Bah Humbug!

Today we kicked off the Christmas season! After we hung the garland over the door and put the last decorations on the tree, we took the kids out to see A Christmas Carol at the Hale Centre Theatre. The kids had never been to a play so this was a new experience for them and Alex was the only one who was familiar with the story. The play was fabulous and they kids really enjoyed it.

Kitchen Staff

All those sleepless nights, dirty diapers and spit-up are starting to payoff 10 years later! Having girls who are 10 and 11 is starting to work to my advantage! A few Sundays ago I didn't feel like cooking or even had a clue as to what to make for dinner. I know the kids love breakfast for dinner and that would be a special treat for them. When I announced what we would have for dinner the kids got excited and when I made my second announcement that the girls would be cooking dinner the girls were totally excited!

Alex and Rachel cooked eggs, hash browns with cheese, sausage and pancakes! They did a great job cooking and even kicked me out of the kitchen until it was time to eat. They made so much food we had leftover breakfast for dinner for breakfast the next morning!

I can get use to this kind of treatment, I don't mind passing the buck to a couple of naive girls who are in the midst of learning how to cook! They have fun and I get the night off!

¡Mm, Qué Rico!

My sister-in-law, Kiersten, invited me over to learn how to make tamales yesterday. Her friend, Rona, came over to teach us and it was way fun to learn to cook something new. Now I understand why tamales are only made a few times a year: they are a lot of work. As with any kind of hard work you get to reap the rewards, in this case my tummy gets to reap the rewards. The process from start to finish with 4 people helping took 4 hours yielding about 80 tamales.

You would think growing up with the last name Chavez I would know how to make this delightful dish unfortunately this is one dish my family never made! Oh and we also learned how to make homemade corn tortillas…. ¡Mm, qué rico!

WARNING

Can you guess why Jeremy's smiling like this?

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Because of this…

Thought I'd warn ya … there is another crazy driver on the road!
(hehehe … we love you Jeremy and are proud of you!)

Thought I'd Give It One More Try!

A couple weeks ago we went camping with Seth's sister, Kiersten, and her kids, her boyfriend, Curtis, and his daughter. This camp-out was a lot more civilized than the last! We had running water, latrines, camping stoves and no rain. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins — and hopefully soon-to-be-cousins — fishing and hanging around the campfire roasting marshmallows. Kiersten and I even attempted making a peach cobbler in a dutch oven. Let's just say that it was a good attempt.

The attempt at the peach cobbler

Fishing

Scenery

Shooting

Playing

Girls-Only Weekend!

I took Alex and Rachel to California a couple of weekends ago. One last hoorah before school starts! We had so much fun hanging out together. We sang to the Wicked soundtrack all the way to California and all the way home. Twelve hours of girls singing — ok, screaming — to Wicked and trying to hit those high notes. It's a good thing no one could hear us! We stayed with our friends, the Batts, and went to the beach, ate good food, splurged on ice cream everyday, went to the Los Angeles Temple. The girls swam everyday and we visited with old friends and family. Rachel even met her future husband, whom she doesn't plan on marrying until she's 21! (Hint: he might be in one of the photos … future eagle scout, missionary and BYU alumnus.)

Go Cardinals!

hehehe … I really don't care about the Super Bowl. It's just a great excuse to get together with family and eat lots of yummy food!! Hope everyone has a great day today!

Fat Man's Pass...

This is Fat Man's Pass located on Phoenix South Mountain Park. Our family memory for the month of February was to hike through Fat Man's Pass. Our hike was a moderate to difficult and the kids did a great job. It was quite an adventure with lots of big rocks to climb on and caves to explore. We even got lost on our way back so our 3 mile hike turned into a 10 mile hike. We had lots of fun spending the day together! The pictures speak for themselves.



Click here for the photo album with videos.

Family Weekend Getaway

It's been feeling like we need even more togetherness lately, so we all took a road trip to L.A. over the long weekend. When the kids showed up after school Friday we surprised them with our plan to pack for the weekend and leave town before dinner. We stayed at Sal & Kellie's house (Evon's brother), visited Knott's Berry Farm, the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, Roy Rogers Beach, the L.A. Temple, Beverly Hills, the PCH, Evon's old place in Agoura, and had a good dinner and lots of fun visiting our friends, the Cook family.

Aside from Evon's two-day rollercoaster hangover, the weekend was totally perfect! The weather couldn't have been better, the lines at the park were very short, and we had quality time with some family and friends. But best of all, our family enjoyed the time we spent together.

A million thanks to Evon, who hatched the whole idea! I love you!

Click the picture to enlarge or click here for the photo album.

Family Togetherness

I have been wanting to do things together as a family that will create memories for the kids and allow us to become closer as a family. My goal for 2009 is to once a month find one thing that our family can do together that will make us closer and stronger. January is becoming the month of "RISK". Last Sunday we sat down together and played the game Risk. Seth taught us the rules and how to play and 3 hours later the kids could not get enough. The kids ask every day, "Can we play risk?" We have not turned on our TV once this week due to this game. What I like about this game is that:

1. We play for 3 hours minimum (when the game is over they want to play again)
2. We laugh at each other and with each other
3. Everyday distractions are forgotten — phones, TV, video games, etc.
4. And it's not Chutes and Ladders, Candyland or Pretty Pretty Princess — we have evolved to the next level of game playing

I have started making a list of the things we like to do together, so when we are wondering, "What should we do," I can look at my list and remember the things we have done in the past and do something off that list.

December 26, 2008

The day after Christmas, the boys spent the morning at the shooting range with Grandpa, Dave, Noah and Clark.

The Girls spent the afternoon with Grandma, Lindy and Megan. We went to Phoenix Symphony Hall to watch The Nutcracker ballet.

What Did You Get For Chrsitmas?

Everyone got what they wanted for Christmas, except for Alex who wanted a black baby grand, maybe next year! lol

Christmas would not be Christmas without new pj's and slippers.

Seth got Dilbert 2.0 - 20 years of Dilbert.

Santa brought marshmallow shooter guns for the entire family, he forgot to leave marshmallows so good thing he bought the soft pellets that can be used in place of marshmallows.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas...

At the Manwaring house...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!