Holiday fun!

Corey made the mistake of telling me there was nothing fun or exciting to do in Arizona around the holidays and he was feeling the need to travel but we can't afford a vacation AND Christmas, so no vacation.  In order to prove him wrong, I found something cheap or free for us to do at least twice a week until Christmas, and then some if we really wanted.  He is kicking him self for inadvertently challenging me in this way.  He should know better.

The first thing we did was to go out to the Mesa temple and look at all the lights.  There are SO many and it is always beautiful and fun.  It wasn't too cold this year, that was a plus.

 The kids had fun running around and being silly.  We saw the nativity and the wise men.  Halley, Charlie and Summer came with us.

  After we got home we made some hot cocoa with peppermint ice cream and then headed to bed. 

A few nights later we had a "make your own pizza" night. 

It was cute to watch the kids flattening their dough.  Sayer thought he needed to throw his in the air and took some instruction from Halley. 

The kids and Corey made pepperoni and black olive, their usual.

Halley, Serena and I did a pesto pizza with fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, grilled chicken, and artichoke hearts. 

Charlie attempted to make a stuffed crust pizza using a cheese stick.  They all turned out really good and we are going to make pizza night a monthly event.

 But every time we do it, we will have new ingredients to try for toppings and sauces.  Corey and the kids need to try something other than pepperoni! 

As soon as our pizza was put away, we headed off to Rawhide to check out their Christmas decorations.

 Rawhide is a western town that has some cute little stores and other things to do.  They had a live band that let the kids come up and play instruments. 

The boys thought it was great but Cora preferred to play checkers with Halley.  We walked around for a few hours.  Renner saw his Ho Ho again. 

That was exciting.  We saw quick shoot out in the street.  Renner was quite afraid, and Sayer was a little concerned but understood a little more quickly that it wasn't real. Renner is still afraid of shoot guns.

We also watched a blacksmith working with the metal. It was quite fascinating.  He makes some really cool stuff out of metal.

They have a burro ride for the kids and ours really enjoyed petting and talking to the little horseys.

 We had a really good time at "cowboy town". Now, any time the kids see a large Christmas tree made of white lights, they are pretty sure they can "see cowboy town from here"! 

The next place we visited was the McCormick Stillman Railroad park. 

They have a train that takes you around the park. At this time of year, there are lots of lights and Christmas decorations along the track. We all had a good time riding the train.

 Before and after we rode the train the kids were able to visit with some characters they had out.  Cora loved to take pictures with all of them.  Renner loved them too. 

He especially loved to dance with them.  Sayer, on the other hand, avoided the camera for most of the pictures. 

I may have gotten him in a few. He was being a stinker! 

Somewhere in there, I planned our ward Christmas party for church.  It was an enchilada dinner with a mock gingerbread contest, and caroling.  It was a great success!  I think we estimated at least 160 people!  Thank goodness I have a good committee and family that is willing to help!

Carrie was nice enough to run the daycare for a day so Corey and I could go get our shopping done.  We were able to get everything done except for a few stocking stuffers.  It was a really enjoyable day.  I forget what it is like to go to a store or a restaurant without kids!  It is nice!  I think we need to do that more often! 

We still have a few activities to come...
Christmas cookies
Zoo lights
Candy making
The Adams Christmas party(extended family)
The Adams Christmas Eve party
Christmas day
Grandma and Grandpa Summers' visit

That shoud keep us busy for the next couple weeks!  Check back every now and then for updates!

Merry Christmas!