Take Me Out To The Ballgame.....

We are pleased to announce that Porter made the Principal's Honor Roll at his elementary school!  We love that he enjoys studying so much, and are so very proud of him!
Watch out NASA.....Porter dreams of being a scientist for NASA.......the honor roll is just the first step!
We feel fortunate to live only 20 minutes from Nana Barb's folks in Mesa.  Yesterday we headed out there to watch Poppa Gil play softball in a tournament.  It was so much fun!  We thoroughly enjoyed watching all the older gentlemen play.  
Of course, Grandma Edna spoiled us with some treats and toys for the kids.  We had a nice visit back at their place after the game.

Check out that guy in uniform!  He played so well, we were so proud to be there supporting him!

We are thrilled to be back in our routine here at the Mitchell household and are anxiously awaiting our trip to Seattle in February.  The kids continue to grow and develop and keep us busy.  Tess will be 4 in a couple of weeks, and that simply doesn't feel real!  And our sweet little Owen will be 2 in March.....crazy how this is going so fast for us.  We're just trying to enjoy the moment and help them progress as best as possible.  We hope everyone is all doing well!

In Search of Snow.....

Brandon has been dying to drive up North and find some snow for the kids to play in.  As a boy, he grew up in Idaho where there was PLENTY of snow in the winter to play in.  So, he understands a child's fixation with the fun white stuff!  We LOVE Arizona and the weather here, but thought it would be fun to give the kids a taste of the cold!  Brandon decided that yesterday was the day, so we loaded up and headed north.  It only took 3 hours to find a decent amount of snow!  We pulled over into a National park, and quickly bundled up in our coats!
We lasted MAYBE 10 minutes in the cold!  We don't even own boots or gloves!  It was a super fun family activity and drove home remembering why we love the warmth in Arizona so much!  All in all, 7 hours in the car......10 minutes in the snow.......a tank of gas.......some junk food.......TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and the kids were thrilled to get riding toys from Santa.  Miss Tess had been asking for roller skates EVERYDAY for at least a year, so the big man figured it was time to give in!
We were blessed to have Fafa and Punkin join us for Christmas.  We always love having them here.  We're excited for our big road trip in February to Seattle!  Watch out Fafa and Punkin, it will be a loud ride!
Within the first few seconds with her gear on, she was on her bum!  She's getting better, next step - OUTSIDE!
Owen LOVES his new bike!  He would ride it all day if you let him.
Our tree turned out so nice this year.  Brandon is so good at taking his time and making it look so nice.  I felt I should take it down cuz he went through all the hard work of putting it up.....let's just say - it was a HUGE chore to take down and get out the door!!
Hhhmmm.....how many men does it take to put together a trike??!!
Santa brought goodies and new underwear in our stockings this year!
Porter wasn't quite sure how he felt about being upgraded to plain white undies!  I guess we're getting too old for the character underwear!
Owen was just happy to get some candy.  And yes......Santa got him underwear too.......Santa knows that Mommy is anxious to get Owen potty-trained!

Once again, we had  wonderful time during Christmas and feel blessed to have shared it with my grandparents and everyone else we chatted with on the phone and the ichat.  It's sad to see all the decorations tucked away and our home back to normal.  I love the Christmas season and am always sad when it passes.