my fave people

the person I will miss most in 2013, my sister, Abi. 

She is moving to Idaho this Spring and I am scared I will rarely see her. I am so glad I got to spend Christmas with her, she is soooo much fun and is the best auntie. I hope to see you sooner than later.  Love you abs.

and baby Rily (birthday 2/5/13) and baby Navy.  They change so much in the first year, and I hate that I don't live close enough to see them grow up. Also, one more baby on the way on Ryan's side, too.

We celebrated Christmas in Henderson, NV (Las Vegas) with my family.  We had fun celebrating at the Spring's Preserve. K and Braden got to ride on reindeers, wink, wink.  We got to go to the chocolate factory and light show, play lots of pickle ball, and just be together.

Christmas eve was lots of fun with our unusual nativity.  K as Mary, Uncle Peter as Joseph, and YES, Uncle Dane as the Angel. Grandpa served as the Donkey, and the kiddos were the wisemen.

At 2-years old, I knew Tayvlee wouldn't cooperate, so I let her pick any costume she wanted. She chose a green gown, angel wings, and reindeer antlers. We called her a "wise angel-deer".

Buddy, our "elf on the shelf" gives us a silly, or gag gift on Christmas Eve to open up early. My girls got silly animal hats and Ryan got a du-rag.  The boys got action figure underpants and Abi got a ninja-turtle onesie.

some other fun highlights of December..............Kennedee collected trash around the neighborhood and made this trash-mosaic art piece and submitted it to surf rider foundation. She won an honorable mention prize and the whole family got lots of surf gear as the prize.  She is our little artist.  You should hear her Kindergarten teacher rave about her art skills.

Secret Life of Bees-Book Review

Just finished "The Secret Life of Bees". Pretty fast read and very enjoyable. By Sue Monk Kidd.
Set in the American South in 1964, the year of the Civil Rights Act and intensifying racial unrest, the coming-of-age story addresses the difficulty of loss and betrayal. It is written in the first person, by 14-year old Lily Owens, as she runs away from an abusive father to learn of her mother's past, with her African-American Maid, Rosaleen.

As I was google-ing for an image of the book, I came across the Movie ads. I didn't even know it was made into  a movie.    I guess I will be renting this soon.  Looking at the actors they chose for the characters, they totally resemble what I pictured in my head while reading the book.