Makayla and Aunt Tara being silly 
Grandma From, sister-in-law Tara, mother-in-law Carole, 
It's been a long day..... 
Last Saturday all of the girls in the family went to see The Nutcracker ballet and then headed off to dinner afterwards. I wasn't sure if Makayla could sit through the whole thing, but she did great and really liked it. She just couldn't understand why there wasn't any talking! It was a fun day!
On the last day of school before winter break, we had our 2nd annual Jingle Jog! The entire school ran a mile and a half loop through the neighborhood. At the end, they all got a candy cane! With my bum knee, I stayed back on the sidelines this year and handed out candy canes! As Makayla said, "it was a piece of cake because I am in running club!" The season is not even half-way over yet, and she already has 30 miles! Keep on running! 
Well, Santa was ready for the kids, but they were not ready for him! Makayla was in tears even before we got up to the front of the line! She did better last year, than this year...don't know what the deal was. She finally stopped crying while she sat on his lap, but had a not-so-pleasant look on her face. Conner cried the whole time! Makes for a great picture! Of course, when we got home, they were both ready to take some pictures by the tree...happy as could be then! 
Makayla and Conner loved picking out the Christmas tree this year! Notice how Makayla is in her short-sleeved gymnastics outfit.....gotta love Phoenix weather! When we first brought the tree in, it somehow (hmmm...) fell over. Conner yelled "timber..." it was so cute! They both were also a big help decorating the tree. Surprisingly, Conner has left the tree and ornaments alone (for the most part)!
We spent Thanksgiving this year over at my parent's house (with about 30 people) and had a great time! Both of the kids loved dessert time (as you can tell from these pictures)!
Makayla was given the topic "Colonial Schools" and had 1 week to put together a 15-20 minute presentation! Isn't it just 1st grade she is in?!?! Good thing that mom and Aunt Tara are teachers and could help her out. She really did get into it and learned a lot! Her presentation was wonderful (even with having a lock down drill in the middle of it)! Great job Makayla!
Halloween was a blast this year! Both of the kids were so into it! We had the family over for the annual chili dinner and then off for trick or treating we went! Conner walked the entire way and wouldn't let anyone help him carry his bucket for him, even when it got heavy! He loved it! We got to one house where there was a statue of a dalmation on the front porch, so we had to take a picture with Conner! The last picture shows just how tired and worn out both of the kids were by the end of the night....Makayla feel asleep on the couch! A great time was had by all! Until next year.....Happy Halloween!
With Makayla in her activities, it is not very often that Conner gets the spotlight all by himself, so I couldn't pass by these pictures without putting them on of just Conner! He is just so darn cute! He sure took a liking to this holiday called "Halloween" this year! He is sure the sneaky little candy thief!
Makayla and Conner had an absolute blast carving pumpkins this year! They both were so into it! Conner was so funny because he couldn't stand being so dirty! He kept saying, "oohh, gross....." over and over again and shaking his hands. It was hilarious. The best came at the end when he tried to eat everything inside the pumpkin (told you this kid would eat anything)! I'm glad we got it all on video!
early morning stretching
coming in from another lap
don't forget to grab that stick for the last lap