Christmas Concert, Florida Keys, Christmas ~ December 15th - 31st

Audrey's sweet pre-school teachers Mrs. Karen and Mrs. Beth are so good to Audrey.  She had a Christmas concert and was so excited to be an angel.  She sang each song with a big smile and swayed or bounced (not standing still) the whole concert.  Shirley, our adapted grandma, came too so it was extra special.  

Aaron, Audrey and I graduated to a blue belt.  We did our form with the bow staff and had a great time. I love these pics of Audrey and Aaron! Totally shows their personalities.  

Aaron's choir sang carols in the hallways of his school.  I love that he enjoys singing and hope he always will!

I joined Aaron's class for their "holiday" party.  They made book marks to send to kids in another country, raced to decorate a fellow student as a snowman using toilet paper and construction paper, and enjoyed some treats. We really like his teacher Mr. Santore and pitched in for a class gift.

Sweet Kathy sent this gorgeous flower arrangement in a Christmas tree ball.  I love it!!!

Grandma and Grandpa left after spending a wonderful few weeks with us and days later Grammy, Papa, and Aunt Kathy arrived.  Papa brought a nativity set to put together with the kids.  They loved it!

We invited our special friends the Delgados to make a traditional Mexican Christmas meal.  We made tamales, pozole and a hot punch with lots of fruits in it.  It was a lot of work! And so good! I'd gladly make this a tradition.

Thanks to amazing in-laws Aaron and I were able to have a 2 day getaway to the Florida Keys. Such a needed vacation after a super stressful time in Aaron's work and my organizing the Nativity Festival. We ate yummy food, went swimming, walked all around site seeing when we weren't relaxing. I love beach cities and all the unique shops and beach themed decorations!  Our favorite true vacations always include a beach!

While we were away Grammy and Kathy took Aaron to his school to decorate the "birthday rock".  He obviously decorated it with a Minecraft theme.  It had just finished raining but they braved the cold and wet to help him make a memory on his birthday.  We had his party when we got back from Florida.

I have always wanted to go sailing and Aaron made it happen.  I was so fascinated with the sails and how they went up and how majestic they seemed to me.  I didn't include all the pictures I took but there are several.  We loved our experience, but unfortunately we didn't have good wind so we didn't get to go very fast.  I'm so thankful to have had such a unique adventure with Aaron!

Yes we steered the boat for awhile.  "I'm sailing, I'm a sailor, ahoy!"

                                                                            

We had the most delicious and famous key lime pie! We even brought one home with us!

It was pretty cool being at the most southern tip of the US. We had to get a pedi cab to take us there since it was too far to walk and real cabs were scarce.  It made for an adventure!

Chocolate covered key lime pie anyone?

Exciting, thrilling and a little terrifying is how I'd describe our jet ski tour. The ocean has so many big waves and you have to stay a good distance behind the person your following so that if they fall off you don't run them over.  My hands were sore from gripping the handles so tightly fighting to stay on my jet ski but you had to go fast to stay on top of the waves or your ride was even rougher.  So glad to have had the experience but don't think I'll do it again in the ocean.  

The in-laws spend a day with the kids at the Discovery Place.  They enjoyed 3D movies, building things, and even had fun on a bed of nails.

Back to life, but I loved this poinsettia tree at the airport!

The Roome Family train finally made its way out of the boxes for all to enjoy! 

Santa has arrived and we are ready to celebrate Christmas after reading of the birth of Jesus in the bible.

I think they are ready... just waiting for daddy!

Now the party can start! LOL!

The kids love handing everyone their presents.  We got very spoiled by our siblings who had our name this year!  

We love getting hand made gifts from the kids.  I love how excited they get to give them to us!

Each year we make a calendar for all the grand and great grand parents.

A favorite gift from Aunt Kathy to me was the softest blanket ever!!

The kids loved getting snow pants because that meant we were going to go somewhere where there would actually be snow!

A very special family Christmas gift was in a big box with lots of balloons with Disney characters on them.  It took a bit for the kids to guess what it meant, but soon were told that we were going to Disney world in February.  

We also loved the Wyoming shirts, bows and hat we got from Aunt Cristy!  We are very proud to have cowboy blood in our veins!

We went to see thousands of lights at the NASCAR speedway. We drove our van all around the grounds and a little tiny part of the track. So fun!

 Don't mess with this cowgirl in her pink foam hat!

The big 10th birthday for Aaron this year.  We usually have a party at the beginning of December to give it more attention since its really only 2 days before Christmas. This year we had it after Christmas and allowed Audrey to open her birthday presents from Grammy and Papa early so they could see her.

Shirley joined us for the party and everyone had a great time.

Our traditional gingerbread houses were made a little late this year, but we didn't care.  We also made a Frozen castle.  Almost as much candy was consumed as was placed on the gingerbread creations.

A favorite gift was Juggle Bubbles.  We had a great time playing around with them and even made some really big bubbles.  I love their facial expressions!

 AJ has begged to do the soda and Mentos experiment and so we did.  It was pretty cool, but watching the kids reactions was my favorite part. 

 It got cold enough to make ice and AJ was sooo thrilled!  Can't you tell!! This boy loves all things weather related. Rain, snow, frost, fog, and of course the weather channel.  

A happy New Years Eve was spent with some great friends and yes we have princess crowns!!