~Life is good~

We are enjoying the little things, enjoying the girls at each of their stages, and enjoying our new life in Maricopa. Sounds so cliche, but there is a lot to be thankful for! Aside from the obvious (a job in this economy, a roof over our heads, our health, etc), it's easy to see the good in the small stuff too.

A baby who likes her crib!
During nap times and is *starting* to sleep there at night too! :)
I woke up at 7am and Camille was still in her crib! A first for her! Yea!

A daughter who LOVES school and does well.
She made the Principal's list and also got Student of the Month. I also love that her new school has quarterly assemblies to recognize all the students' achievements.
As student of the month, she got to add her hand print to the wall.
We are SO proud of you Julia!

A simple but beautiful backyard.
When we moved, we left behind a pool, a garden and a neat courtyard for the girls to play in. As much as we loved all that it was a LOT of work! It is nice to simplify and have a small, mostly self sufficient backyard. But, a warning to our family members with pools: you will be seeing even more of us in the summer! :)

Last but not least, a wonderful mother who stays for a week, helps out tremendously and loves to play with the kids. Aside from the obvious benefits of a grandmother's love, it also gives me precious time for cleaning the house and a little blogging (combined with above mentioned sleeping baby).
*I tried to stay in the room and join in the fun but Bella politely asked me to leave. :)

The Lamis Sisters

These two might be taking their act on the road soon. :)

Despite a room full of new toys, they LOVE singing into their "mics" which are just speaker stands that they decided to improvise with. They turn up the music and are such little performers. Behind them is their next favorite toy- the full length mirror (ie: the large TV screen while turned off).

They are so fun to watch!

Ringing in 2010

To ring in the New Year, we decided to go to Flagstaff to see the snow and try sledding with the girls.

Julia had a blast and was very daring! I was quite surprised since she is normally very cautious and afraid of things like this (like me). Chet sent her down one of the bigger hills (equipped with a few bumps) and she was hooked!

Bella however got wet as soon as we arrived. She had fun tromping through the deep drifts and playing with the snow with bare hands. She sledded a few times before crying "I can't feel my feet!". We tried to warn her but its hard containing a 5 yr old when playing in the snow.

This is where Bella stayed the rest of the afternoon.
And this is Camille during the entire afternoon as well- asleep in her sling. This little trooper stayed up most of New Year's Eve and was wiped out!

Merry Christmas!

This year's Christmas was wonderful- so full of joy, love and lots of wrapping! Thankfully, we were settled enough in this new house to fully enjoy all that the holiday brings. My family (parents and sisters family) were all in Idaho this year (we missed you guys!) so we spent both days with the Lamis side of the family. It is always so fun to be surrounded with family and all the cousins running around with their new toys.

Santa was good to us all this year! He brought us a Wii which has been a fun activity for the entire family. He probably figured we needed something to keep us busy in the 'Copa (Maricopa)! :)

Next up, New Year's Eve!



*Christmas morning. Camille is wondering what we all are doing up when its still dark out!

Chet and Camille with GG (Chet's grandma Dorothy)

Chet and his new Christmas pjs that Angie and Joe bought for him. They said that they thought of Chet when spotting this little treasure at the store. Hmmm... :)

Bella's big birthday bash

We finished our backyard just in time for Bella's birthday party at home. She chose a Fancy Nancy party- probably just to have an excuse to dress up in whatever outfit she wanted. It's always fun to have cousins and friends over and let them run around and just play. Then feed them sugary cupcakes and send everyone home! :)



*My nephew Isaac trying to lick his cupacke cone- cute!

*Why must all 5-8 yr olds hold up the bunny ears sign in every picture?!?!

Holiday happenings!

Whew- there is so much going on this month and its not even over! Earlier this month, we headed to Sedona for our annual trip to the Red Rock Light Display- my favorite family event! Unfortunately, our camera was showing an error message all night so we have no pictures. We all had a great time walking around with our hot cocoas deciding which display was our favorite.

We then headed to my parents house to celebrate Christmas a little early. They are in Idaho with my sister's family for the holidays this year. The girls were all for opening up gifts a little early this year!




*Julia and Bella LOVE to color. When we unpacked all the toys at our new house, Bella was most excited when we found the box with the crayons and papers! Ron also loves to color and they love coloring together. I hope they inherit Chet and Ron's artistic ability and not mine.

We also attempted to get our Christmas card photo taken. With 3 kids (one baby and one active 4 yr old), it was not easy but turned out well.




*This one makes me laugh. It is the only one that Camille was smiling in -she was ready but apparently the rest of us didn't get her memo! )


Camille is now crawling! It is so cute to see her learn new things each day and to realize that she is no longer confined to one spot. Just in time to spot the Christmas ornaments! For some reason, she has a favorite ornament and I will be surprised if it survives the season. Yes, I know I can just move up all the ornaments but my to do list these days is just too long! :)





Julia had her holiday recital at school. She loved getting dressed up in Christmas dress and performing. I love watching my these recitals and cannot wait until we have 2 in school next year!

~ Happy birthday Bella ~

Happy, happy birthday to my little sweet potato ( nickname from a book we read together)!! I can't believe you are 5 already! You make my heart melt and you make me laugh everyday, that is why you are so special. We all love you so much!