Stylish

Madelyn wanted to cut her hair. Lots of people tried to talk her out of it but she did it anyway.

I LOVE it!! It is so easy. She gets out of the bath and combs it and it just goes like this. She wakes up and it looks the same as before bed, she takes her snow had off and it looks the same. I really wish I had easy hair and could pull it off. Isn't it adorable???

Christmas 2009

For Christmas this year we spent the night in this little cabin with my side of the family. We had a great time considering there were 25 people in this thing. Thanks Ann and Tyrel, you did a great job planning this year. It was soooo nice not to be the one in charge!

Tyrel made costumes for all the kids to act out the nativity. It was so cute. Thanks Tyrel. Madelyn was Mary and Jacob was a shepherd.

This is our HAPPY teenage boy on Christmas Morning!

What happend to wanting to get up at 5:00?

We Love the Snow! We finally had a White Christmas. We had a blast sledding on Christmas day and then we went sledding again two times since we got home. I love the fact that my kids can get themselves ready to go outside without my help. I can hardly get them to come in from playing outside even when it is dark and it is in the middle of a blizzard.

Since taking a picture of all 25 people was kinda out of the question, (including 9 grand kids) We just took a Skinner siblings picture. That was hard enough, (as you can see). My sister Amy flew down here from Seattle. Thanks Amy for making the trip so that we could all get together this year. I know I look lovely and huge. Oh well! Next time I see Amy, she will be too. She is expecting #1 in May. Scott's wife Janea is also expecting #4 in May. Congratulations girls!!!

Jacob's Diary

Today Madelyn came home from school with a little notebook that she bought in their school store. She said that it was her diary and we could not read it because there were secrets in it. So Jacob went up stairs and got a notebook and brought it down and said that it was his diarrhea and that we could not look in it. I could not stop laughing. I explained to him that it was a diary, not a diarrhea, but he insisted on calling it his diarrhrea. I love kids and words!

Thanksgiving

All of Josh's family got together for Thanksgiving. It was crazy but a lot of fun. The kids had a great time. We had tons of food!!! Here are a few pictures of the day.

ALL the Grandkids!

Josh collects Santas. He lined them all up on the fireplace and took a picture. I said NO MORE SANTAS! Jacob counted them and said that there are 86?! There are actually only about 25 but it seems like 86! Try to find a place to put them all? Some of them are actually cool because Mrs. Clause is with Santa. We all know who does most of the work for Christmas!

But who gets the spotlight?

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

CHS vs FHS

So this has become an annual family tradition, going to the Coconino game. (or the Flag High game, which ever you want to call it?) Josh went to Coconino, and I went to Flag High, so it becomes a bit of a problem, like where to sit and what color to dress the kids in. When my little brothers were playing, of course we would sit on the Flag High side and Josh got to dress them in black and red. Now what do we do? This year we sat on the Coconino side because we went with Grandma and Grandpa who would not want to sit on the green side. I decided oh well, we can sit on the losing side, all that really matters is who wins, right? So there I am sitting with my green shirt on in the middle of a black and red crowd. Whoooooo! Both kids fell asleep but as always we had a great time! There is always next year, and the next year............

I love this picture!!

Grandmas is a great pillow! Thanks!

I will let you guess who is home and guest!?

The First Snow

This was the PERFECT snow!!! It was just enough snow to be beautiful and finally feel like winter, but there was no need to shovel, there were no cinders on the road, and the snow was melted by the time the kids came home from school so I didn't have to bundle them up to go out and play! Although I am looking forward to more snow, this was a nice first storm! I love Flagstaff!

Halloween

Here are some pictures from Halloween. This is the warmest Halloween I can remember. In years past there was either snow on the ground or it was 20 degrees. This year was nice so we didn't have to bundle the kids up like they were going sledding. You can actually see their costumes this time.

I don't know why, but it seems like Halloween has become a bit crazy. Trunk-or-treats, carnivals, parties etc. I think that next year it would be fun to take the kids to a few family members to trick-or-treat and then just stay home and let them enjoy giving out candy to others. (That would mean less candy for me to eat.) Oh well, we had a lot of fun!

Josh is the carving pumpkin expert!!! I just watch.

Everyone at the Oldroyds for a fun PARTY!!!

Our little Witch!!!

AAARRRRGGGHH Matties!!

Becky Oldroyd makes a mean witches BREW!!

These are the kids waiting at the bus stop on Halloween morning.

Having Fun in the leaves in Grandpa's yard. I love Fall!!!

Where did Kirby go??? (Kirby is my brother Brian's little boy who is 3)

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we went to Tucson where 2 of Josh's sisters and their families live. We went to the pumpkin patch, ate, played Wii and just hung out. (I'm getting good at the eating part, as you can see by my lovely pictures) We had a blast!!! It was good to get away and enjoy family!

Isn't Madelyn cute in a hat???

Hanging out with the BOYS!

Let's go State!

So you know that Josh is a Big time Michigan State fan!!! He calls me on Thursday morning to tell me that he won tickets to Saturday's game and asked if he could go. Uhhhhhhh???? What???? The game is in Lansing, Michigan!!!!! That's all the way across the United States!!!

I tried all morning to find tickets that were under $800.
Yeah Right!!!!!

I called my sister in law who's sister works for United Airlines. She got him on the stand-by list. Did you know that stand-by really means STAND-BY? Well that is literally what he did. He flew from Phoenix to Denver to Wichita to Chicago, to spend the night and then get up the next morning and fly to Lansing with a few hours to spare before the BIG game.

Talk about a dedicated FAN!!!!

Well the game wasn't that great but he had a blast just being there. I can't wait to post pics. (hopefully he took some)

Maybe next time we should just plan the trip in advance and get our own tickets and guaranteed flights.

Or maybe not!!! It's always fun to have an adventure!!!

Finally!!

Yep, I finally did it. After looking at everyone else's blogs for months now I decided I just need to do it. More for my family's use as a journal than anything. Hope you enjoy!

Pictures of fun this past summer!

Josh and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. What a Blast!