Christmas - Round 1!

Yes, many of you went Black Friday shopping thinking you were getting an early start on Christmas shopping... well, we beat you to it because we had an early Christmas already! We figured with so much family in town that we should celebrate early since they wouldn't be back for Christmas!

First...after church, we took family pictures... I won't post my parents since they will probably be using theirs for the Christmas cards but here are some with Brendon's side of the family.

Daniel took the one below=)

This is what happens when there are too many cameras out at once... everyone is looking in different directions!

Daddy and daughter! I love how she is already working the camera!

Now the fun... presents! Daniel could hardly wait=)

Katelyn LOVED the wrapping paper!

My grandma made him this pillow! What a treasure!

Of course, Daniel took his "Big Brother" responsibilities serious when it came to assistance in opening gifts!

Katelyn's Santa Hat that said "Grandma's Little Elf!"

We all had fun on Round 1 of Christmas Celebrations!

Katelyn's Wee Piggies is HERE!

I received a very special gift when Daniel was born... a "Wee Piggies" package! I had no idea what it was! Well, when the lady came to my house to do Daniel's "casting" at 10 weeks old and I saw the finished product... my heart fell in love with this amazing keep sake.


Of course, I had to do one for Katelyn too... at exactly 10 weeks, I had hers done as well and it was just dropped off at my house and I LOVE it! I am sooo glad that I have these precious wee piggies (and fingers) to treasure forever! Thank you, Mann Family, for a very special gift!

Queen Creek Olive Mill

On Saturday afternoon we went to the Queen Creek Olive Mill for lunch... they were also having a little festival type of event as well!

Below is our princess chillin' in the 15 passenger van!

Uncle Christopher, Aunt Amanda and cutie pie Daniel!

So, if you live in Arizona or visit Arizona, I would totally put this on your list of things to do! I LOVE THIS PLACE... they have an amazing restaurant/ cafe with fresh farm to plate style of food. Also, they actually grow their own olives and press their own olive oil which is DELISH! After you go through their tour, you will never buy regular grocery store olive oil again!

The weather is pretty much PERFECT here now... so, we love being outdoors! Miss Katelyn hanging out at the Olive Mill... while listening to some great live music on the lawn.

Gosh! I love these two babies sooo much! As I heard my mom tell someone recently... she didn't know she could love someone so much until they were born. I couldn't agree with her more!

Priceless photo... my grandparents with Daniel... oh yeah! The grounds and scenery at the Olive Mill are beautiful too!

The "guys" hanging out

Picnic-ing it!

Auntie getting in some "Katelyn" moments

Then that night we went back to my parents to hang out around the fire pit... Aaron, Leigh Anne and Maggie joined us!

Just good ole' fashion family time!

Princess Kate!

Okay... so my family like millions... no, BILLIONS of people are kind of obsessed with the Royal Family. My husband's side of the family is especially fond of the English Royal Family because they have some British roots like many white South Africans. My Mother In Law always reminds us that she eats like the British and has manners like the British (Which Daniel tried to imitate when she was here last!) and they speak properly like the British which I am secretly jealous of=)

Anyway, we knew our daughter was a princess (like every mother of a daughter!)... she has been called that since I was pregnant with her... BUT IT IS OFFICIAL! Prince William proposed to Kate and now she will be a princess and so Katelyn can officially have a ROYAL NAME too! LOL!

The other thing is that my mom thought it was so cool that she was pregnant both times with Princess Diana so my sister and I are just about the same age as William and Henry!

Only a mother would make these coincidences seem so profound, huh? Just needed to put this in Katelyn's online journal! Love you , Princess Katelyn!

Amanda and Christopher Came to AZ!

My sister and her husband flew into Arizona on Thursday evening... with 11 of us total, my dad rented a 15 passenger van so we could all drive around together! How sweet and thoughtful, huh? We got some good laughs out of it and Daniel called it the "School Bus!" Friday afternoon we drove to Cave Creek and had lunch at the Horny Toad... let me just tell you how many times the restaurant name was repeated that day... LOL!

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Had to get a picture of the van!

After lunch we went to Fountain Hills to walk around the festival they were having... I had one of the best caramel apples of my life! Holding hands with my best friend (my husband!), strolling with both of our precious babies and my entire family walking along side us... I was in total utopia!

Do you like Daniel's shades? Also, my dad let my brother skip school this day=)

Love making memories!

My Grandparents Visit to AZ!

My grandparents came into town last Thursday and it was very special... I have sooooooo many memories of spending time with my grandparents when I was little! There were many times I found myself looking at them and feeling as if it were yesterday that I was just a little girl at their house running around picking all the citrus off their trees or splashing in the pool or making biscuits with my Grandma... then I would blink and there were my babies in their arms!


I am so thankful that they were able to fly here... they have been wanting to meet Katelyn since her birth but my grandfather's health has not been very good... and he especially fell in love with her at first glance! My grandparents had two boys and they just have my sister and I as their granddaughters so the fact that there is another girl in the family just made them especially happy!



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The amazing thing is that I have pictures of my grandparents visiting us when Daniel was 8 months old... once again, you can see that my children are IDENTICAL twins born 2 years and 8 months apart!

Pre-School came to OUR HOUSE!

We decided to enroll Daniel into Joy School this year... basically it is a home based pre-school. There are 6 families and we all purchased the curriculum and supplies at the beginning of the year and we switch homes every week... I just LOVE this program! This was our 1st week to have it at our house and I loved it!

However, I have to say that it is a LOT of work preparing to teach because the curriculum is very involved and hands on for the kids. The theme for the week was THE FIVE SENSES and below are just some of the items I had out for all of our projects!
The other thing I was NOT prepared for was how Daniel was going to handle it... he started off sooooo excited for pre-school to come to his house then half way into it the 1st day, he had a complete melt down! I think he wasn't feeling very well and it was just overwhelming... when we went through our training, they warned us that our child would be the worse when pre-school was at our house=) Thank God my MIL was with me and she took him upstairs for the rest of the time...

Free Play!

Table Time!

For example, I had to hide a popcorn popper behind a big piece of cardboard... and the kids had to guess what it was based on their sense of hearing and smelling then they got to use their sense of sight to watch it finish popping!

Snack Time!

We ended the day with outdoor play... sand and water play!

Overall, it was a very challenging experience with all of the preparation and working with Daniel but I am still very happy with our decision to choose Joy School this year! I also have a new appreciation for teachers!