Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at the Phoenix Zoo. Every year they have Zoo Lights--they put up tons of lights all over the zoo. We went early hoping to see the animals first, but it was closed! At least I got a cool picture of what palm trees would look like if they weren't trimmed!
Actually, despite a few setbacks, we made it back to the zoo after dark to see all of the amazing lights!

I took Skye on the carousel. She knows how to roar like a lion so we thought she'd like sitting on this lion.

She did like the lion, but at the last minute...

she decided she wanted to ride the zebra. It was a little harder for Lance to get a picture of us on the spinning carousel than when it was stationary!

Palm tree lights.

The lights on this tree looked really incredible!

I didn't get a picture of Jengo, the talking giraffe. They had this pretty life-like robot of a giraffe that talked to the kids. Skye loved it! She smiled and waved. We also thought she'd love the sting ray bay.

There are dozens of rays swimming in this little pool that you can touch. Lance and I loved it!

Skye liked looking into the pool, but as soon as I would try to make her touch one of the rays (they are slick and slimy!), she would yank her hand away and give a very unhappy look. She did not want to touch those rays!

Just outside of the zoo, we stopped to look at the ducks (or quack quacks as Skye calls them). Some other people had a bad of popcorn they were using to feed the ducks. They let Skye have what was left. So she threw some popcorn over and fed the ducks...

and occasionally fed herself as well!

After feeding the ducks, it was home and to bed so Santa Claus could bring some presents! I just happened to still be awake when he dropped them off so I got a picture of everything under the tree!

Ready for Christmas (This is for Cookie)

One of the reasons why I started this blog was so I wouldn't have to make a CD of Skye photos for my mom. It seemed a lot easier to put pictures on a blog to let her see. So here you go. I couldn't decide which was cutest of these pictures so I put them all on! Here is my silly girl pulling a silly face.

She was happy watching Curious George over by the tree.

I finally got her to give me a pretty good smile while looking at me instead of the T.V.

Day at the Museum

On Saturday, we took Skye to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. I haven't ever been to another one so I can't compare, but I thought this one was pretty great. They had a lot of fun things that Skye loved. They have different areas for younger children Skye's age which I loved! The artwork all over the museum is really creative and a lot of things are recycled. We all had a great day and will definitely be going back!

 Skye the explorer.

 Looking around.

 Daddy wants to know where she has gone!

 Some of the artwork.

 A wall full of CDs.

One of Skye's favorite rooms.

 Putting the ball in.

 Making one of her usual faces.

 Having some fun with Mommy.

I get to have fun, too!

Skye liked the blowing air.

 Her face says it all!

 Taking a ride on her first stationary motorcycle.

 Me too, me too!

 Worn out and ready to go home.

All I can say is...Lance.

This is a blog about Skye afterall...

Anywhere there is music, Skye loves to dance. One day, I was at Trader Joes (a natural food store here in Phoenix) and there was Christmas music playing. So what does Skye do? She steps away from me while I was waiting in line to check out and starts dancing. Sure enough, a little audience of smiling and laughing customers gathered! Last Friday she danced with Penny her horse while I had Christmas music playing. She seemed so happy that I had to get a picture. Of course, once I tried to start filming it, she decided to stop! Saturday morning, Skye woke up earlier than usual. So an hour or two later, she got sleepy again and got in bed with us. Awhile after she fell asleep, I snuck out to go take a shower. When I came back, this is what I found. I love precious moments like this of my daughter with her daddy!

Yipee!!!!

Yipee!!!! We are finally debt free!!!!! A year and a half after buying our new car, we made our final payment on it yesterday. Even though it was the only thing we owed any money on (we were lucky enough to be able to get all of Lance's student loans paid off before he graduated school), it still feels so good to know that we don't have any debt to worry about now. Yay! I just had to share our good news!

Brrrrrrr...

The cold weather has finally rolled into Phoenix. It came yesterday afternoon as we were having fun at the pool. Yep, that's right, it's DECEMBER and we were at the pool! I told Lance that I should have brought the camera to take pictures and make you all jealous! Ha ha ha ha ha! Of course, the reason we finally had to leave was because it got all cloudy and a chilly wind began to blow. Today was pretty cold--the first day I've ever had to wear a coat down here. We'll see if the cold weather stays or if it warms up again! Since I didn't have the camera of our time at the pool, I thought I'd just put some pictures of Skye instead! She's getting ready for Christmas by hugging this Santa our neighbors have out!

