Party Pounds

For the last few months we have been constantly eating and partying.  We started with Thanksgiving and continued pigging out all through December, and then both of our birthdays are in January so there's lots of cake and restaurant meals to be eaten.  We've enjoyed all of this gluttony, but now we need to get started on a strenuous exercise plan to take care of all these extra pounds.  Volleyball anyone?

(Ha ha John, your eyes are closed!)

Phoenix

Spencer and I were lucky to enjoy a quick trip to Phoenix this weekend.  We celebrated Spencer's Grandpa's 90th birthday.  He is such a cute little cowboy!

We love spending time with Grandpa Rollins, he has such great stories to tell.  Spencer and I sang a silly song in the family talent show about the time Grandpa traded their refrigerator for a horse and how unhappy Grandma Lois was when she found out.  The song was to the tune, "There's a hole in my bucket".

We enjoyed going to Grandpa's ward and then took some nice photos of the handsome Rollins men.

Grandpa Rollins has trained horses his whole life.  I was able to go to my first horse race while we were in Phoenix.  Spencer bet a couple dollars on his Grandpa's and his cousin's horses and was proud that he won about forty dollars.

I had a fun time with Spencer, John and Nate riding around in the cart, touring Grandpa's ranch.

We enjoyed visiting the horses on Grandpa's ranch.  I was a little nervous at first, but Spencer talked me into petting a couple horses.

Our kids were happy to stay at Grandma Collier's house while Spencer and I were gone the two days.  We didn't have much time for shopping, so their only souvenirs were the free hats we got at the race track.

Big Ball

My kids love playing with my big exercise ball, but Leia and Peter found out that it can be a little dangerous when they bonked heads while climbing on the ball.  Peter had a huge purple goose-egg on his forehead, and Leia's head was bruised too even though you can't see it in the photo.  Crazy Kids!

Our Family Christmas

On Chrismas Eve, our kids were lucky to be able to visit with Santa with both their Collier and Rollins Grandparents and cousins.  Peter absolutely loved seeing "Ho Ho Ho"!

We were extremely surprised Christmas morning this year, when Spencer and I were the first ones to wake up.  We were actually able to shower and get ready before the kids came running into our room.  It was good that the kids got a good nights sleep, because we had a long, exciting, fun day ahead of us.

Our kids enjoyed opening their presents and giving their presents to each other at home.  We asked Ammon what his favorite present was and he excitedly replied that it was his new sword from Leia (from the $1 store), not the new DS from Santa.

After we finished Christmasing at home, we spent the rest of the day celebrating with Grandparents and family.  Ammon and Caleb were so cute playing their new Buzz Lightyear games in their new Buzz Lightyear pajamas.

Grandma Rollins always gives everyone cute matching pajamas for Christmas.  Shaylee and Leia loved their fuzzy new jammies.

Uncle Nathan is really good at making Scrooge faces, but he sure had a big smile when the wrapping paper wrestling match started!

All the big kids and little kids rolled around, throwing wrapping paper and boxes at each other.  Peter continued rolling and wrestling longer than anyone else.  We are very grateful for all the fun time we are able to spend with our families, especially during the holidays!