Tri Delta Alumna Cookie Exchange

All of these ladies, except myself and one other are Golden Circle Members. That means they have been Tri Deltas for 50 years! I loved hosting them in my home for this years holiday party. They drove over from Lake Havasu City with their cookies and gifts that we exchanged. I made a few appetizers and warm drinks. It was a great time. The other photo is one of the appetizers I made-a festive holiday dip. YUM!

Christmas Catch Up

Christmas is such a fun time of year that I was so busy I didn't blog about any of the activities, so read only as much as you like, because the next several post will be about all of the fun things we did this holiday season. This is a picture of B and the kids at Kingman's annual Holiday Parade. It wasn't the best parade ever, but the Coca Cola truck gave everyone a Sprite and Little Debbie's handed out cakes and cookies. That stuff is always fun!

Our First Snowman

I'm not the one that usually plays outside with the kids, that's what Brian does well. The kids were so excited about the snow and Tynli's school sent them home 2 hours early, so we had the afternoon. It was so humorous to me because we don't have any snow "equipment". Tynli lost her hat and mittens at school and we don't have any others. So I dug through Brian's fishing gear looking for warm stuff. I found a WY beannie and his fishing gloves for me. The kids wore double layers of socks for mittens and their hoods, Tynli also had our Santa hat, until she gave it to the snowman. I guess we were creative at least. We didn't last long without snow pants or snow boots, we got cold quick. It was so much fun! We let the dogs out too and they loved the snow as much as we did. They've already canceled school tomorrow. I know to most of you this seems absurd, it's just a little snow. You must know though that we are a town with NO snow removal materials. There aren't snow plows or any other type of equipment. I did notice they put a little bit of dirt on the bridge over the railroad track. Hmmm. I also learned that my BMW's not so great in the snow. I think we'll be car shopping before I move to Utah. Bummer! I never thought I'd feel so happy over a snow storm-but it truly was such a blessing for us, we made some great memories today. Tynli wants to go sledding tomorrow. I'm not sure how to accomplish that. I don't think they even sell sleds at Wal-Mart. Any good ideas?

SNOW!!!

Okay so for those of you who live in the North, you will probably think this is so silly. But my kids have grown up in Arizona. It's probably only snowed 3 times in the 5 years we've been here and it always melts by noon. Until today. This is our house, and we got a few more inches after I took this picture.

The Polar Express

Although we went a few weeks ago, I just haven't had a chance to put up the pictures. The Grand Canyon Railway hosts the Polar Express every holiday season. Brian made a special trip home so he could go with us. If any of you ever get the opportunity, it was soooo much fun. We ate dinner at the resort and enjoyed all the lights, visiting with Santa and Mrs. Clause and the cool air of the mountains. Then as soon as it was dark we boarded the train

The conductor greeted us and we were served hot cocoa and cookies by our chef and elf. We listened to the storybook version of The Polar Express. Then we traveled through a magical tunnel so that we could reach the North Pole in record speed.

Once we reached the North Pole we could see Santa and his workshop out the windows. We weren't able to get off, thinking he was so busy preparing for Christmas. So our chef and elf lead us in some Christmas carols.

Then to our surprise here came Santa, only this time he didn't choose just one child, he gave a bell to every child that could hear it ring.

I love the look Tynli has on her face. This was my best Christmas gift!


Porter liked his bell, but truly he is all boy and just LOVED being on a real train. What a special event for him.

This was such an amazing way for us to start our holiday season. Merry Christmas to all!