Rainy days

In Mesa it just rains in the wintertime. So, I find myself soggy and happy that there is finally a change in the weather! Howard lit up our 5ft. ("just my size") Christmas tree this week with three strands of bright, white lights and I trimmed it with our brown, red, and green glittering ornaments. We made chocolate chip cookies and turned on the She and Him Christmas album. It was such a fun night and I definitely feel more in the Holiday spirit seeing that tree in our living room. 

Last Friday night I had a girls night out with my sister-in-laws (minus Jackie :(), Jodi, and all the oldest nieces of the family(amelia, riley, paige, tessa, and haven). We went out for dinner to Tia Rosa; afterwards, we went to see The Nutcracker in downtown Mesa. It was a fantastic performance and the girls were captivated. I loved looking down the row to see the little girls all perked on the edge of their seats with chins resting on the balcony railing and eyes wide. When the show ended we were invited to go backstage and meet the cast! Before we did that, however, the stage manager came out to show us some tricks of the trade. We saw the fog machines come to life and found out that the snow was made from potato flakes. Finally, the girls got to take pictures with the ballerinas, sit on the gum drop chair and look into Mother Ginger's skirt ;) It was a great night out. I will really miss being around my Arizona family. I can't believe we are leaving at the end of this month! Am I really moving... AgaIN?? I can't even look at a moving boxes yet, but I am sure that my house will magically pack it's self up in time.