Christian is on leave after basic training

Chris and Steve came up to Phoenix when Chris was on leave from the Marines and they stopped by for breakfast.  Well, Chris spent the night as well.  We had a lot of fun and the kids as always loved to see their oldest cousin and Uncle Steve.  Chris is going back soon for infantry training in Camp Pendleton.  It was good to see Chris and I hope he enjoys his time in the marines!

Curtis!

Curtis came out for a visit for about four days last week.  Curtis visits us anywhere from one to four times a year.  This was his first visit of 2013.  We had a great time.  As usual he cut everyone's hair, we ate a lot of good food.  This time he had a chance to see Lizzy compete in a gymnastics meet.  Other highlights included a trip to In and Out Burger, Happy Hour out with Patty and Jan, lunch at Someburros, a movie for him and Mark, lots of fun with the kiddos!  Curtis always brings lots of laughs and fun, even if he does encourage bad behavior from Michael!  All of the kids look forward to a visit from Curtis, and I do to as he is one of my best friends.  I met Curtis when I was about 10.

Vegas: Family Style

We went to Las Vegas in January for a gymnastics meet for Lizzy at Lady Luck.  My folks joined us and we stayed in their time share.  It was a great weekend.  We left Markie with his Aunt and Uncle, so he is not in any pictures.  I think when he was little he got burnt out watching Lizzy do a lot of gymnastics, and he has seen enough to last him a while.  We had a free day there without any gymnastics so we went to NY NY and Lizzy and her dad went on the rollercoaster there.  We all went to the Coke and M&M store which was a lot of fun.  We hit a buffet in our hotel that everyone enjoyed, along with a meal at our favorite Vegas stop, Steak n Shake.

Christmas 2012

Another Christmas on the books.  Never a dull moment during the holidays.  We went to Nana and Papas house for Christmas this year.  We drove down the morning of Christmas Eve and drove home Christmas night.  It was so fun.  We went to mass Christmas Eve and had La Fonda for dinner.  Everyone scurried off to bed about 9 p.m. to get to sleep before Santa arrived.  Lizzy was the latest going to bed about 10 and got very anxious to go to sleep when she realized via the Norad tracker that santa was getting close to Az.  She fell asleep in record time.  All of the kids except Michael woke up at various times of the night, I think they were having trouble sleeping with dreams of Santa Claus coming down the chimney.  Everyone got great gifts.  It was a whirlwind trip but worth it to spend time in Yuma with Nana and Papa.  Michael had a blast too.  Some memorable gifts:
Lizzy - kindle fire, Markie - samsung tablet, xbox games Madden 13 and a war game, Bella - a mini tablet and art sets, Michael - anything with Hulk or Captain America.  Mark's favorite gift was a miller light hat with a bottle opener on it my mom gave him.  I liked my gloves I can text with on.  Fun had by all.  We are blessed to have so much.