Thursday, February 3, 2011

December Highlights

Well I figured since it is now February...it is just about time to do my December post! We of course had a very busy, but very fun month. The month started out with a visit from our friend Tod and his girlfriend Betsy for the weekend. It was fun but short. We went to the Suns game Friday night and then to the Sugar Bowl...it was a hit!
Brandon even managed to catch not one but two Suns shirts...as you can see we were in the "party zone."
Tod is so amazing that he even helped Brandon put up our Christmas lights on Saturday...what a good friend. We also went to a late lunch at the Olive Garden and that night went to Castles and Coasters and went mini golfing and on some rides. Hope you guys come back soon!

Here's Ty lining up his cars which he loves to do...what a little cutie!
Then I had this little surprise to show Brandon...yep that's 2 pink lines! Due in August which is the absolute worst, but we are excited anyway. :)
For Christmas my whole family was here with the exception of Andrew's family. :( They had a new baby girl...plus it is very expensive flying a family of 5. They were greatly missed. My mom had a schedule for the entire week of all of the activities we had planned. It was exhausting but worth it. We had a girls lunch at the Wrigley Mansion and then some shopping. That night my parents got us a party bus to go see all of the Christmas lights. Yes it was complete with stripper poles and all.
We had tons of Christmas goodies, Christmas tunes, and had a blast going all over the city (my parents had mapped out all of the hot spots in advance). Here we are at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge looking at the amazing Wonka factory made out of all chocolate and candy...so cool!

Christmas Eve morning Brandon and I took Ty to the zoo for the first time. No one was there and we had tons of fun.

Ty LOVED petting all of the "doggies"...he thought most of the animals were doggies.

By the end Ty was just lounging in his stroller eating snacks while we looked at the animals. We bought a membership so we'll be back!

Christmas Eve was at my parents' house with all of the relatives in town. We had an Italian feast. Of course I waited until the very end of the night (way past bedtime) to get a family picture. This was as good as we could get.Of course we did the usual acting out of the nativity...many of the actors are far too young to cooperate much. Ty was baby Jesus last year and this year was a shepherd. He wandered all over the "stage" with his staff throughout the story.
It was of course hilarious to watch. Look at Milly the angel, spread eagle. :)
Here is our Christmas tree...our first real one. We loved it, but they are quite messy!
Christmas morning we opened presents with our little family. Ty really raked it in this year. He would have been pleased with just his new sippy cups from his stocking.
Here are Ty's gifts just from our house! Santa brought him a table and chairs and many of the other gifts are from his Wheeler grandparents. He is so spoiled!
Then it was off to my parents for an amazing brunch and then more presents! My parents got 2 of these plasma cars for the grandkids and they were a hit.
I made my parents a calendar with family pictures and important dates...one of those dates was the due date for Wheeler Baby #2. They didn't see it the first time through, but were very excited to hear the news!Aunt Myhoa and Uncle Dayne are so generous and gave Ty this beloved cozy coup.

This is how he can be found every day now...LOVES it is an understatement.
Christmas went by so fast. I had to go back to work on Monday. :( But after work I met all of the adults plus Gabe for pizza and laser tag, SWEET! We had a blast and dominated the second round once we got a strategy down.



Then Tuesday after work we all met up at the Landmark in Mesa for a scrumptious dinner! Thanks mom and dad for all of the fun.
Dayne and Myhoa had to leave the next day and Em a few days later. It is always great being together as a family and I can't wait for the next time. We are truly blessed and had a wonderful Christmas.