Soccer Season is Over

It is a bittersweet end! I really did enjoy watching Gracey play every week. Corky and I both loved seeing the improvement that was made in only a few short months. The whole team really progressed even though they were 6 years of age and younger. Gracey would score a goal at least once a game and would be SO PROUD and EXCITED! We would definitely encourage and cheer for her when she helped her teammate score a goal, but there was nothing as exciting to her as being the one to actually do the scoring!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of games! Followed by a trophy ceremony and a rap video that was shot during a recent soccer game.

Gracey is 5!

(and I am in shock!)

I really can't believe that she is getting so old. I witness it everyday and wonder where the time went. She is kind, loving, and loves to hang with the big kids. She speaks well, she is physically coordinated, and for the most part is very independent. Only when she is wanting my attention do I ever hear, "I need help!" I just can't over how fast time really goes. Or how much joy she brings to mine and Corky's lives and to the happiness of our family.

Yesterday, we had a fun day celebrating. She thought it was great when I pinned a "Birthday Girl" ribbon to her shirt first thing in the morning. She took cupcakes and a candle to her school, we got a birthday lunch from Sonic, ate it at the park while enjoying the PERFECT Arizona weather.

While we still had daylight, we gave her a birthday present. She was in need of a new bike very badly. Her current bike was what we bought for her at 3 years old. Since then, the training wheels have been taken off and she was kind of looking like a kid on a clown-bike!

Here she is after closing her eyes for a surprise, then opening them to find a handful of rocks! She said "That's not a surprise, Dad!"

Okay, here's the real thing!


Thanks to Gracey's birthday present, Emily inherited the smaller bike. She loved it. However, she started pouting about something, I don't remember what.


But she's happy again, chilling with her daddy in the back of the truck as they watched Gracey zoom back and forth.


We had a mini-birthday party for Gracey. For dinner she requested Grilled Chicken Sandwiches. After eating those, we all put on our party hats and put some candles on more cupcakes (We had SO MANY cupcakes that she frosted and decorated herself)


Oh! How we love our Gracey-Girl!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

A Christmas Carol

Even though it has been more than 5 months, I still look back on this day and just smile! It was such a fun time. Sadly, I never did get around to blogging about until now, but don't think I didn't love everything about it! I definitely did. As the old saying goes, "Better late than never!"

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In May I had heard that the "Christmas Carol Train Tour" would be coming to Williams, AZ. Williams is about 100 miles away from Kingman, near the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I called a few friends to see if they wanted to make a day of it and see what it was all about. I was totally stoked for the new movie and love any chance to feel the Christmas spirit any time of the year, so we all packed up and went.

We were not disappointed. It was one of the funnest days of the year to me. We got to see the official "Christmas Carol" train, listen to carolers, see all the behind-the-scenes footage, and get a sneak peak at the new movie! It was amazing! Technology is incredible, I must say!

We were so lucky. It wasn't crowded at all. I heard that other tour stops, the line to get on the train and see all the features was more than a 2 hour wait. We walked right on. In fact, after we took the kids through, I left them with my friend so I could go on by myself to take some time to read and concentrate on all the little details that I was so interested in. It was so great!

And now for TONS of pictures!

Here are all the kids in our crew. (Except for Ryan who was in the stroller)


Outside of the train they had a snow-machine that the kids thought was so cool! Look how beautiful that train is!




These next photos are of all the things that were inside the train. We saw the suits they wore to create the computer imaging, the models of the homes and offices, replicas of the costumes, and behind-the-scene videos. It was especially fun to see Jim Carrey doing the acting in a leotard and then seeing it become a computer image. Amazing.




This was when we went into a theater room and watched the preview of the movie



We ended the day with a train ride on the GrandCanyon Express! The kids had a blast!!


As you can see, a fun time was had by all. I can't wait to have this movie in our home. It is a great message for adults and children alike, and I am hoping it will be a family favorite of ours. If this train tour was a true hint of what's to come, we are in for a real treat!

So go see this movie, "A Christmas Carol!" Even though I haven't seen the entire movie, I know I won't be disappointed. The story is already a classic and this movie is sure be a classic in it's own category.