Some great photos!

We planned on having my angel mother take our family photos this year to save money. So we got all dolled up and met her on Main Street in Mesa. We took a BUNCH of photos and then at the end of our little 'session' we were walking back to the car and saw a photographer standing there taking photos of someone. He looked at us walking down the street and could tell we were also taking family photos. I said, 'ya but we don't have a cool camera like yours!' It was the truth, we were using a simple digital camera, and his was awesome! I definitely had camera envy. He offered to shoot a few photos for us and I offered to design his Christmas Card for his family this year. So these were the few shots he took of us in about 5 minutes time: 

This is actually a photo I took with my phone a few weeks back at Costco. I edited it a bit and LOOK HOW CUTE these little loves are!

Goodness was I grateful for Troy Brinkerhoff's help! I designed his Christmas card for him a few weeks later.

front

Back

Cute HUH!

 I love my little family!

Christmas Card n more...

 I always love Christmas Card TIME!! I feel like it's my time to shine. I love designing my Christmas card because I can do whatever I want and get REALLY creative without anyone telling me how it should look! And the best part is, I get to print the card. I LOVE printing things! I love the idea of something I design, going into print! I love the smell of freshly printed things too! Anyway, without further babbling...here's the design of this year!

 Front (The ride side was cropped about a half inch leaving the ornate shape there at printing)

Inside Spread

Back

Cute huh!

Christmas is awesome! This year the kids were 5 and 2. Perfect ages to understand presents and Santa and the whole thing! They got so many toys and had a FUN time!

We also went for a ride on the Polar Express!

This was such a Magical experience for us all! You get to take a ride on this adorable train that looks a lot like the one from the story book. You have a host that narrates the whole experience for you. You get hot chocolate and a HUGE cookie on the ride. They play music from the animated movie over the speakers as you wide. Ethan was so excited he couldn't even sit up straight! He just kept fainting onto daddy! Ivy was literally bouncing off the walls. At one point you drive by the 'north pole' and it's beautiful! I had a few tears! All of a sudden, Santa appears on the train and he talks to every child and takes photos. We had seen Santa already 3 times this year, and it's so funny because Santa keeps asking Ethan what he would like for Christmas, and Ethan assumes Santa should just know because he's already told him so many times, so he says, "I already TOLD you!" Hilarious!!

When the ride was over, the best part of all was the puffy white soft falling snow!! I hate snow. Mind you. BUT this wasn't snow, it was magic fairy dust! I felt like a kid again as we played  and threw snowballs and just listened to the quiet and the giggling from everyone who was there. Surreal!

We stayed in a cute hotel that evening to cap the experience off well. 

Merry Christmas!

Potty Training IVY!

It's time! Ethan was potty trained at 2 and now it's Ivy's turn! I know this is usually a really difficult thing between a parent and child, but Ivy is ready, and I'm ready to be done buying diapers!

Update: Ivy did really well potty training! She's a pro with the pee and doing really well with the poo! Thank goodness for HoHos! Ivy loves those things! They are a great reward!