CEE Christmas Concert...

Second grade class theme was "Elves on Holiday". They went to Bermuda and Hawaii:) Each grade level had a theme. Shopping, Snowmen, Hanukah, Mexican, Kwanza, etc. Even though I purchased my ticket on the first day, I was stuck in the nosebleed section:( Photos are not great, but I bought the video.

Christmas 2013 Exhibition...

We were at the rink pretty much all day today just watching the other skaters- all 140 of them, one right after another for six hours straight. Lots of cute costumes... and no judges- yeah! Jasmine skated to "Candy Cane Lane". I have lots of video (the professional one) of Jasmine's performance. She actually skated pretty well:) Roz and Jasmine. Jasmine, Katie Kaedden, Anais VanderVoorn, Isabella, two students I don't know, and Rozaline. There was some football game today between ASU and Stanford so they are saying "ASU, ASU, ASU....". We don't really care either way who wins:), but Rozaline is an ASU student, so I guess we should cheer on the home team. Annali, Theresa and Jasmine. Jasmine takes full advantage of the fact that Theresa likes to carry her around. Getting Katie ready to go on the ice. Jasmine had already skated. Katie's mom- Jacky. She would kill me if she knew I took a picture of her- even though it's just the top of her head.

Guinea Pig emergency!....

One of our little pigs "Skittles" has always been kind of coughy and sneezy since we got her last summer. Two days ago, I found her in mild respiratory distress:( - breathing rapidly, making clicking noises, very anxious and grinding her teeth... but of course, she is still eating well and hasn't lost weight, which is amazing! I quickly ordered some antibiotics in a smaller dose to be overnighted to us, and it took forever!! They (the compounding pharmacy) assured me I would have the prescription on my doorstep the next morning, and of course- that didn't happen. They were 12 hours late! I had to rig up a human version of the drug and give her a couple of not so accurate doses. She is about 50% better now. If that little pig succombs, we are in deep doo-doo:)! She is sitting right next to me now, eating and relatively happy. It was funny getting a package addressed to "Skittles Stolz":))

Bearizona...

Spent the morning at Bearizona. We've been there before in the summer, but never in the winter. First photo of the morning:) We didn't get a photo in front of the train last night since there were so many people. It was actually in the 30's, but didn't feel that cold since it's so dry. An Alaskan Tundra wolf came up and looked me in the eye - thru the car window of course. A bison walked alongside our car for awhile. They have the bears segregated according to age. The young ones get "trained" ... where to go to eat, sleep, etc. Little goats meandering throughout the place.

Polar Express....

At the Grand Canyon Polar Express. These two little girls are wearing me out. Hope Gonzales and Jasmine. Rode on the Express to the North Pole, then had dinner at the Grand Canyon Railway restaurant- located at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel where we are staying. This is the very old train on exhibition- not the one we rode on:) Our train:) Hot chocolate and cookies! Getting "the bell gift" from Santa. They read the Polar Express story when we are on the train:) Arriving at the North Pole:) At the train station talking to Mrs. Claus:) At the hotel. Mailing letters to Santa:) It's a big day tomorrow too!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Five year anniversary of our first day home from Vietnam! We went over to Katie, Jacky and Jim's house for dinner with Jim's parents Miranda and Don, as well as Luke who is Jacky's nephew. No one wanted their picture taken- which I can understand. I don't like to have my photo taken either. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and some other Disney shows all day. It was Don's birthday, so it was a Thanksgiving/Birthday party. We had more cakes and pies than we had people!! Jim, his mom Miranda, Jazz and Katie. These little girls didn't really eat anything except for chocolate turkey (one each), birthday cake, and some hot chocolate! Outside riding their Razors. We had a really fun day:)

ZooLights....

We go to ZooLights every year. It was a good night to go- "members only" week, so there were not the massive crowds of people. Plus, there were almost twice the number of exhibits. It was really nice in past years, but even more impressive this year. It was 60 degrees, but Jasmine insisted on wearing her coat and hat:). Then she told Santa that she wanted a "Magic Kit"- which I had heard before. Jasmine said, "Now I KNOW I'm going to get a magic kit". I thought I had the Christmas shopping done, but no...now I have to find a Magic Kit:)) The biggest attraction for the kids is "Jenga the talking giraffe". He is a slightly sarcastic funny giraffe that talks to people. I'm not sure where the guy doing the talking is hiding, but he can see everyone. He makes fun of people's pants, their hat or hair, tells goofy jokes, and just talks back and forth with the kids. Really pretty cactus forest.