The most hectic time of the year!!

Well here we are again, back to December.  Seems like we just had Christmas like a few months ago.  Our time in Yuma is really flying by!  For those of you who know how reluctant I was to return to Dirtville, that is basically good news!    
The first weekend finds us beginning at Jim's work Christmas party!  This year the theme was "Ugly Christmas Sweater" and I must say we had great participation!  Santa arrived in a Huey helicopter, which is something you don't see everyday! 

The end of the weekend found us in Scottsdale running a race as a family.  This seemed like a REALLY good idea in June when I signed us up.  Maybe it was because I was still on the runner's high from running the 15K in San Diego.  Jim agreed with me we would be "crazy not to do it."  Now that it is staring us in the face, my confidence is beginning to waver.  The kids are NOT happy.  The Wellons Family Turkey Trot did not have the desired effect of making them excited about this race.  They are excited to get the swag however.  Oh well, they will get over it.  

Pre-race selfie!

We got a couple of action shots.  Once the kids got over fact that we WERE running the race, they actually did a great job! They all improved on their race times so that is good!  

Lucy ditching us slow pokes

But who are we kidding, the real reason the ran the race was for the goodies at the end!  I'm pretty sure the hot chocolate and chocolate fondue pretty much eliminated any fitness benefit we gained from this event.  Fortunately the children grudgingly agreed that yes, it was a good time and yes, they would do it again ... especially if there is chocolate fondue at the end!

THIS is why we agreed to do the run

Next up for the family is the annual Yuma Christmas Light Parade!  Lilly was invited to a slumber party so she took the night off but Lucy and Ben were up for it!  This year's theme was something that required the kids to dress up in western wear.  Don't have much in the way of western wear.  This was the best I could do.  Luckily for us, it was dark.

While Lilly got out of the light parade because of a birthday sleep over, I had to pick her up fairly early to get the whole crowd to church because it was the children's Christmas pageant!  Every one had a part, one of the benefits of attending a church with a very small children's program.    Ben was a shepherd and the girls were Ms. "Gotta-Lotta" and "Ms. Busbody."  Their characters are called to testify against the three wise men for creating a disturbance of the peace.  It was pretty funny although I do wish the kids were given the opportunity to learn lines instead of lip synching them.  

Jim and I found time to attend a really fun Christmas party with a bunch of our friends without the kids!! Yeah, some adult time! That is certainly in short supply around the holidays!

Hope you are sitting down because we aren't even close to being done!  The children also participated in a Nutcracker suite performance at school with every class playing a role.  Lilly and Ben were in the wonderful choir, while Lucy was asked to be the 5th grade "Clara" and she got to dance onstage - much to her chagrin.  

Lucy thought she could hide from us by being in the back

As soon as school let out for break, we piled into Jim's car and headed to Newport Coast in California.  The last time Jim and I stayed in this resort, Lilly was one year old!  My, my how things have changed.  We were fortunate to be able to have dinner with family friends who live nearby.  What a great way to kick off our little vacay!

Newport (Balboa Island) has a Christmas Light parade - Flotilla and it was incredible.  It was hard to pull the kids away from the resort but once we got down to the water, they were glad we had insisted.  

Since we were only going to be in town for a few days, we wanted to see as much as we could.  What better way to see the sights then to rent bikes.  Lilly was the least happy about this choice, but I think it had more to do with being hungry then the actual activity.   

We had so much fun with the bikes, we decided to keep them and ride down to Crystal Cove and play in the Pacific Ocean!  Brrrr it was cold, but you wouldn't know if by looking at the kids.  After a few hours the crowd decided it was time for some food.  Jim's travel research did not disappoint!  He got us a table at the Beachcomber Cafe just down the beach.  It was PERFECT!  Of course we stayed too long and ended up having to ride the bikes back to the resort in the dark.  Not as much fun and basically dangerous.  Nice show Newport, the Wellons family will be back!

