New Years Eve

For New Years Eve we had a pretty low key day. We hung out at Grammy and Papa's and did pedi's
Played some Wii. Ashley has gotten quite good at bowling. She beat Uncle Richard. Watched a movie or slept. Grammy made a good effort at trying to make it to the new year. She only dozed off a few times but was awake for the main event. We also got to have our traditional New Years Eve dinner. My parents didn't have any other plans so they didn't mind indulging us. New Years Eve would not be the same for the girls without it. I don't know how this tradition started but it is sure fun to just have finger foods for dinner. Uncle Richard even made homemade fries and homemade sweet potato fries. We joked all week that we needed to stuff him in our suitcase because he is such a great cook. He also was very helpful when we were out and the girls all decided to go in three different directions. He always had his eye out for them. We had a great evening celebrating a New Years with my parents. The girls dancing in the New Year. They love that we let them stay up. Ashley was up too but was getting moody since it was so late and wouldn't participate.

Sea World

This fall my parents went to Sea World for the first time and they really enjoyed themselves. My mom does not like any rides so my dad says that he thought it would be fun to go with my girls so he could ride the rides with them. We were very excited to go. Kevin says that when he went as a kid it is one of his fondest memories. He looked forward to sharing this with our kids. The girls weren't sure what to expect but they were very excited.

Once we got inside the gates we decided to go to the dolphin tank. It just happened to be feeding time when we got there so the girls got to feed the dolphins. The girls were so excited. We got 4 fish, Grammy got one and then the girls each got one. Madison dove right in and fed the fish to the dolphin so quick that I didn't have time to get the camera ready. Allison wasn't too sure at first but she came around. Ashley wanted nothing to do with it. She was excited while we were standing in line to get the fish but once she saw them she was not touching them. Kevin tried so hard but she wasn't having any of it. After feeding them we waited to see if any of us could pet one. Since it was still feeding time it was hard to get them to come at you without food in your hands but Allison was lucky enough to actually get to pet a dolphin. Ashley even joined in to see if she could pet a dolphin. I wish a dolphin would have come to see her because I am curious to see what she would have done since she wouldn't feed them. Once we moved on the next thing on our list I was thinking what could top that. Next we moved onto the fish viewing areas. I always see the fish tanks like this and think I would love to have one in my house but I know that it would never look like these. When we got to the shark tanks Ashley got a little scared. The only thing she really knows about sharks is what she has seen on Finding Nemo and they scare her on there.
Once we were done with the tanks we thought it was time for some rides. The first ride we came across was the Shamu Express. It is the smallest ride but we could still couldn't get Grammy on it. I guess it is ok because we needed someone to watch our bags. The next ride was a water ride. These are the only two rides that Ashley was tall enough for and she was excited for this one. I have ridden a ride similar growing up but I must be getting old because I defiantly couldn't ride it over and over again like I did when I was a teenager. While we were riding the ride my mom and brother went to save seats to see Shamu. This is what I was looking forward to the most. I was sitting by Allison and she was just in awe the whole time. At one point she said, "Wow that must have taken years to train them to do that." Ashley was sitting on Kevin's lap and when the show was over, she said "That was cool." At the end of the day when we ask her what her favorite part was she siad it was the whale show. I would have loved to see the show again but there just was not enough time.
Before the next show we wanted to see, we rode a few more rides. Since Ashley wasn't tall enough for these Uncle Richard took her over to the Shamu express again. Madison and Allison were really looking forward to riding these rides. The first one was called the Great White. Madison was behind me and Allison was sitting right next to me. This ride was like no other that I have ridden and I am not sure that I will ride it again. As I said before I think I am getting old. During the ride I heard someone screaming "Mommy Mommy." I wasn't sure if it was Madison or Allison. When we got off both girls looked a little queasy. I asked them which one was yelling at me and it was Allison but Madison told me it would have been her but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. This is not one they wanted to ride again. We had just enough time to ride the last roller coaster before the show next began. Little did we know that this one was worse then the last. This one was called the Steele Eel. Allison wanted to ride with me again and yet again she started to yell at me in the middle of it. I don't know what she thought I could do in the middle of the ride. These two rides were defiantly something none of us will forget anytime soon.
Now it was time to move onto the dolphin show. I am glad that we got there early enough because the before show was hilarious. This man that looked like a spectator had a battle with water. The dolphin show was so amazing. The acrobatics of the dolphins the trainers were spectacular. It was getting late by the time this show was over so we just walked around and looked at things till the last show started. This show was staring seals. This is the one that Madison looked forward to the most. She has always liked seals since she saw her first one at the age of 2 1/2 at the Portland Zoo. This show had a Christmas theme too it. It was really cute. The park closed when this show was over so we were on our way home after a fun filled day. We needed a little refueling so we stopped at Cici's a pizza buffet. When we got there the manager wasn't quite sure what to expect because he said we all looked so tired but once we refueled we were back to ourselves. We had a great day. Thank you Grammy and Papa for treating us to such a special day.

