Family Year in Review!

Christmas Card Newsletter Written by Jimmy....

This year has been a busy one to say the least! To start:

Allyson was blessed to get a new teaching job in the middle of a recession/possible depression (depending on who you ask). There was a freeze on hiring teachers here but she was already hired by the school district and had preference in getting a contract. She also took on getting her master's degree=more brains, more money! She has little time left for fun things and only got a few handmade Christmas cards done this year!

As for Sydney, she turned 3 on Nov. 22 and we had a barbecue party for her at a local park. We had a pony ride and petting zoo for the little kids (see pictures below) and basketball, football, wiffle ball and Frisbee for the big kids! The weather held up right until the end of the party, then rain and wind. I know I have a few angels watching over us! Sydney is quite the little firecracker who likes to repeat anything she hears. She is very smart but wants things done her way only!

For me it's been a lot of change - I retired from construction after 20 years in April and was able to get my full pension/medical/dental for us. Naturally, I became Mr. Mom and that is one of the reasons Ally went back to teaching. We are lucky we can still draw two salaries and not have to put Sydney in day care. The other reason Ally went back to work is not to be stuck with me 24 hours a day I'm sure!

We just got lucky and rented our condo out last week and are staying at Ally's dad's shop apartment for 2 more weeks until our new house is finished being built. It will be closer to Ally's school and being back in a house will be great for us and Sydney! As for our land in White Hills, we are glad we didn't move there. The new bridge is still on target so it will be an investment for now!

We are looking forward to a more quiet year!

Merry Christmas!

Love, Jimmy, Ally and Sydney

Sydney's 3rd Birthday Party

Sydney had so much fun at her park birthday complete with petting zoo and pony rides!

Thanksgiving

Okay, so I know I am super behind, but we had a great Thanksgiving! Unfortunately, here are the only three pictures I took:

Sydney and Aunt Darlene

Sydney and Matrix (Uncle Michael, Aunt Rhonda and Alexa's dog)

Sydney and Alexa crafting with the crafts Alexa provided. What a great cousin!

Happy Birthday Syd!

I am a little behind, but I can't believe Sydney is three! We celebrated with a few presents and a little cake on her actual birthday since her party was not until the next weekend. (Thanksgiving and party pictures to come soon....)

We went to my friend's son's birthday party today we all had a blast! There was a pony to ride and animals to pet, there was food, cake and friends to visit. What more could we ask for?

It's Fall!

Well, at least it sort of looked like fall when we found the three trees in Boulder City with leaves that change color!




I love how the shorts and sandals scream of chilly fall air!

Happy Halloween!

We had a busy Halloween. We carved our pumpkins (well, I carved pumpkins). Sydney scooped out a few seeds and then deemed pumpkin guts disgusting. She did really want to help use the sharp carving knives, but we decided she could just paint her pumpkin. Jimmy got as far as taping his design on his cleaned (by me) pumpkin. Then he ran out of time, so I finished it for him.


Of course Jimmy had to do an Ace Frehley from KISS pumpkin to match his costume.



Sydney dressed up as Sleeping Beauty. Her mean mom didn't even let her choose her costume this year! She just made her wear a dress-up dress!
Since Jimmy was dressing up as a rock star, I knew I found the perfect costume when I saw this guitar dress.
Jimmy and friend Chris. We finally made it to our costume party after several costume malfunctions. Luckily Jimmy plans on being Ace Frehley every year from now on!
We went trick or treating with these cute kids. Every time I asked Sydney what her cousins were she would say "Aubrey was a fat giraffe with butt cheeks and Tyler was a G. Eyed Joe."

Letting Go...

Since I've been working, it has been a little hard to let go of the day to day care of Sydney. It seems like everyday I come home and comment on the clothes that Jimmy has dressed Sydney in. Mostly I tell the both of them that the clothes don't match. Apparently Sydney is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of matching because tonight as we were eating dinner (some festive red, white and blue chips and salsa) she said in a very perturbed voice "Mom, I can't eat this red chip, it doesn't match my blue eyes!"

Life Continues On....

I really do feel bad that I never update my blog anymore. With all of life's busyness it just doesn't get done. Weekdays are spent rushing to school, teaching all day, and rushing home to spend time with Sydney and Jimmy. After Sydney goes to bed I have to my myriads of homework (why didn't I get this masters when I was a SAHM???!!!!). Saturdays are spent trying to do something fun during the day and working on homework at night. Sundays are busy too now that I am the Primary 2nd Counselor. Luckily we still have time to sneak out to the park and spend some time running around (or posing for pictures so I can update my blog header!)

What Syd and Dad Have Been Up To....

I'm pretty sure this is the kind of thing that happens when I am at work. Hilarious!!!

Finally...

...no, not finally Allyson posted again (although that is certainly true...)

Finally Sydney gets to go to Grandma S.'s house!

Ever since Sydney found her cozy jammies, she has been wanting to go to Grandma S.'s. (She obviously associates it with snow and cold, but she wasn't too disappointed when there wasn't any snow.)

We had lots of fun:

Being "farmers" like Grandma. Hey, weeding the garden is fun if you don't have to do it everyday!
Swinging in the fabulous swings. The hammock swing isn't pictured, but seriously, that thing rocks!

Playing with the Andercousins. Sydney loved playing with "her friends" although that evil baby Maddie was always trying to steal her toys! (Sydney has some severe sharing issues....)

Going on lawn mower wagon rides
Riding the extremely nice neighbor's horse. (Horse and neighbor are both extremely nice)

Visiting with everyone at Uncle Mike's birthday BBQ at Sean and Steph's. Yea! More "friends" for Sydney!

Now we are at Uncle Dave's and Aunt Karen's where more fun will certainly be had!

Aubrey Being Funny

I've been meaning to post this video for a while now, but am just getting around to it. Aubrey was playing at our house and the duck (yes, duck) that sings "The Chicken Dance" was biting her. It was hilarious.

Could Someone Please....

...tell my daughter that "cozy jammies" are NOT appropriate summer wear????

Burrtos

Jimmy heard about Oatman, Arizona from one of his friends and so we decided to head out to the "ghost town" where you can feed the "wild" burros. It's pretty hilarious how "wild" those burros are. They are the calmest, most docile animals I've ever seen. They only get a little crazy when they want their carrots. You'd think those things would be full after tourists are feeding them all day long, but nope!

Maybe Sydney's been hanging around Aubrey too long but for some reason she wouldn't call the burros burros. They are burrtos.

***WARNING*** Explicit language below:
Jimmy insisted I take and post this picture....

It's Been Far Too Long....

....since I've done a Sydney hair post. And since I am sure that you've all been missing them, here's one for ya.

Look, Sydney's hair is actually kinda long if it weren't so wavy. Yes, I know, I have problems. I straightened Sydney' s hair again. We just wanted to to see what it would look like. I like it much better than the first attempt. I think it's very cute, but it definitely won't be a regular look!