Once we made it back to Yuma it was time to get serious about Christmas preparations.  When the kids were little, decorating Christmas cookies was a family tradition that I dreaded.  So much work with little messy hands, makes me shiver thinking about it.  Now that the kids are bigger, it is a lot more fun!  I can actually do something else while they are decorating (like making my own fudge recipe)! We had so many candy canes left over from the MAWTS-1 Christmas party, Lucy decided she wanted to make peppermint fudge.  I also decided this was the year to restart a Casper family tradition - peanut butter balls!  Ben decided after he tasted one that we needed to do it every year!  

On Christmas Eve Eve the kids had a swim meet.  It was basically just an inter-squad meet, but the kids are "this close" to qualifying for regionals in a few events so why not!  The kids did great!!  Lucy and Ben both qualified and Lilly shaved off some time in her events.  All in all - totally worth it!

So we are down to Christmas Eve!!!  WOW!  Seems like we were just doing this. The kids are ready for Santa to hurry up.  Not sure how I will get them to sleep tonight.  

Oscar, on the other hand, had no problems going to sleep

For the last couple of  months Oscar has been tolerating Wesley.  Enough so that sometimes this happens and there is no hissing or barking or fur flying. Maybe this is going to be my Christmas present from the pets this year.

Everyone got dressed for church and then had to get re-dressed.  Lilly came in with a sundress on.  Really?  Christmas Eve.  Can you please wear one of the 4 dresses I pulled out.  She did keep the summer shoes on, but whatever, at least she changed her dress.  Ben did concede to wear a belt, but would not change his shoes.  Whatever, get in the car!!   We made it, and the service was lovely. Nothing beats a candle light service on Christmas Eve.

Another thing that always happens on Christmas is the presents get opened so fast and furious that sometimes the recipient of a gift doesn't actually get to open said gift.  I had thought they were old enough for that tradition to go away, sadly that wasn't the case.  At least three that I know of occurred this year.  

After all the wrapping paper had been put away and we got dressed, Daddy decides today is the perfect day for a hike.  Instead of hitting Telegraph Pass we headed west and climbed Pilot's Knob.  Not exactly the hike I was looking for. The kids bypassed the trail and just started climbing the rocks.  Oh well, they were excited and finally stopped complaining.  

We ended up having a "Day after Christmas" party because my husband can not just relax and do nothing.  It was probably one of the best we have thrown since we have been to Yuma.  Everyone was ready to get out of the house and get together to blow off some steam!  

New Years on the other hand was very quiet.  We went over to our friend's house to pick up Lilly from an afternoon playdate and just chilled out by the fire listening to other people's fireworks!  We did have some bottle rockets and sparklers but were back to the house before eleven Arizona time.  Since we had seen the ball drop East Coast time, I felt that counted. 

 Bye 2016!  Let's see what 2017 has in store.

November already? How did that happen?

I know we just had Halloween, but HOW is it already November?  Man seems like it was just November (What do you mean by this?).  These years are flying by.  On the plus side, that means our time in Yuma is passing quickly.  So that isn't all that bad I guess. 

First thing up for us is the Marine Corps Ball.  Jim's old boss Gen John Kelly (Ret) honored us by being the Guest Speaker.  He is just awesome!  The kids were besides themselves that he came over for breakfast the morning of the ball.  He was extremely gracious and patient with them as always.  

Right after the ball, Jim and I had to go to Twenty Nine Palms for a Commander's course. Needless to say, the timing wasn't great -- during the middle of the week and oh yeah, by the way we have three children who we just can't leave at home by themselves.  Throw Lilly's birthday into the mix and this overnight course was causing me lots of grief!! After much searching and gnashing of teeth, I was able to find a college student to agree to watch the kids overnight.  Of course it can't be that easy, the schedules were all messed up and I had to rely on several friends to fill in some gaps but I was able to make it work on paper.  Turns out all my anxiety was for nothing.  Everything went fine, or at least as far as I know.  Please don't tell me otherwise.  
One nice thing that greeted us when we arrived in Twenty Nine Palms was this little guy.  The housekeeper must have some time on her hands.

