Christmas Legos

Our elf Buddy did not disappoint this year and left not one but 3 Christmas Lego sets. 

Our Christmas Lego collection is getting so big next year we need to come up with a better place to display them. Every year its so fun to put on a Christmas movie while we all build Christmas Lego sets. Such a fun tradition for our family. 

Ward Christmas Party

 When the invite says to wear your favorite Christmas morning pj's we knew exactly what to wear.

I love any excuse to wear these pj's. So comfy and so stinkin' adorable. 

Honestly I will be so sad when the kids out grow theirs. 

Ice skating

The kids school had a fundraiser at AZ Ice the beginning of December. This was the first time our kids have ever been ice skating.

At first they were having a hard time so Derek decided to also get skates to help them. One of Chase's friends was able to help him as Chase didn't listen to what dad was saying. Maeley took off with her friends so quickly I never got a picture of her. By the end they all had a great time and want to do it again. 

Derek's Improv Showcase

When Derek was still in college we went to Jesterz for a date night. Derek really wanted to start taking classes from there but between school, work and family (Chase was a baby) timing just wasn't right. Then after school we moved to Tucson, then New Mexico and when we came back here Jesterz was forgotten about. Then out of the blue we found out that our neighbor had been taking improv classes from there for the past several months. That peaked Derek's interest again and he signed up for the next session which happened to be starting pretty soon thereafter. I'm so glad he signed up. Its not an ideal time however it has been a great outlet for him. 

After each session they do a student showcase. His was the last week of November. 

The kids were so excited to watch their dad up on stage! 

He did such a great job. He is definitely a natural. He is always making us laugh at home so this was just perfect for him. On to the next class for him. 

Turkey Trot/Thanksgiving

Maeley, Zoe and Derek did the 1 mile fun run 

Chase wanted to join me on the 5k run

He beat me by a little over 30 secs

24:55 

8:02/mile

I finished in 25:32

8:13/mile

Next year they all will be joining me for the 5k! 

After the turkey trot we got ready and headed to Fountain Hills for Erik's baby blessing. Colin and Kim came to town so more family could be there for the blessing. It was so great to see them and finally meet that cute baby! We decided on our way home to stop and visit with Derek's aunt and uncle, Marsha and Chick. What we thought was just a stop to say hi ending up being us staying for their Thanksgiving dinner. That was so kind of them and fun to visit with more of Derek's side of the family. 

Zoe's Greek school play

Zoe had a boy part in the play and needed a mustache or beard. Realizing that the paper option wasn't going to stay put I opted for using makeup. She thought it was so funny.

Christmas decorating

As soon as Halloween is over its far game to decorate for Christmas at my house! This year we waited a few days then got started o the weekend.

Of course I had to wear something Christmasy while decorating! 

The faux brick wall from Maeley's birthday party re-purposed! We loved the extra warmth it gave the room during the holidays. It was tempting to leave it up. 

Zoe spent some of her own money to buy this year. Don't worry we added more lights and a tree skirt as well. 

I hardly took any pictures of all the Christmas decorations this year. Each year its slightly different. 

Christmas is my favorite. I could listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies all year long.

Shun the Sun- Gilbert's half marathon

The best part about this race was that it started 2 miles away from my house. My family wouldn't be able to see me at the finish line so luckily they could be see me pass our neighborhood.  Zoe had a soccer game and Maeley a volleyball game that morning.

Running with my friends Menolly and Marlane

Before the race

After

This race didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Training had been going really well. I was improving my time and we excited about this race. About a month before I injured my leg upper left leg. I was forced to not run for 15 days. When I was healed enough to start running my pace wasn't like it was prior to my injury and I was still having issues with my feet going numb. At mile 4 of this race my feet began to go numb. By mile 7 I was in so much pain. There were a few times during the race I had stepped on a rock and the pain shot up my leg. It was unbearable. I wanted to quit but I am no quitter! I endured 9 miles with numb feet and finished 4.5 minutes slower than my first half marathon. While I may not have beat my time I was proud of myself to completing the race.  

November 18, 2017

Zoe's 1st season of soccer

Zoe was so excited to start a season of soccer with her good friends Sydney and Katelyn.

Sure she has a lot more to learn but she had a great time.

It's fun to watch her try new things and grow. 

Maeley's 3 different volleyball teams

Maeley joined her school's volleyball team. Its a short 5-6 week season but she did it last year which got her excited about the sport.

Zoe and Derek helped keep score at a few games. 

At the tail end of her school season she started practicing for the NYS league team. A few girls from school were on her team and one of my friends was the coach. Having the 2 teams going on at once meant 4 days a week playing volleyball for Maeley which she loved.

The team started with 12 girls but by the time the season ended there were some girls sick and couldn't make it. 

Altitude Club volleyball tryouts

Coach Mariana from her NYS team had looked into club teams to get her daughter ready for middle school. She suggested Maeley come to one of the open gyms to see what we thought. Maeley was so excited which surprised me because they were having her do things she hadn't spent much time and effort on before. After a lot of thought we decided to let her try out.

She made a team! She's so excited about it. Again the tail end of one volleyball team the practices for this team began. Back to volleyball 4 days a week. Our schedule was insane during the fall. We love watching her work hard and see improvement. We don't get to watch the practices for this team so I can't wait for games to start in January!