A fun day around San Antonio

Today we decided to visit Papa's work. Papa works for USAA a bank and insurance company for the military. The building looked very interesting, it is a mile long from one end to the other. Allison said it was more like a mall then a work place. She has decided that she is going to work there when she gets older. There were lots of neat stuff to see. They had a little mini museum which featured all branches of the military. It was cool seeing all the pictures and reading the little bits of history. Papa thought the girls might also think it would be fun to have lunch in one of the many cafeterias. Eating there would never get boring with all the options that my dad has. I sometimes wish we had a cafeteria in our house. The girls all chose something different and were very happy.
After lunch Papa showed us where his desk was and some of the different break rooms that they offer. This only sealed the deal more that this is where they all want to work when they grow up.
I am so glad my dad took us on a tour of his work we had lots fun.
Once we were done we headed to down town to tour the Alamo. The girls started asking questions about the Alamo and Kevin got a smile on his face and said "I never took Texas history ask your mom." That is my response when the girls try to ask me things about Idaho history. I couldn't dodge these questions. It was nice to share this little piece of history with my girls and share the story of those brave men that fought so hard to defend the mission.
When we were done at the Alamo, Grammy thought it might be fun to take the girls on the trolley.
We weren't going anywhere, we just rode it until it was time for our dinner reservations at Los Barrios. Kevin and I heard about it on the Food Network, Bobby Flay's throw down. Bobby Flay challenged the Barrios to a throw down with the puffy taco their signature dish. We have been wanting to try it since we saw the show a few years back so that is what we had. They were everything we had hoped. I am kinda glad that the restaurant is so far away or else I might gain a few pounds. Everyone was pleased. Ashley especially like her cheesy quesadilla. We had another great day with my parents seeing the sights of San Antonio. When we got home Uncle Richard had Allison's special request for her birthday cake ready. It was a few days late because we were so busy. She ask for a raspberry cheesecake. Uncle Richard made a great cheesecake.

Happy Birthday Allison

Allison was so exited to celebrate her birthday in Texas with Grammy and Papa. When Allison woke up Papa told Allison that it was her choice of what we did. She looked through their entertainment book and found a coupon for the Children's Museum. We have really enjoyed the one in Salt Lake so she wanted to try this one out. Since the Museum was downtown we also decided to do the Riverwalk.

The girls had a great time exploring and playing with the exhibits.

The favorites of the day were the grocery store We were all amazed at how realistic the store was. The girls enjoyed shopping and checking out. The cash registers actually worked. The girls loved ringing up each others grocery's. Next was the water room. Ashley and Allison liked putting themselves in bubbles.
Madison played forever with this(not sure what it is called) Once everyone figured out what she was doing everyone was playing. I am not sure who had more fun the kids or the adults.
We stayed at the museum till it closed and then we moved on to the riverwalk.

Seven years ago we took Madison and Allison on the riverwalk but they don't remember it at all. It is kind of fun that they are not sure what to expect. My parents were surprised at how busy it was but we soon found out that they were having a pep rally for the Alamo Bowl that night. We saw the bands and teams of both teams riding the riverwalk.
We also rode past the pep rally. It doesn't matter how many times I ride the riverwalk I love to see all the sites. Now that Madison and Allison are older I hope they remember their ride on the river in San Antonio.

Once we were done in downtown then we were off for Allison's birthday dinner. We tried to convince her to try a restaurant that we don't have home but she chose our family favorite Olive Garden. Allison said that she had a great birthday even though we left her gifts at home. I had all of her gifts ready to pack and accidentally forgot to put them in our bags. I told her that I would tell her what I got her but she wants to wait till we get home to open them. Since she was being such a good sport we decided to let her pick out something at the mall. She chose to get something at Clairs. She picked out some new earrings and a necklace.

I am so grateful to have Allison as a member of our family. She is beautiful, caring and smart little girl. Our family would not be the same without her. We love you Allison.

Christmas

Christmas day we had a great day even if the girls woke us up an hour earlier then they were supposed to. I miss the years when Kevin and I had to wake them up Christmas morning. We got started opening gifts at 6:30, once I got breakfast put in the oven. The girls started with their stockings but I have a feeling they already took a peak in them before Kevin and I were up and out of our room. I love to see their excitement, especially Ashley. Every year one of the girls is Santa and gets to hand out the presents. This year we had Ashley do it because she is starting to learn how to read. If you ask her if she can read she will tell you yep but not cursive. It was fun watching Ashley find a certain persons present.

The girls had a great time opening gifts. I love watching all their reactions.
The girls really had a great time opening gifts and seeing all the things that people got them.
I even enjoyed surprising Kevin. He has got to be the hardest person to buy for. It is very rare that I buy him something that he doesn't know about or that he has told me he wants. It was nice to be able to surprise him and make him happy. I got a little confused by my gift from Kevin. I had never heard of a Boxee Box so I wasn't quite sure what I was getting, then Kevin explained it to me and I am very happy. Once all the presents were open we had to eat breakfast and get to work. We had to get all packed up to head off to Grammy and Papa's house in San Antonio. The girls were very excited and didn't even mind that they didn't get to play with all of their Christmas loot. They were awesome travelers. We made it to San Antonio with no incident and we even learned when the best time is to fly with Ashley so she doesn't talk the whole way. We arrived late but that didn't stop us from visiting into the wee hours. Grammy and Papa even made the girls work for their bed.
When Allison was all done pumping her bed up she said that they need to get an electric pump like we have at home. I told her they have three but couldn't find any of them.
Grammy and Papa were very nice to save their Christmas dinner for Sunday after church.
Then we watched the Santa Claus. We really had a great Christmas and look forward to the next week with my parents.