Christmas 2008 Trip to Snowflake

The day after Christmas we headed up to Snowflake to visit my mom and brothers and sisters who were up there. We took a short trip up to Show Low to play in the snow.

I took these two pictures by holding the camera out the window during our drive. The storm made it such a beautiful trip.

Spencer had a blast sledding down the hill.

Bryant thought sledding was pretty fun, but he had more fun throwing snowballs.

Bryant's snow angel

Spencer's snow angel

Chad and Bryant sledding down the hill

Karalee did not like the snow at all. She cried most of the time and wanted to be held, so after lunch she and I stayed in the car.

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration this year. The first few pictures are from acting out the nativity story on Christmas Eve at Chad's parents house and then there are a few pictures from Christmas morning in our home. I didn't take many pictures that morning. I guess we were having too much fun.

Chad was the narrator

Spencer was Joseph and Mason was Mary

Bryant was a shepard

Porter and Bryant as shepards. I am not sure what kind of look Bryant was going for with that funny expression.

Karalee was the Angel

Bryant, Porter, Mason and Spencer

When we got home from Chad parent's home we got into our new PJ's, read "The Night Before Christmas," set out cookies for Santa, and then went to bed. Our kids didn't wake up until 8:15 on Christmas morning. I woke up earlier than they did and could hardly wait for them to wake up.

Karalee on Christmas morning. She kept finding the chocolate.

Bryant with his new power ranger toys

funny pictures

Chad's parents gave us an iMac for Christmas from their old business. It has a web cam on it and we have had a lot of fun learning how to use it and the computer. Here are some of the pictures Chad and the kids have taken.

Grocery Shopping

I just got back from the grocery store shopping with my coupons. Can you guess what I spent on all this stuff? I will try to think of a prize for the person who is closest.

What I got:
1 bag of oranges
1 bag of apples
5 bags of gummy savers
2 8 oz. cartons of sour cream
6 cans of biscuits
2 loaves of bread
5 pouches of potatoes

Funny Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr7Bi50ctcw

The above link shows the song the Rusty Bowers and Ken Bennett sang at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce dinner honoring my dad. It was really funny.

Christmas Letter

Here is a blog version of our Christmas letter. It looks cuter in microsoft word so if you would like that version post your e-mail address in the comments and I'll send it to you.

~

2008 is coming to an end,
So we created this puzzle for our family and friends.
It tells what has happened in our home,
What we’ve done and how we’ve grown.

Down:
1. Bryant turned ______ years old in August and is Mommy’s big helper while Spencer is at school.
5. Spencer entered first grade this year and just turned _____ years old. His favorite subjects are recess and art.
6. Mindy created a ____ so she can stay in touch with family and friends.
7. Spencer has become a _____ reader. He really loves to read his joke book and make people laugh.
8. Karalee is two years old and loves to have _____ come over to play.
9. Mindy’s fifth baby is due in _______.

Across:
1. Chad’s basketball team finally won ______ place in the City of Mesa’s 2007-08 winter league. He now plays basketball early in the mornings at the church.
2. Karalee learned how to ______ her tricycle. She is talking up a storm and keeps us on our toes.
3. Chad is currently serving as one of the _______ scout leaders at church.
4. Bryant is learning ______ in pre-school with Mom. He is progressing well and loves to get homework.

This year has brought our family both joy and sadness. We have felt joy in our day-to-day activities and responsibilities, but we were saddened by the death of Mindy’s father in June. His death has made us more grateful for the Savior Jesus Christ and the Plan of Happiness and has helped us learn to make the most of the time we have together. We hope you are your families have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!!

Love,
The Sanders
3256 E. Fruitvale Ct.
Gilbert, AZ 85297


answers:

Spencer is Seven

Spencer turned 7 years old yesterday. He wanted to have a family pajama party and since his birthday was on a Saturday it was not a hard to oblige him. Spencer is such a good boy and we are so happy that he is in our family. Here are seven reasons why we love Spencer:

1. He is a good big brother

2. He is obedient

3. He likes to help

4. He loves to make people laugh

5. He is a good student

6. He has a kind heart

7. He has red hair

Spencer requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast

Spencer got to go up on the roof to help Chad finish putting up the Christmas lights.

The kids drew on some of our old shirts to make themselves pajamas.

Here's Spencer's creation

Karalee's shirt

Bryant's shirt

Spencer chose panda express for dinner.

Instead of having a cake Spencer decided he wanted doughnuts.

He blew out all of the candles

Heritage Award

Tonight Chad and I along with my mom and some of my brothers and sisters are attending the 2008 Arizona Heritage Award Dinner where they will be honoring my Dad. They choose one person in the state to give this award to every year and this year they chose my Father. I have included a picture of the program that they sent to my mom that shows who the past recipients have been.

New Family Picture

My Sister-in-law Jennifer took a new family picture for us when she stayed with us last week. We didn't get many pictures taken because of the fading light and because Karalee does not like to sit still for a picture, but we did get one that is a keeper after a little photo shoping by Art.

This is the picture before Art photo shopped it

This is the picture after Art photo shopped it. Can you find the changes he made? There are seven of them.

I thought I'd share these two pictures because they are so comical.

Here are the changes Art made on the 2nd picture just incase you are curious. (1) He took the chase words and logo off of Chad's shirt. (2) He took out the houses behind us and then had to (3) add a little tree back in. (4) He made Karalee's dress longer so she was more modest. (5) He changed the lighting. (6) He added a little more sock to Spencer's leg so wasn't showing skin. (7) The picture is cropped to so it will blow it to a 16X20 size for our wall.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We ate Thanksgiving dinner with the Sanders and had a great time visiting, playing soccer, playing in the mud, and having a snowball fight. (Brenda ordered some snowballs from Bahama Bucks.) At about 3:00 that afternoon we went home just long enough to pack our suitcases then we drove to Snowflake so we could see my mom's newly remodeled home and spend some time up there. Here are some pictures of our adventures.

~

My handsome boys!

A million dollar smile

Karalee enjoying the snowball fight

Who should I hit next?

The carnage

It's mine

Having a ball

Mindy holding Josh until it was his turn on the horse

Bryant on Chester

Chad taking Bryant on a ride

Karalee opted to ride the fence instead of the horse

Just hanging around

Spencer on Chester