Merry Christmas to all

Christmas morning was so fun (and chaotic) with everyone waking up at my parent's house. The kids went crazy opening gifts and of course loved the little gifts like ring pops. Ty got new golf clubs from my parents and he is also going to go the week long golf instruction course their country club has for kids in April. He is very excited and my dad & Eric super proud of the budding golf enthusiast. We (Santa) got Ty drums which have found their way into the bomb shelter. Even with 16 inch concrete walls and 10 feet below ground, I can still hear them in the twins room. No wonder they went down there with headphones on!!!
Ty & the twins opening Ty's new clubs.
Mason got new slippers, very happy about that.
These are our attempts at family photos. They actually turned out pretty good and we did some goofy ones at the end.

Hockey & Christmas Eve

Eric took Ty to the ice skating rink in Cat City on Sunday night, they had been talking about it for days. Ty got to ice skate for the first time, scored 4 goals playing hockey and brought home a snow ball that has been give coveted status in our freezer. Funny how I didn't think snowballs were that cool growing up but I guess out here they are somewhat of a novelty.
My NHL super star.

On Christmas Eve my sister Melissa, her husband Jonathan & their son, Ethan (9 months) flew in from Kansas City and we thought it would be fun to all spend the night at mom & dad's and wake up together Christmas morning. My dad read 'Twas the night before Christmas' to the twins and we put out the requisite cookie for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

The park & Christmas fun

A trip to the park is always fun, and a bit challenging when kids out number the adults!!
Just a tiny bit of static on Luke's slide...
Mason was a bit scared to go down the big slide by himself, he called it the 'pooty slide' (spooky slide). Behind our couch lives a 'pooty dye' (spooky guy) too.

More pictures of my little elfs, loving the camera as usual!!
I took my eyes off of them for 5 minutes to wash dishes (Ty & Eric were are the dentist) and when I turned the water off, it was much too quiet. They had gotten into the stash of shaving cream samples Eric gets from school. Mason had decided it was hair gel. I told him it's not for his hair and he asked 'face?' I told him no, he asked 'neck?', no again, 'belly?', no again, we went through about every body part but their hair was looking quite fabulous when they were done.

The next morning they were up at 6 and 'helped' me get ready. They LOVE hairspray so since they already had some good hair going on from the shaving cream and bedheads, I sprayed them up.
They were very happy to show off their new do's!!! I love their hair!!!

For Christmas, Emily and the boys made me these banners with their hands. I absolutely love them!!! Things like this that will remind me of their tiny hands forever are the gifts I like the best. Merry Christmas!!!!

Wine(o) Party!!!!

We had a holiday 'wine-tasting' party this past weekend that really just ended up being a 'tons of wine drinking' party. It was one of the best parties we have had, there was a great group of people and when going through 34 bottles of wine, who wouldn't have a fantastic time???? (and yes, we had more than 34 people!!)
Julie & David cheesing.
Our friends Brad & Sarah, they are getting married in Jackson Hole WY this summer and we are going!!!

Above is Sanya & me, Zolt, Brad & Mack. See, we're having fun!!!

Vern, Tash, me, Emily & Julie

Mark & Vern brought the expensive wine to the party. They are our 'classy' friends & I really love the to pieces!!


The aftermath.....

Last soccer game & St Nick

Ty's last game was last week and they played the Time Travelers which is Dean's team so it was fun to have them play each other for their last game. We got a great video of Ty scoring a goal but Eric said the best is the team wrestling event that went on at half time. Dean & Conrad (in the background) all go to school together and the boys like to play rough!!! Wrestle-mania is their favorite game and even the twins like to join in on the fun.
Ty & Conrad with their trophies. (very cool!)
After soccer we went to the library to see Santa, they were all quite unsure about him, hence we had to be in the picture too.
Ty did muster up the courage to tell Santa he wants a black motorcycle with big wheels for Christmas. Too bad the dang thing won't fit down the chimney!! :)

Ty is now 5!!!

He had a week full of birthday events. We had his birthday party at Kiddie Kollege Dec 12th. He gets a crown and everyone gathers around to watch him open presents and they clap for all of the kids, it really makes it special for everyone. Mason, Luke, Emily & Julie came too, Mace & Luke got to sit at the table and eat lunch with the big kids which was very important to them.


