Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Our Journey to the North Pole

Amaya's had a fun Christmas season so far! She kicked it off with a Christmas festival with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry in their neighborhood. There she got to see a tree lighting, during which she reportedly said, "that blesses my heart." So sweet. At the festival she also got to roast marshmallows, drink hot cocoa, AND, see Santa.

In addition to the usual tree decorating, carol singing, light looking, cookie eating activities of a 3-year-old during Christmas, Amaya also got to go to the Star of Wonder show at Phoenix First Assembly. The production was fabulous. Amaya's favorite part was the flying angels. Mine was the fact that the camel didn't fall on us since it knelt down right next to us. (For those of you who haven't already seen it, check out "Camel Falls into Crowd" on you tube.)

Amaya also had a pajama party at pre-school where they celebrated the season by making Christmas cookies, then watching Polar Express. This was the perfect segway into our weekend because during this past weekend WE WENT TO THE NORTH POLE. It's just a hour-long train ride on the Polar Express. Amaya had a ball. I recommend the Polar Express journey to anyone that has kids that "believe." Here are some photos from our journey.


Living dangerously posing in front of a train. J/K. Obviously said train is retired and on display.
We were cracking up watching Amaya walk to the train from the train depot. She was all shivering with her teeth a chattering away, complaining of the cold.
You can tell she is an AZ native! Cold? This isn't cold my sweet! Cold is January in Minot, North Dakota!!!
"Warming up" on the train.
So excited.
She warmed up enough to take her coat off. This is a picture of Amaya looking out at the Christmas lights as the train embarked on it's journey.
Enjoying her hot cocoa.
She saved the cookie for later. CRAZY!
Laughing at the conductor's Santa jokes. Check out her adorable Santa pajamy's.
Amaya looking out the window as we arrive at the North Pole.
Amaya in awe!
Excitedly waiting for Santa.
The big moment finally arrives. A special moment with the man in red. Note Santa giving Amaya a bell.
Amaya checking to see if she can hear her bell ring. She could! It worked! She believes!


Happy Holidays!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!
Amaya made this hat and t-shirt in pre-school. Our little turkey enjoyed dressing up in her turkey gear. Gobble, gobble. She was going to sport her new jeans and sneakers with it, but since we were forecasted to have the coldest Thanksgiving in 80 years today, I convinced her to sport a warm and cozy sweatshirt under her cute, turkey t-shirt. We hope you all had a fabulous turkey day!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Winter Wonderland

I arrived in Minneapolis Thursday just in time to see the beautiful fall weather. Friday night it started to snow and by Saturday, I awoke to this winter wonderland. It snowed and snowed, with accumulations ranging from 8 to 10 inches. It was that heavy, wet kind of snow, which is the hardest to shovel and get around in, but also the most beautiful. Big, fluffy snowflakes floating to the ground and sticking to the tree branches. It was fun to see and experience for a former midwesterner-turned-Arizonan... even despite the soaking wet socks and pant legs I had from trudging around in snow and slush on Sat.

Thank you to my wonderful hubby for taking such fabulous care of Amaya while I was gone. Thank you to my wonderful friends for a fabulously fun girls weekend! And thank you to my wonderful brother for a fabulous sister/brother lunch date! I feel blessed to have so many wonderful and fabulous people in my life. I love you all!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Amaya's Halloween Festivities


Amaya's Halloween festivities kicked off with her annual Halloween party at the gym. She had a blast with her friends Avery, K.J., Gavin, and Sebastion. They are her gym BFF's. She went as Abby since after her gym parties her clothes frequently need major stain treatment, and her new costume is not washable. She makes such a cute Abby it was fun to get use out of this costume again.


I took the following two pictures when we picked her up from her gym party. She cracked us up making scary faces and growling at us with her new purple vampire teeth in her mouth. Scott gave an oscar worthy performance acting scared.


Next up, her Halloween party at pre-school. She was soooo excited to wear her Ariel princess costume! I only have these 2 pictures from before I took her to preschool. But Amaya's pre-school BFF Mia's mom told me she snuck in and got some great pics of the girls during the party. I will share them when she emails them to me. Mia went as Strawberry Shortcake, complete with hair dyed red. She was adorable....as was my little princess.