A few weeks ago I took these pictures of her in her pretty sweater because she looked so cute, but she just would not take her fingers out of her mouth!When she finally did, she wouldn't look at the camera! Ah well. So it goes with funny little toddlers!

Skye's Climbing Videos from South Mountain Park

Skye decided that she wanted to climb up this rock one more time so I hurried and grabbed the camera to film it. Her little balancing act only lasted a split second, but it was one of those moments thata seemed to last forever. I was sure she was going to fall backwards, but my body had turned to lead and I couldn't move. Luckily, Lance got there in time, but then she ended up not needing any help afterall!

Here's Skye doing her own little boulder problem! She had already climbed up it a couple of times and was getting worn out. But when she really wants to, she can be a good little climber.

Sunday Fun at South Mountain Park

Last Sunday evening, we went to South Mountain Park (a few minutes from where we live) and enjoyed a little time outside. Skye had a lot of fun playing on this stone fence. The "mountains" around Phoenix are desert mountains--not like the mountains in Utah and not as tall, either, but they can still be beautiful.

Here's Lance being his crazy self--picking up this heavy cactus. I'm glad he didn't get poked!

Christmas Tag

My sister-in-law had this on her blog and I thought it looked fun, so I did it!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper is best, but sometimes gift bags are just easier.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real--they smell soooo good.

3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever we get around to it.

4. When do you take the tree down? Whenever we get around to it.

5. Do you like eggnog? Eggnog once or twice a year is good enough for me.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Trying to think back, I'm really not sure.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Lance. I know, he's my husband so he should be the easiest, but he's incredibly hard to buy presents for.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Skye!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yeah, a couple of little ones. One of these days I want to get a nice, bigger one.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail is always better, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll be sending any out this year.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A scarf and a little key chain flashlight (Iwon't say who gave it to me).

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Clause

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually in December when it's almost too late (or is too late) to have it sent in time for Christmas.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? The same thing that's my favorite thing to eat all year long--CHOCOLATE!!!!

16. Lights on the tree? Of course. You have to have lights on the tree. My favorite Christmas lights are blue and then white. (Nathan is just weird, Camille. We have white lights on our little tree this year!)

17. Favorite Christmas song? "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel" and "Far Far Away on Judea's Plain."

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Whatever means being with family. I wish we were traveling to be with family this year, but alas, we are staying home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yep.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel--always an angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? It's always been tradition in my family to open one present on Christmas Eve and then the rest Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercialization and the fact that they want to stop calling it "Christmas." It's nearly impossible to find cards anymore that actually say Christmas on them--they all say "Happy Holidays." Well, the holiday is CHRISTMAS--it's about Christ! Let's remember that!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Uh, I guess I like the green trees and blue lights.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? The chocolate desserts after!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Stuff from Amazon.

Now I tag anyone else who feels like doing this!

Puppy!

Skye loves puppies (as she calls all dogs) and my new visiting teaching partner has two of them. Skye loved the puppies and the puppies loved to lick Skye! Eventually she learned to defend herself and anytime they'd get near, she would put her hands in front of her face and turn her face away, then reach one hand out to pet them! Paige got the camera for this one because Skye had been hugging George, but of course, as soon as she was about to take the picture, Skye sat up. Still cute, though, huh?!

The Mess Monster

So I know you are supposed to let your kids learn how to do things for themselves, but this is why I have the hardest time letting Skye learn how to feed herself! It's sooooo messy!!!!! I would rather feed her myself and keep the mess to a minimum because it just makes me squirm to see her like that and to think about how I'll have to clean it up after. But lately, I've been doing my best to just let her do her own thing otherwise I guess she never will learn to feed herself and I'll still be doing it when she is 16. And that would not be good!

Hawks

We've noticed how hawks like to sit on these saguaros near where we live. When Lance got home from work on Friday he was all excited because he had seen two of them on one cactus on his way home. He wanted me to go take a picture, but Skye was napping and and I was tired and wanted to sleep as well. Then, sometime after she woke up (an hour or two later), we had somewhere to go and decided to see if the hawks were still there. Amazingly enough, they were! So I took these pictures of them. We always find it amazing to see things like this. Nature is always inspiring!