Summer Memory

The first time I have ever done a photo booth!

Since the weather has been absolutely frigid this week, I thought it was time for a summer memory. The kids got to spend a whole week with Nana and Grandpa last summer. Since they are 6 hours away, we met a park halfway between us to make the drive easier. While the kids were having fun, Mom and Dad were too. We made a trip to Detroit where we visited the Henry Ford Museum, very cool. We also had a chance to go to the Temple, and our hotel was very near a large Middle-Eastern community. We were fortunate enough to get to eat many yummy foods. Middle-East food is definitely some of our favorite. We've even gotten much better at making some of our own.

These pics are from a park that had some pretty cool statues, they look cement, but they weren't.

Barbies, Bionicles, and Boas...oh my

That more or less sums up Christmas. (Although the Boa was a gift from earlier, they just stayed at Grandma's house. She volunteered to keep the feathers there. I just liked the alliteration. E was very excited to get a pink guitar that she had been asking for since before here birthday in June.) We had a great time visiting with family over the holiday and the kids stayed up way past bedtime every day...but school started back yesterday and they are being forced back into routine. So, maybe by the end of the week we won't be so cranky from being sooo tired.

We hopefully started a new tradition this year... on Christmas Eve we made several MiddleEastern foods, I was a little concerned about how it would turn out because I had several brand new recipes, but it was fantastic! We had lots of leftovers, that my parents were able to finish off after we left.

The girls came home with new Barbies and new Barbie clothes, B got 3 Bionicles and a game (which has already lost some pieces) and S enjoyed his first Christmas about as well as a 2 and a half month old can.

Now that Christmas is over we realize how much money we could have saved since the kids are just as happy with the packaging materials as they are with the gifts. But, then again who doesn't love bubble wrap. Or there is always cool things you can build with the leftover cardbaord pieces from you uncles game. All you need is a little tape and some crayons....make that a lot of tape, she used an entire roll plus building this little "dollhouse."