Now that football season is over (after tomorrow), the holidays are over, I am done reading the Twilight series, and our very busy January is over, it is time to get back to blogging. We've had a very busy, but fun past few months. We had lots of fun watching our Packers this season. We even had fun watching Favre silence his critics. I had a blast reading the Twilight series. Scott continued and continues to enjoy golfing.....frequently. Oh, the perks of living in the Valley of the Sun. We had fun watching the Australian Open. And we even went on a getaway with friends. And now on to Amaya.
Amaya has had a blast on many fun playdates. She continues to love the park, the bounce house, and she even got to go to her first movie with her little buddy Brooklyn. See Mae's blog for photos. Mae is a much better blogger than I. :-) Amaya also got to go to the Wildlife World Zoo with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry and she's been enjoying lots of quality time with Grandma Kim and Grandpa John while they're in AZ escaping the cold for 2 months. Lately Amaya also enjoys cruising around in her first "car." See pics below. She also loves playing musician with the instruments she got for Christmas. She sings various songs while playing various instruments. Perhaps we have a budding musician in our midst. Another interest of hers is puzzles. Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. She has gotten quite good at them. She is still a lover of snowmen and still asks to go see the snow. Our snow day with the Luedy's didn't cure her of that (see previous blog entries). But, she shall have to wait until next year to see the snow again. We are booked on the Polar Express next December (or as Amaya calls it...Choo Choo Express). That should be fun!
So...here are some pics from some of our events of the past few weeks. Excuse the quality. I've dropped my camera 12 too many times and am currently shopping for a new one. :-) If anyone has any camera recommendations, I'd love them!
CHRISTMAS
Having fun at church on Chirstmas Eve with the Luedy's.
Music and kids mixes so well.
This is Amaya after church. She found a soccer ball in the greenbelt and away she went. She ran all over kicking it along, controlling the ball the whole way. I saw her do this on the monitor at the gym one time, so it was fun having Scott see for himself. He believed me, but still, 'til you see it with your own eyes. No one ever taught her this. She's a natural at soccer I guess. Go figure. It's a sport neither of us enjoys. But even so, I signed her up for soccer this spring. Hopefully she'll love tennis and golf, too. :-)
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree (on Christmas Eve shortly before Santa arrived)
Amaya opening Santa gifts on Christmas morning.
So thrilled with her new Minnie and Mickey.
Now that's a happy face. Santa done good.
Stocking time.
Checking out her stocking stuffers.
She opened candyland, some new slippers, etc., etc. She was happy with each item. She said thank you after opening each gift. But it wasn't until she opened her new Abby that we saw the expression of pure elation again, similar to the one she exhibited with Mickey and Minnie. As always, she is most passionate about her animals and dolls.
A Frosty Ornament for our little Frosty Fan
Thrilled again. It's another doll. A beautiful Dora doll. She opened it and immediately hugged the box. Love at first sight was the look on her face.
She was desperate to get to Dora. She kept saying excitedly, "Open it! Open it! Open it!"
Dressing up in her princess dress and shoes.
After opening gifts we showered up. Next Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry arrived and we had Christmas brunch. Then mom and dad had one more present for miss Amaya.
In this picture, she looks confused and/or unsure about what this big, bulky present could be.
But when she realized what it was, she was ready to go for a spin.
She loves, loves, loves cruising in her jeep.
PACKER TIME
4 Packer Fanatics about to watch their beloved Packers (myself, Scott, and Scott's parents)
NUEVO VALLARTA/PUERTO VALLARTA
Scott and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation with our dear friends the Melquists (Jeramiah and Sarah) and the Fullers (Mike and Krista). We enjoyed lots of pool time, lazy river time, a little waterpark and ocean time, lots of golf for the boys and spa time for the girls, and an all around great time. We pretended we were in our 20's again part of the time and had lots of fun doing so. We enjoyed many a happy hours poolside, and sometimes at the pool bar. We even had a fabulous poolside waiter one day, Javier, that "kept our glasses full" while we enjoyed the lazy river. We got to see Tim Mahoney and GB Leighton perform. We enjoyed many a fabulous meals. Saw some beautiful sunsets (although we missed as many as we saw, oops). We even risked life and limb one night on the craziest cab ride ever, after which we bought shirts that read we survived a cab ride with Julio. He was crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't too good about lugging the camera around, but for our last 36 hours there I decided it was time to bring the camera along and get some pics. Here are a few.
We missed Amaya, but also enjoyed the R and R.
A lovely evening out with friends.
The start of a very fun night! Margarita's at Pipi's. We heard over and over from EVERYONE that we had to go to Pipi's for their "killer margaritas." They were fab...
and large!
The boys at stop #2...
...and the girls.
We didn't end up staying at stop #3. We used the facilities and moved on! Here are some pics from stop #4.
Amaya full of joy after her Valentine's Party at the gym. She didn't want to leave. Her face paintings were so cute we had to snap a picture.
One more picture before washing those adorable cheeks.
Amaya and Dora out for a drive.
Ready for a stroll in the sun.
Amaya randomly started rapping. She had never done this before and she hasn't done this since. Oh she cracks me up!
Look out Beyonce, here comes Amaya.
Mommy and Daughter snuggle time.
"We are family......I got all my cousins with me." The kids provided us with great entertainment during the superbowl! Look out Jonas Bros., here come the Mitchell cousins.
Amaya's cousins joined her at one of her happy places...Bounce Jungle. They all had an absolute blast. 
Jena and Lauren jousting
A, J, and L about to slide.
Weeeee. By the end, they were all jumping out at the top of the slides to catch air before hitting the slide and sliding the rest of the way down. Soooo fun!
Strike a pose.
Brycen and the girls.
Brycen without the girls.
Dinner at Oregano's....YUM!
The whole gang.
Zoo time!
This ended up being the favorite activity of the week. Fun times.
Carousel time. 
I soooo wish I had my new camera for this picture. It's a momma monkey with a brand new baby monkey. So sweet. Momma is gazing lovingly at baby as baby is nestled in her arms. Aaaaah.
Train time.
Feeding the Giraffes.
Melman, is that you?
The boys: Brycen, papa John, and a Rhino.
Next stop.....The Phoenix Children's Museum
"My groceries sure add up!"
"Give me all your money!"
Amaya off to get groceries again in the background. Those who know Amaya shouldn't be surprised that she's already out of food. She eats like an NFL linebacker. :-)
Brycen and Amaya racing cars.
J and A triking it.
L and B triking it.
Back to the grocery store. The was the fave of the girls. Brycen loved the ball room.
Channeling my Miracle Mart days. :-)
Amy day dreaming of hitting the race track in her hot rod.
Brian remembering his motorcycle days.
Grocery time again. Clearly none of the girls are going to be into cooking. They didn't even pause in the cooking studio or pizza shop.
Out to dinner one last time before the Mitchell 5 head back north. 
Was a fun week!
We miss you guys! 
