Christmas fun!!

 I wanted to say thank you to all of the aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and cousins and friends who sent us Christmas presents...we were so blessed with so many presents and the kids love them all. Thank you so very much. We miss you all very much and hope to see you all sometime soon! We also enjoyed all of the Christmas cards, pictures, and letters!! That was really fun!

We had some Christmas fun this year.  We had 2 different sets of visitors come to visit us here.  Yay for visitors.  My sister came to visit from Dec. 22-29 so she was with us on Christmas day.  We made some yummy treats while she was here. We made wise man's hats and I had made peanut butter balls and sand tart cookies before she came. I also had made heath bar cookie before she arrived.

I wanted to say thank you to all of the aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and friends who sent us Christmas presents...we were so blessed with so many presents and the kids love them all. Thank you so very much. We miss you all very much and hope to see you all sometime soon! 

The children followed Aunt Kristen around the house as she got ready for different activities. We mostly hung out at the house and so they got to have lots of playing with her.  Abigail bonded very well with her Aunt Kristen and asked for Aunt Kristen every morning. 

We did venture out to downtown Las Vegas the day after Christmas to get out of the house.  So, here is our funny story that occurred.  We parked at the Bellagio hotel and watched the Bellagio fountains outside. It was pretty cool and the kids really liked it.  Then we took a rather long walk to the Venetian for lunch...it was pretty cool in the inside of that hotel. It had a fake sky on the ceiling and it was somewhat like Venice, Italy which was cool.  After lunch we were going to go to Treasure Island and see the pirate ships, but the kids were too tired from all the walking so we headed back to the car.  There are many walkways to make it easier to cross streets so the boys and my sis and I would take the escalators while Kevin took the elevator with Abigail in the stroller.  The boys LOVED the escalators and that was their favorite part.  So, on one of the walkways the kids and my sis and I made it to the top and were waiting for Kevin.  I kind of pulled my boys in the corner so they wouldn't get swept away by the crowds. It was very busy and made me a little nervous.  While we waited in the corner, I guess we seemed a little pathetic because I heard 2 guys walk by and say "It makes me feel so sad when I see kids with them".  (There are a lot of homeless people who were on the walkways....mostly wanting money for alcohol) So, I thought to myself oh they must have seen kids with their parents who are homeless...that is very sad.  Well, the next minute the guy turned back to me and hands me some change.  I took a second and said No thanks, I'm fine.  My sis came over and asked what happened so I told her I think that guy thought the kids and I were homeless. So, I do joke sometimes that I have ragamuffin children....but yeah! Anyways, my sis and I just busted out laughing...it was pretty funny. 

On January 1st  we picked Kevin's parents up from the airport and went to lunch nearby then took Kevin back to the airport so he could catch his flight back to Arizona.  He needed to go back and finish his training.  He should be done in a week or so. Yay!!!!  It has been a bit of a long transition period here to Las Vegas. 

We have been enjoying some fun time with Kevin's parents. Unfortunately, he couldn't be here for that. But, they really want to see the kids, right?  It just gives them an excuse to come back soon! Which makes us happy!!  The kids got lots of playmobil and Abigail got her first Fisher price dollhouse.  They have been enjoying their 2nd Christmas from the Beekers.  They have also been enjoying playing games. Caleb got a game called No Stress Chess. Its really cool cause it uses cards to teach young children how to play chess or adults who have never played chess before(that would be me).  I have enjoyed playing it.  The cards tell you where each piece can move and you can only move the piece of the card you pick...then eventually you get to have 3 cards and make a decision, then 5 cards, then no cards.  Pretty cool. Caleb has really enjoyed it and TJ is starting to get it too!!  Caleb could play board games all day long.  The boys have finally started playing outside again after Caleb had a cough, then TJ.  So, we are getting better over here. 

We signed the boys up for a soccer team for January and February and they have a game every Saturday. So, Grandpa got to come to their first game this Saturday. The boys had fun and were a little tired on the way home. 

On Friday, we tried to go to the threat facility on base, but it was closed.  Bummer for that...we will see if we can try again before the Beekers leave.  We played at a playground on base instead.  It has been nice to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa and get some quality time with them!!!  We definitely miss being away from our East Coast family!