PARK PLAY

My first set of 365 photos will be up soon, but I have one more event to post about from 2017. Pioneer Park. I remember going to this park when I was a little girl, but eventually its reputation sort of killed it. For everyone. Recently, though, it has undergone some massive renovations in order to attract more positive attention. We had the opportunity to meet up with some out-of-state friends last week at Pioneer Park to check out the changes for ourselves. Honestly? I'm on the fence. It's GORGEOUS. And it definitely has some innovative play equipment. BUT - and it's a big one - the layout is less than ideal. With six kids, I have a hard time frequenting parks that are spread out. And Pioneer Park is very much that way. So I don't know. I'll likely revisit when my older four are in school, so it's just the two youngest to entertain. But all six on my own? Probably not. Park aside, we had a blast visiting with our Texas friends. It feels like we never get enough time with friends who are visiting home for the holidays!

OH DEER

A couple of days after Christmas, the mr.'s youngest sister and I took the littles up north to play in the snow. The funny thing is, there basically isn't any snow in the entire state of Arizona. Even Snowbowl lacks its usual white winter covering. So we made a last minute change in plans and headed to Williams to spend a day at the deer farm. A couple of the kids had a hard time last year, but this year, everyone was smitten with the animals. We fed the deer and camel, talked with the cockatoo, and saw reindeer, llamas, coatimundi, wallabies, and even a zonkey (zebra + donkey). While it wasn't the trip that we had anticipated, it was still a fun day.

THE EVE OF CHRISTMAS

I know that it's January. But this last week and a half whizzed past without a moment to spare. And until I have the ability to make time stop all together, I'm going to have to continue to play a bit of catch-up. So Christmas Eve is up first. It was a Sunday. A typical, long Sunday. To break up the time between breakfast and afternoon church, we decided to decorate gingerbread cookies to leave out for Santa. While the littles worked on cookie ornaments and trees, I tried my hand at a gingerbread train. I usually have pretty detailed work, but there was really only enough time for me to decorate a Santa cookie before I had to start readying myself for church. And wouldn't you know? That Santa cookie is the ONLY cookie that the "real" [mr.] Santa ate...

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS

Wishing you the warmest of holidays, dear friends.

MERRY & BRIGHT

It's the Eve of Christmas and all six are snuggly tucked away in bed. They know that Christmas won't be as grand this year because Disneyland was our main gift, but they are still looking forward to all of the packages and presents to open in the morning. Only a few more hours...