Christmas Lights at Mesa Temple Square

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas filled with lots of new toys and clothes, yummy breakfast casserole and lots of family to share it with. Thanks grandma and grandpa Bateman, Aunt Chel and Uncle Darin, Sam, and Grant for making this Christmas extra special!!

For Christmas Eve...

we all went over to my cousin Mandy's house. Of course there was delicious ham, scalloped potatoes, and pie. Then we played some hilarious games and took lots of pictures with reindeer antlers on, haha!

Afterwards we went to a friend of Mandy's who lives in a mansion and loves to decorate for Christmas. Her entire house was covered with lights and Christmas decorations. It was so crazy- I wish I would have taken some pictures...We had such a great time!

Sorry kids, no pics with Santa this year...

We decided to go to the San Tan mall to get pictures with Santa. The line was super long and we must have waited 20 minutes before I saw the sign that said their prices for pictures- $35 for the cheapest one! Then it said personal cameras were not allowed. I didn't even bother standing in the rest of the line and just let them play at the play area instead! Lol! I couldn't believe what a ripoff that was. Oh well, they still had fun!

New Home in Chandler

I am just so excited to be moved and have a place where we can be settled (at least for a few years, lol). We absolutely love our new house. The community is so nice and the ward is just awesome! Plus it only takes Tom around 25 min to get to work, and we are so close to everything. Some of my favorite things about the house are the hard wood floors. No more stained carpet! The backyard is like an oasis, with turf grass, a playground with sand, and lemon/grapefruit/orange trees! (I got a juicer for Christmas, I am so excited to use.) The extra space, especially the third car garage with lots of storage shelves! Check it out--

Staying with the Herbert Boys

I have watched these cute little boys on and off for the last four years! I just love them to pieces!! Their parents went to Vegas for work and asked Tom and I to watch them for 9 days. They have a super nice home in Seville and we just had so much fun! I'm not gonna lie though, it was tough. They both have super busy schedules and a pretty strict routine, not to mention I still had to watch my two kids. Thankfully they all got along pretty good- here is a picture of all of them at the park after school one day. At the time it all felt really overwhelming, but I know I will remember those days always! Love you guys!!

Kid's Christmas Party

Our cousin Kasey was so nice to have a little Christmas party for the kids. They had a blast!!