The next day Jim went off with the other Marines to do Marine things and the spouses got to tour a few places.  We were told we could see a Desert Tortoise, but apparently whoever made the itinerary did not clear it with the Tortoises because they are currently hibernating.  Dang.  Oh well, onward.  I think the highlight of the day came at the firing range.  I personally have not touched a gun since I blew a hole in the storm door of my parent's house when I was 15. I was not afraid to fire the weapons, but if we had skipped that part, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings.  

The poor Marine that was in charge of instructing me alternated between laughing and telling me to aim for some place other then the left side of the target.  He kept asking me if I was aiming - I told him I was not even LOOKING much less aiming.  All in all if you need a qualified sharpshooter, I may not be your woman!

Three days later we are marching in the Veterans Day parade with the scouts. We really enjoyed doing it last year although I think the kids would say the best part was going up to the Veterans and shaking their hands.  

Lilly's 12th birthday is November 12th.  We usually try to have her party on the 11th since it is a day off from school, but with the overnight in Twenty Nine Palms just a few days before, there was NO WAY I could make that turn. So she actually had her birthday party on her actual birthday!  I turned over total creative control to Lilly earlier in the fall on the premise that it would not be a sleepover.  So basically all I had to do was foot the bill.  She picked her theme, planned the whole thing and did all the work!  Best birthday ever - for me!!  We pawned Ben off with a friend so he would not wreck it and the girls had free range of the place. They started off with some light trampolining (I am quite sure the recommended weight and number of people bouncing was exceeded - shhhhh). Afterwards they moved on to the crafting portion of the event.  They even found some time to jump in the pool!!  Lilly finally got her pool party she has always wanted.  We squeezed in cake and presents and then suddenly it was over.  Best.birthday party.ever.

Waking up the next day we discovered a Hot Air Balloon launch was going on. Apparently it was a secret because we had no idea it was happening. Yuma events on Facebook let me down - AGAIN!

No Hot Air Ballooning for us that day friends.  We had other plans - hiking up Telegraph Pass, much to Lilly's chagrin.  She "claims" that we only do extremely strenuous activities on her birthday.  She may have a point.  Unfortunately for her the weather is too hot in July (Lucy) for such activities and in February we try to go skiing (Ben).  Sorry about your luck Lilly!

Telegraph Pass is a great hike, but the ending is pretty much a vertical climb. So while it starts out fairly easy, it quickly escalates.  Doughnuts from the Doughnut corral really help in getting everyone up the mountain.

To reward Lilly for agreeing to do the hike we took her out for her favorite meal - Sushi!  Ben of course was unhappy, but it wasn't his birthday so he just had to find something he would eat and be quiet!

As luck would have it the shopping center was ringing in the winter season and brought in a truck load of SNOW!  The kids had a ball!

Moving right along, Jim was invited to be a guest speaker at his friend AJ's Ball! WOW!  We are really getting old if he is being asked to be a speaker!!! As much as I like his friends, there was ZERO chance of me going with him to San Diego (even though I love San Diego) to attend this ball.  He needed a boys night out and I needed for him to have one! So it was a win-win!

Suddenly it is Thanksgiving.  For the past 4 years we have run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving but Yuma's trot was two weeks earlier.  So we just put on the shirts from last year and made our own.  The kids were THRILLED - Not.  I signed them up for the Hot Chocolate 5K in Scotsdale next month so this is a warm up for that event.

Because I am married to someone who CAN NOT do anything on a small scale we are hosting about 40 people for Thanksgiving dinner.  Everyone is bringing something so it isn't like we are preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 40.  I am excited to have everyone come over, I just hope there are no disasters.  

This is the only photo we took, the whole day. Oops!  

Our neighbor down the street had all the Osprey pilots and their families over for their own Thanksgiving extravaganza but we all came together for a little friendly game of touch football in the back yard.  Looks like everyone had a blast.  

One thing that happened earlier in the month that didn't get any coverage was the rain gutter regatta.  The girls had their version of it the week before the boys so I had a chance to "fix" some critical errors in our design.  I am happy to report that Ben won for the entire Troop!  Last year he lost in his first heat, so I think it is safe to say that he took that loss and turned it around!  Yeah Ben!!