A few days before Halloween Amaya had a Halloween blast at Will and Ella's house. Thanks Anjee for hosting!

Snow White, aka Kate

Batman, aka Will

Tinkerbell, aka Sophie

Ariel Princess Twins, aka Brooklyn and Amaya

Catwoman, aka Ella

Sebastian, aka Alexis

the srw toddler trio
the srw baby trio

My Little Princess

Brooks exploring in the dirt.

Jaxon the UPS guy moonlights as a lawnmower.

Leave it to the princesses to play in the sand. (Brooklyn, a fairy-sorry I forgot her name, and Ellie as Tinkerbell)
I uploaded a picture of Maxdyn the princess and Ben the pumpkin, but don't know what happened. Take my word for it, they were adorable.

*And lastly THE BIG NIGHT*
Again, not all the photos I uploaded appeared (hmm) but you get the jest.

We trick or treated, then ended the night at our neighbor's driveway for a little campfire action and s'mores. Amaya like that better than the trick-or-treating.



Our neighbors (and fellow Packer fans) Carrie and Nate's 'puppies' were festive as a pumpkin and a witch.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Packers/Vikings Weekend

We traveled to Green Bay this past weekend for the Packer/Viking game and had a fabulous time. Although our journey started off a little shakey. We were delayed due to crew rest requirements. We made our connection with less than 5 minutes to spare after a 1.5 mile (that is the distance our flight attendent said it was between our gates) run through the MSP airport wearing long sleeves, jeans, and for me heels, with luggage in tow. We collapsed into our seats sweaty and out of breath but thrilled we made it. The next flight wasn't until 7 hours later. We would've missed out on all the fun we had planned for the evening. But, we made it there and enjoyed a fun-filled weekend with our great friends and travel buddies Sarah and Jeramiah.


Starting off game day at Brett Favre's Steakhouse. The food was fabulous!


After eating, we moved to the sports bar at Brett Favre's steakhouse to watch some football.
You can see Joe Nathan (MN Twins pitcher) hanging out behind us. He was there with some buddies, but was very nice about signing autographs and taking pictures with people. He even bought a round of drinks for a group of fans who approached him for pictures.

I walked around taking pictures of all the paraphernalia of Brett Favre's career on the walls. It was fun looking at all his game balls, awards, personal photos, etc., etc. Here are some pictures of packer fan license plates from around the country. Kind of fun.





After we were done hanging at Favre's, we wandered around outside checking out the tailgating festivities. There's nothing like tailgating around Lambeau in Oct., especially when it's Packer/Viking weekend. There is an energy in the air you have to experience to understand. A sea of green and purple, united in their mutual passion for their teams, enjoying the day together with good sportsmanship. The Packer Viking fans really are good sports and are respectful of each other. Except for those occasional bad seeds, which we were fortunate not to experience on this trip.


Next we hung out at Stadium View. Here we are having a shot for good luck. Green ones for the Packer Backers and purple for the Purple People Eaters.


Go Pack Go!

Heading to Lambeau Field.
Such a special place!
Tailgaters, tailgaters everywhere.



My favorite tailgater!;)

Time to head in to the game!
The four of us with coach Lombardi.

We hung out at Curly's before heading to our seats to watch the pre-game warm-ups.

Waiting for kick-off.



Rodgers enjoyed some protection this year. I won't bore you with any more game photos.
Post-game celebration and interviews.

After the game we came upon these fine automobiles.

Thanks John and Kim for the tickets. Thanks mom and dad for taking such great care of Amaya while we were gone. And thanks Sarah and Jeramiah for joining us. We had a blast!
p.s. More travel probs on the way home. We arrived at the airport to learn the airline erroneously switched us from the Phoenix flight to a Portland flight. We had our itinerary with us to prove we had confirmed reservations on the Phoenix flight, but they said they didn't show us on it and the flight was full. What!?!? Sigh.....the joys of flying. We missed our baby girl and didn't much feel like a trip to Portland. We eventually got it all straightened out (hours later), but did end up home 3 hours late. Bottom line, though, we got home! :)