Christmas break...

We love having visitors and we are rolling right into what I call the "visitor season". Its the time of year when most people start to get tired of the cold and then they remember they can escape it, at least for a weekend or so and come visit us! My brother from Idaho and his family had yet to take advantage of fleeing the cold and coming to Arizona and we roped them into it over Christmas break.

I knew with them having to make the drive - there were a lot of weather related factors that would prohibit them from being able to drive down so I was reluctant to even tell the kids they had cousins coming to visit. But the day before, I figured we were safe with no large storms on the horizons. The morning they were to leave I got a text - my brother had been up all night sick. I thought for sure it would have been winter weather that kept them home, not illness. An hour later I got another text - my brother was drugged and sleeping in the car and they were on their way. I was so glad I didn't have to break the news to my kids!

They were here for one week and the kids were in heaven. They spent time outside like they hadn't seen the sun in months. Bikes, scooters, roller blades, basketball, slingshots, playhouse...they took it all in. There were movie dates, time at our favorite park on more than one occasion, two runs to Last Chance and late night games after the kids were tucked in.







You want to know how to keep kids busy for a while? Take them to Bass Pro Shop and let them explore - its just as entertaining as the park!





We spent New Year's Eve with friends who hosted a dance party where everyone walked away a winner. Luckily, there was no judgment on your dancing skills and the winners were random. The longer you stayed in, the better the prizes became. Our kids were all pretty excited about their loot. I however cringed at the idea of bringing a large 3lb bag of sour gummy worms and two Costco sized boxes of Lucky Charms home with us! We ended the night early with breakfast and fireworks.


And then it was time for them to head back to the cold. My nephew loaded into the suburban in the shorts he had grown used to wearing throughout the week and I thought - it will be a rude awakening when he steps out of the car for his second bathroom break and find single digit temperatures!