Christmas Countdown

Saturday Dec. 18th

The week before Christmas, Bradock and Raylee were so excited that baby Kai...well not so baby anymore...got to come over and play. Brett (aka "The Baby Whisperer") worked his rocking magic and got this cute, little girl to fall asleep. Well, as you can see he rocked himself right into a nice snooze too.

Sunday Dec. 19th

What's Christmas without the traditional Sunday best in front of the tree? These two funny kiddos love working their poses for the camera; for Raylee it's her silly "cheese" face and well, GQ better watch out because Mr. B is ready to strut his stuff.

Monday Dec. 20th

For FHE before Christmas, the whole Flaherty fam got together. Aunt Char has been working super hard to make these adorable "Nativity" costumes for all the Flaherty great-grandchildren. The production was held in the Hawkins backyard and all the kids looked adorable. Of course, when you have that many kids (most of which are under the age of 4) you just have to roll with the punches. Raylee girl decided to be her stubborn self and not perform on command...well not perform at all (I have to remind myself that she is only 2)...so maybe next year. We did get some cute pics of the kids, though.

After we left the Hawkins, we rushed over to the Kartchner Family Christmas party. We had our traditional Mexican feast and lots of fun with the cousins. I didn't get many pics, but it was a fun night.

Wednesday Dec. 22nd

Yup...we did it...Rachel, my mom and I ran 22 miles early Wed. morning!!! What an awesome feeling to know we are so close to our goal now. We picked a little different course this time, which I loved waaaay better. We still started at Ellsworth and Broadway and ran up Usery Pass, turned left at the four-way stop and up to Power road then ran Brown road back to Ellsworth. I have decided that you just have good and bad running days because this 22 miles felt much easier than the previous 20 mile run that we did. My feet were a little sore a couple days later, but after configuring my shoelaces differently I should be good to go for race day.

Later that evening we had a fun night with just the Flaherty fam. We decided to forgo the mess of cooking and went out to eat at Charlestons (I think that should become a tradition...yummy!) We then went back to my in-laws for a fun night of stories, games and presents. Bradock loved his new Tech Deck skateboards from the Gonzalez's and cowboy/hunting guns from Grandma. Raylee loves her new American Girl doll, Josefina, that Grandma got her and the cute dollhouse from the Halls.

Thursday Dec. 23rd

Since Sarah and Chance weren't going to be able to join us up in Pinetop for Christmas we celebrated with them on Thursday. We went out to eat at the new Matta's restaurant at Riverview and then headed back to my parent's condo for presents and games. Sarah got me a really cute purse and the kids love their new games...especially "Hot Potato".

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning I was awakened by my phone loudly ringing and trying to not wake everyone I groggily answered hello and well dang it my mom totally beat me at "Christmas Eve gift". That's ok, she should win won once in awhile..hehehe!! Well, after fully waking up I headed to the gym to teach my Friday morning class and it was so fun because my mom, Sarah, Justin and my sister's friend who also happens to be my brother's new love interest (don't kill me for saying that Bubba:) came to support and have a fun time in the water. Afterwards, I went home, finished packing and got in the truck to head up to Pinetop for a hopeful white Christmas (we didn't luck out this year). Mr. B decided he wanted to ride with Grandma, so Raylee got the whole backseat all to herself. My tired, little girl totally konked out after rocking her little baby to sleep...so adorable! We enjoyed a fun Christmas Eve dinner with my parents and gave our Christmas jar away.

Christmas

Well, it was a miracle, but Santa somehow found us in Pinetop and boy did we get lucky. Bradock and Raylee both got scooters and were absolutely hooked up with some fun gifts from Grandma and Papa. They got lots of new movies, games and toys. Mr. B got a Buzz computer game and his Buzzlight Year wings, which is all he's been asking for since we started talking about Christmas. Raylee got a Toy Story Jesse doll, a princess cd player, a play-doh set and dress up high heels. My mom and dad totally went all out this year and got Brett a brand new hunting bow and case, which him and my dad spent shooting all Christmas day. I got a new iPad, which totally rocks. It was seriously a great Christmas! We had a fun day of playing, watching movies and eating some fantastic food.

Sunday Dec. 26th

The day after Christmas we got to get in our Sunday best again and take a few more pics in front of my parent's tree. We went to church, ate leftovers, watched a movie and then made the drive home late Sunday night. Just as we got out of the Salt River Canyon and just before Globe, Brett decided to pass a few slow cars and just as we are in the opposing traffic's lane a huge, dog came darting across the road and we hit it head on. It seriously scared the living daylights out of me and my heart was beating a million miles a minute. When we got to Globe to stop for a break, we took a look at the bumper and found blood and hair on it...so gross...but luckily no damage!