Santa Collages

I had David scan all of our Santa pictures so I could have a digital copy of them, and so I spent some time tonight making them into {a gazillion} collages.  I couldn't decide if I liked the long version or the square version better, so guess what?!  You get to see both versions!  We started going to Bass Pro in 2011, so I guess this was our 4th year out there!  Wow.

Bless her heart, Sydney had a rough couple of years there.  Even Olivia wasn't so sure the first year.  Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of the two of them together that first year.

That Bass Pro Santa

For the last three years, we have gone to Bass Pro Shops to get our free picture with Santa.  I say free picture, but really, by the time we are out of there, it's anything but free.  And, actually, this year we didn't make any purchases {not that we are big Bass Pro shoppers anyway}, but we do always have a nice meal {mmmmm, their fish n chips are so good} after the kids get their pictures.

We thought we were being smart this year by getting out there early, but if you know us, we don't do anything early.  Before we even left for the short trek to the shop, I had to get some pictures of the girls with Peyton for my brother's Christmas calendar.  So, by the time we got out there, the wait to see Santa was already an hour and a half.  With my mom and her foot situation, she knew she wouldn't be able to do much walking, so she sat right by the start of the line so when it was our time slot to line up, we would be first.  She was great, and if it wasn't for Santa needing a 20 minute break, the wait wouldn't have been too bad.  It did give us some time to do some of the activities, which is always fun.

The main attraction.......

The official pictures {gotta love that Bass Pro logo}:

And, posing on a fake Chevy truck:

➹ If this picture doesn't perfectly sum up the difference between our two girls, I don't know what does! ➹

See ya next year {errrr, this year} Bass Pro Santa!

Partying it Up With the Old Folks

This year, my dad is the President of the Men's Golf League at Sunbird.  Supposedly, one of his duties was to dress as Santa Claus for their Christmas party in the ballroom.  Well, apparently, he was also supposed to ask my mom to be Mrs. Claus before signing them both up for this lovely task.  She wasn't all that excited about playing the part, and when her foot started flaring up and the doctor instructed her to stay off her feet, well that was the perfect reason to bow out.  So, guess who got roped into being Mrs. Claus in training?!  Yep, you guessed it.  ME.  The night before the party, I had my parents ask if it would be okay if we could have the girls come and help out as my little elves.  My mom asked where I was going to come up with an elf costume for them at such late notice, but oh ye of little faith, Target to the rescue!  

I found two elf pajamas for the girls and even an elf costume for David (who was all too eager to dress in tight pants) and had them purchased the next morning!  They looked absolutely adorable and were the HIT of the party!

Ryan said I looked like Lily Tomlin here!

Liv waved like she was in a pageant the entire time!

We've already been asked to come back and do it again next year!

One of our favorite holiday activities in Arizona is attending the Golf Cart parade at my parents community.  The participants decorate their carts with lights and ornaments and bows and then ride around the golf course while the people in the neighborhood look on.  We have done this for the last three years and were lucky enough to get a cart again this year (with a plastic covering around it to keep us warm) so we weren't all squeezed in one cart.

The girls love it, and some of the participants REALLY go all out in decorating their carts.  Of course, the cookies, cupcakes, and hot chocolate at the end are also a big hit!

➹This is what happens when you hand someone your fancy camera.  But, hey, look at that amazing gingerbread house that went COMPLETELY over the golf cart! ➹

Can't wait to see how they top this one next year!

BONUS

Oh Hey There, 2015

Oh yikes....that was some 6 week hiatus I took, huh?!

I am {obviously} super behind on blogging.  But, I'm working on it - I promise!  So, we're going to kick off a series of posts that are in the docket with a good ol' miscellaneous post.  I know you love those!

➸ ➸ Let's start off with a couple of cute pictures of my girls.  Oh man, they are too much.  

➸➸ The girls gave out advent calendars to their classmates again this year.  I just love this tradition we've started.  Their classmates were all so excited to get them - especially when they realized they had chocolate inside! 

➸➸ I took Sydney to school one morning and saw a fun craft up on her wall and knew I had to do them at home!  We had Riley over that afternoon and made three versions of little elves.  They turned out so cute!

➸➸ It was Christmastime, so obviously we spent a lot of time at Target! 🎯

➸➸ My mom sent the girls a box of Cheryl's sugar cookies and tubs of Cheryl's frosting so we could decorate our own cookies.  We invited the neighbor girls over and after they decorated 2 cookies each, I realized that I was going to want to eat some of the cookies too, so I let them go off and play instead! 

➸➸ And, let's end this randomness with two cute pictures of Sydney, shall we?  Sydney holding a baby and Sydney with a fresh haircut?  Don't mind if I do!

We made it!  It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

Stay tuned for some more Christmas pictures!