Tamale New Years Eve

After being included in the neighbors tamale day event, Christian, Eva, Matt and I have been planning our own event. We knew we wanted my parents to experience it too (and we wanted to make more tamales fill our freezers)! We thought it would be a fun way to celebrate New Years Eve too. When the event starts with shots you know it's going to be a good night.

57 dozen tamales is 6 hours! We made pork, beef, chicken, deer, queso, hatch chili and turkey. And many, many margaritas! The kids were great helpers too. Jayen's favorite job was olive station; he ate more than he put in the tamales! We worked until we ran out of meat. Matt even attempted to fill them with whatever leftovers he could find in our fridge. But we cleaned it all up and were able to play some minute to win it games I prepared for us to play. So many laughs!

Face the Cookie

Contestants must start with a cookie on their forehead and using only face muscles, move the cookie from forehead to mouth without dropping it.

Brennan thought he had it in the bag, but that position didn't help him any.

Dakota was the winner! He even managed to complete the task with Brilyn on his lap. Man, she wouldn't leave him alone!

We moved on to a game my mom played with my family when they had their Christmas party. We hit up the target after Christmas sale and stuffed every piece of candy and some toys inside of a saran wrap ball. One player must put on a Christmas stocking and a pair of gloves then attempt to unwrap the saran wrap ball. The player to their left has a pair of dice and must roll doubles. Once the doubles are rolled they yell doubles and pass the dice to their left. The player unrolling has to pass the rolled ball to the person who just rolled doubles. Whatever comes out of the ball while it is in your possession is yours to keep.

The kids were laughing, crying in frustration, and sugar highed up! So were the adults! We were doing our best to stay up until midnight. When the fireworks started going off in the neighborhood we ran outside to find them. Of course, this prompted Matt to dig out his. What a fun day hanging with family and friends (who have become our family)! Thank you everyone for making my stomach hurt from laughing, margaritas, and tamales. What a great way to ring in the New Year!

The missing pieces

We've been waiting impatiently for the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Kuchta! They took vacation time to come spend with us over the holidays. Daddy had to work today, so we headed to the airport without him. We had to be there bright and early but their flight was delayed so we had to continue to wait! After nearly an hour, we could see them walking our way. The kids were still holding up their signs and greeted them with amazing hugs! We finally had some of the missing pieces we were feeling this holiday season. We had family with us!

After grabbing their bags we headed to get a quick bite to eat. Since Matt was working, we were able to meet him near the base and he was able to join us. So we went home and let Grandma and Grandpa settle in. I guess a four hour nap was what they considered settling in. The kids couldn't wait any longer! As soon as they woke, we put them right to work. Grandpa is known for his amazing chicken noodle soup. We purposely saved the extra turkey from Christmas for our own batch of Grandpa's turkey noodle soup. Grandma cut up the turkey and Grandpa taught the kids how to make homemade noodles. I remember doing this with my dad when I was growing up and now I had my dad in my kitchen showing my kids. Couldn't be any happier than I am right now.

The kids loved cutting up the noodles and loved finding their noodles in their soup when eating it. We could clearly tell which noodles were Jayen's and sometimes which were Brilyn's. So happy they learned from the master! So happy we have family here to share it with!

Snow Day, the only kind we get here in the desert

Since we don't get snow days anymore, we decided to make our own. Tomorrow, dad has to go back to work so we made a day trip up to Flagstaff to play in the snow. Apparently so did the rest of the city, on our way up the mountain we learned that two of the places we were going to try to go were already at capacity and weren't taking anymore people. We decided to try Fort Tuthill first. There was a little mound of snow near a parking lot that other people were sledding down, but we decided to drive a little further into the woods and found a spot isolated from others. Our smiles couldn't be hidden, well maybe under our snow gear, at the excitement from seeing and playing in snow!

Dad helped build a luge course for the kids to slide from the top of the hill to the bottom. After a few modifications, they were sliding all the way down with so much speed it was knocking them off their sleds at the bottom. We built a snowman and made snow angels too! The only thing missing was the hot chocolate. I guess it is time we head back down the mountain and get some before it gets too late.

The giggles and laughs were worth the two hour drive there and the two hours back! Hope we can do it again soon! We all really miss the snow!

Merry Christmas

Our family tradition usually involves the kids opening one present on Christmas Eve. We usually wrap up their new ornament with pajamas and a new movie, but last night we stayed out a little too late partying with the neighbors. So before the kids started tearing into the beautifully wrapped boxes covering every inch of our living room floor, we made them open their ornaments. Dalan received a Nebraska hat to commemorate our trip back to Nebraska and going to the Husker football game. Jayen received a Spider-Man to help him remember his room before we change it, and Brilyn received a ballerina to help her remember our trips to the ballet. The ornaments are a way to help us all remember some of our greatest memories for that year. Before we put the ornaments on the tree each year, we go through them and talk about the memories they bring to us. Definitely one of my favorite traditions! Even if we didn't do it on Christmas Eve!

A couple years ago, Santa wrote to the kids and reminded them how fortunate they are. He asked them if they would be willing to accept just one gift from him so he could make sure he helped kids out that really needed him and didn't have as much as they do. I'm so proud of the kids for accepting Santa's request. It also helps make the one gift from Santa something extra special. He always wraps their gifts in special paper that usually has his picture on it. Dalan asked the big man for a special Skylanders toy, Jayen wanted a remote control car, and Brilyn wanted make-up. Their reactions are always priceless.

More presents were opened, more shrills of excitement were heard, and shreds of wrapping paper were covering the floor. It was such a special day but it seemed that something was missing. I couldn't help feeling a void. The joy was always pushed aside by the sadness of missing family and friends. We still tried to make the best of this amazing day!

Jayen received some gifts for his room and immediately wanted to help put them up. Matt and I built him an airplane shelf for his awards and pictures. The propeller and wheels all spin too! He also received vinyl decal of jet planes flying in formation, a hand painted sign telling him how much I love him, an aeronautical alphabet metal sign, and new bedding. He, and I, couldn't wait to transform his room to a big boy space!

After his room was all put together, Jayen convinced the other kids to set up his new hockey goals and play indoor ball hockey with him. The day was filled with laughs and smiles and food to fill our bellies for days. Just the way the holidays should be! Hope you all had the merriest of Christmases!