small, but LOVELY fake Christmas tree. I heard comments from Shawn and Zach saying...why is she putting that one up, what about the one we cut down, etc... I turned to them and said I would be happy to put it up OUTSIDE for them to enjoy through the window, but I REALLY did not want it in the house...so I continued with my fake tree...It LOOKED fantastic!!

Needless to say I completely was out-voted and the fake tree came down and the real, fresh tree made it inside...I tried to turn the camera to make the tree look better. I even tried to decorate under the tree to help it out...but I can promise you IT DID NOT LOOK LIKE THIS IN THE FORREST!! This tree was the "Perfect" tree when we were out there amongst the other millions of trees. :)

The memory of the day was worth it, but next year the FAKE tree stays inside and decorated and the real one goes up OUTSIDE!!!

Family

On Saturday we went up north to cut down or Christmas tree with my parents and sister...more pics to come...it was a mere 34 degrees and windy while we were there. My plan going up there was to find snow...any amount of snow because that is the theme of my Christmas cards this year and I wanted our family photo to have snow in it...well as we were driving along the rim I looked out the window and saw this fantastic view of the mountains and pine trees. My cards will still be snow themed, but our picture is a look before snow hits. The air was so crisp and clean, and the noise was that of the wind and the trees...so peaceful. We had a chilly, but FUN family day in the woods!

PF Changs Celebration!

Last night marked the 1/2 way point of our training for the P.F. Changs 1/2 Marathon. We have about 40 women that are still training together and about 25 of us went to celebrate at P.F. Changs last night. It was a great night to share some of our training stories, make plans for the Expo, and there was even talk about getting hotel rooms the night before so we are all together. We voted on a team name and the one chosen is Sole Sistas. Our shirts are hot pink :) with a logo of shoes and the team name on it. I am so excited to be training for this and I am looking forward to continue my training after the marathon and hopefully run a full in the near future!

Here is Christie and Brenda...look at all the food!!

Jeni (the one standing) is who we give credit to for putting together this amazing group! She was toasting for all of us!
Down the table...only my camera only captured the first few...but like I said we had about 25 of us there!
Brenda and I...we usually run every Sunday together along with 2 or 3 others. Sunday's are our LONG run days!!
This experience has not only helped me get back into shape but it has helped me accomplish a task that was long overdue. I am so grateful for all the prayers that everyone prayed for me and for the friendships we have built! God brought us all together to help one another in very special ways...it is so rewarding when you see the accomplishments, not just running, that we have made! Keep up the hard work ladies!!

We have had family here and have been so busy this past week. My Uncle and Grandfather from Colorado came in for Thanksgiving. My Grandpa built Morgan an amazing toy box while he was here...more pictures to some once it is painted. We decorated for Christmas, I ran a 5 mile run and a 6 mile run, and we enjoyed a movie in there. We are enjoying all the festivities of this holiday season and have our next few weekends book for more fun! To top it all off we have started to potty train little Miss Morgan...she has showed some interest, so I went with it and she went pee 5 times in her Princess Potty Chair the first day. Hopefully it will continue to be an easy milestone!