On the 13th my parents & Julie came over for dinner with us (Emily & Iven too of course) and we had our family celebration. He loved all of the attention and we were relieved when we could finally tell him he is really 5!!!

Littlest Elves

They are just too darn cute, they love having their picture taken and of course we take every opportunity. Luke is in the brown, Mace-red.
Mace-Left, Luke-right. Look alike or not???

Random moments

This was about my 3rd different attempt at a Christmas picture, kind of cute but Ty is taking the 'say cheese' thing a bit to far...
They all LOVE the bath. It now starts out with a 'sha-show' and they all stand under the shower, getting soaked & jockeying for position then we make it a bath. They are also huge fans of the foam soap, can't get enough of that fun stuff. At least Mason has stopped eating in!
Luke was intrigued by Eric's new Ipod, they all took turns listening and dancing around, funny how they can get a new cool toy and dismiss it right away but when daddy brings in the Ipod they are all fascinated for hours!!!

Christmas Dress

So Eric went to Escondido with Emily & Iven to get a new tattoo this weekend so I invited Julie, Tash and the kids over Saturday night, we had a blast, busy but fun & I invited myself over to my parents on Sunday night. One of the best things about living here is having them close 8 months a year. I know that anyone with kids would agree with me that having family close is so important!! Especially such wonderful parents & grandparets!! Thanks for everything Grandma & Poppa. I get to go over there, they help watch the kids, feed us, clean up, entertain the kids some more and get them some fancy clothes. We attempted to take some Christmas pictures and they looked so cute but I am still looking for that one perfect picture!! I have a girlfriend from home, Katie, who has two beautiful boys, one Ty's age & one two years older who always sends out the best Christmas picture, how does she do it????? Bribe them, sedate them?????? I am still on the seach for the perfect picture......Mason "Cheesing"

Only one game left....

Ty has only one game left and I have to admit I am going to miss soccer. Don't count on me saying that in 2 years when all 3 of them are playing but it was so fun, especially since he had so many friends playing and it was fun to see them outside of school and their parents as well. Here are a few more pictures of my future Beckham.....

Christmas Dinner

This past Friday we had our team Christmas Dinner. We went to Sullivan's Steakhouse, had great food & wonderful company. Afterwards Eric & I went to check out the new bar at Agua and make a contribution. Kind of generic but we get so few nights out that this totally counted as a date night for us and we made the most of it!!!

Soccer Star

Has it been almost a whole month since I last posted??? Seems to get so busy this time of year, each year more than the last. Ty is still playing soccer and his will turn 5 Dec 14th (still can't believe I have an almost 5-year-old!!!). He has loved playing soccer and here are a few more pictures of our future Beckham. Also a good picture of their 'teamwork'. He really looks foward to Saturdays (also a 'no-school' day) and we love to bring the twins along to watch.

The twins have been their usual busy 'selfs'. Or should I say 'elfs'? I am a little scared of putting up the tree, they have really been in the mischevious 'seek & destroy' mode lately but I guess we have to give it a shot since we didn't attempt it last year. Still really into "MY DO" which makes EVERYTHING more difficult and take longer, especially with twins but it is fun to watch them grow and develop their own personalities. Lukey if for sure very particular and Mason goes with the flow and always seems to be dancing to some random tune in his head, and singing along at that.

Ty's 5th Birthday Party

Bring on the Jedi!!! Ty wanted a Star Wars party and is facinated by Yoda. Emily drew a poster size Yoda and the point was to play pin the light saber on Yoda, it got so crazy that we did not end up playing but I am saving it for another play date. I made all of the kids light sabers out of half of pool noodles with duct tape and their 'Jedi' name. Ty was 'Yoda Ty', there was 'Mason Solo', of course 'Luke Skywalker', 'Magnus Vader' 'Drew Lea' 'R2 Deano', you get the point. The light sabers were a HUGE hit, it was getting the kids to not bash the heck out of each other that became the problem (for Zoe-it was chewing big chunks out of the noodle).
Luke & Drew having a laugh over dinner.
Ty really enjoyed the day which was the most important thing. He was so happy at the end of the day when we were snuggling & talking about the most fun things of the day, of course up there was presents, cupcake & pinata.
Singing & blowing out the candle.
This was the 'little kids' table, so darn cute to see them all sitting properly and eating, I beleive they were better behaved than the big kids!!!! Drew, Lola, Mason, Zoe & Luke.