DISNEYLAND

So we spent our Christmas vacation at the magic kingdom of Disneyland to celebrate the new year and Lindsey's birthday.  We had a great time for sure and I'm glad we had a 2-day pass as we learned our way around the first day and then really hit it with an almost 14 hour day at the park on New Years.  The park was very crowded and there were some long lines but once we figured out the fast pass stuff we were in business and never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride (some lines were close to 2 hours!).  We did not get to visit the entire park but we did visit the legendary teacups, it's a small world, the haunted mansion, space mountain, the matterhorn, splash mountain, pirates of the caribbean, buzz lightyear, star tours, and winnie the pooh... Just to name a few!  Emma's favorite ride was splash mountain because we got pretty wet and my favorite was the big thunder mountain railroad coaster.  As you can see we had a very full day on New Years and as much as I tried to keep Emster awake for midnight she fell asleep right on my shoulders as soon as the regular fireworks display was over.  I didn't think much of it then but she was pretty heavy and awkward to carry to the hotel and now today I tried to go for a run and my back seized up on me and I am in some pain :(

Here is a teaser of how we spent our Christmas vacation!  More to come later...

Socorro got it's second dusting of snow yesterday and it was just enough to build a little snowman this morning.  Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy continuing or starting new family traditions.  We've already driven around to look at lights and we're getting ready to open a gift, make reindeer food, and settle in with Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Another Great Day...

We were welcomed with beautiful weather today. Steven and I both got our runs in and spent good quality time with the girls. Now that Grace is getting older and not needing me so often to eat...I can use that time to work out, do homework, and spend time with Emsters. So, when Steven got back from his run Emma and I went for a bike ride. We rode through Tech, collected Mistletoe, and played at the park together. We climbed on a swing together and sat like a "spider". We laughed and laughed, the higher we got the more we laughed! I felt like a kid again. No worries or responsibilities, just magic. It was a lot of fun, just the two of us.

When Grace was six weeks old I started running again...only to pull a muscle in my stomach. So, I stopped running for a while and have now recently started again....thanks to my husband, and friends Emily and Fran. Without them I would not be able to get myself out the door on a regular basis and go more than twenty minutes! So, our longest run was Monday...a ten miler in the drizzling rain. It was really beautiful. I got home and plopped myself on the couch. Steven and Emma both said "Are you ok, you were gone for forever"! It was perfect timing though because Steven had hamburgers on their way...special delivery by his mom. I really enjoy getting out with Emily and Fran; they are very encouraging and supportive. It feels so good to be running again and I really like that Emma sees me doing it. I think it is really important for her to see her mom for more than the one who takes care of the babies!

Socorro saw snow for the first time in a while! Emma enjoyed playing outside, running around, and throwing snowballs! She stayed outside last night until about 7:00pm playing. I even got a night run in with Fran and Emily...lots of fun!

Thanksgiving

No Holiday is complete in our house without arts and crafts and this Thanksgiving was no different. Lindsey and Emma made some Thanksgiving Luminarias for the outside of the house and some very edible and delicious pilgrim hat treats for desert. I got in trouble for eating too many of them and I had the girls make more on Sunday because they were so good.

The weather in Socorro could not have been better and we were able to spend lots of time outside enjoying the sun and our pup, Kona.

The turkey came out great. It was the first time that I prepared the bird and I decided to try and deep fry it and it came out surprisingly moist and flavorful. Lucky that my brother in law the fireman was here to make sure there were no 911 calls.

The big hit of the day was our new Wii game, Band Hero. We all rocked out pretty good and really enjoyed laughing and having a good time. Here I am doing my best Brett Michaels impersonation singing, Every Rose Has it's Thorn. In middle school I knew Poison was always going to be cool! Since Band Hero does have 3 Taylor Swift songs, Emma was able to dress up as her favorite singer and do her best impersonation also.

A well deserved rest on the couch with 2 of my 3 girls.