This year we spent Christmas in Arizona with Miles family. It was wonderful! I told Miles we can live in Arizona, but only in the winter! Much of our 9-day vacation was spent enjoying the beautiful weather. It felt great to get outside and stretch our legs.

We got to see Santa twice during the Christmas season. And here’s our story about Link and Santa this year. Lincoln and I were doing a little Christmas shopping when I tried to sneak a hockey stick into the cart without Link knowing. I wasn’t successful. He kept asking over and over for the hockey stick. Finally when it was hidden away in the trunk, I told him Santa had it and he would bring it to him on Christmas. So, when we visited Santa at Bass Pro Shop in Arizona, Link asked Santa for his hockey stick. Link was perplexed when Santa just smiled and set him down. He was expecting Santa to give him his hockey stick right then! Needless to say, it took a little more explanation and Link was happy to see his hockey stick under the tree Christmas morning.

We sorta forgot Santa was in this picture!

Ever since Claire was born, the thought of the long car-trip to Arizona for Christmas haunted me. For the first few months of life, Claire couldn’t even make the five-minute drive to Walmart without screaming her head off. I’m telling you a miracle took place. She was an angel on this trip.

This is her chillin’ in her carseat:

The unfortunate part of our vacation was that I got sick a few days before Christmas. Christmas Eve the infection really hit. I hadn’t been that sick in years and years. I was so grateful to Miles and his family for taking care of the kids so I could rest. The day before we left I was able to go into an urgent care where I found out I had bronchitis, an ear infection, and a sinus infection. Luckily I felt good enough to travel home the next day.

One of the consequences of mommy not feeling well is a lack of Christmas photos. I feel bad since it was Claire’s first Christmas and all. Lacey and Grandpa Pomeroy, could you send me any of the pictures you may have taken?

While I was sick, Miles and Grandpa took the kids on a couple fun excursions—the Casa Grande Ruins and to a train park.

Link getting off the train ride.

Grandpa Pomeroy and Link riding on the train.

Link loved this train car. Daddy said he played just like this for more than 45 minutes. He has a great imagination!

At the Casa Grande Ruins.

And here are a few pictures of the family at the park across the street.

Claire and Aunt Lynda. Cute!

Adorable cousin Aidan.

Link cheering on his daddy playing football.

Boy, that was a patchwork post. Sorry everything was so scrambled. The bottom line is this, we had a very Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed a full weekend of Halloween festivities. Friday we took the kids trick-or-treating at Miles’ work. It was really fun. They went all out with balloons, haunted houses, lots and lots of candy, and people dressed up.

Friday night we went to our ward “Fall Festival” aka Halloween party. People thought we were weirdos decked out in our blue costumes. It was funny all the things people thought Miles and I were dressed as. Some of the guesses included Avatar peeps, Blue Man Group, Blue Berries, and X-Men. The real answer: we were a “Pair of Blue Jeans.” Ha ha ha. Aren’t we creative?

Saturday morning we drove down to St. George to spend Halloween with my family. Link entertained himself on the trip by eating candy. Spending Halloween with my family has become a tradition. We’ve been partying on Halloween for the past 10 years or so. The first time Miles met my family was on a Halloween night.

Lincoln had a blast with his cousins as usual, and everyone was ga ga over how cute Claire is. We were really looking forward to taking Link Trick-or-Treating. He made it to two houses before he asked to be carried. The last half he slept in his Dad’s arms. I guess too much fun exhausted the poor kid.

Fall is definately my favorite time of year. I missed it living in California where the leaves seem to stay green and on the trees all year long. I get this excitement and energy in the fall.

Some Fall activities we’ve done in the last couple weeks include: going to the pumpkin patch, walking though a corn maize, making caramel apples, canning homemade applesauce, driving through the canyon to see the beautiful changing colors, buying Halloween costumes, getting our warm clothes out of storage, and celebrating my birthday.

Claire, you are so beautiful! Not just because of your perfect lips, bright eyes, and cute little nose. You melt our hearts with your energetic smile and inviting gazes. Everyone comments on how beautiful you are. Just today, a stranger approached me just to tell me how cute you are—a common occurrence. You have forever changed our family for the better. We are so blessed that God chose to send you to us. We are trying to live up to the honor it is to be your parents. We love you more and more each day, and look forward to getting to know your sweet soul.

We blessed our little Claire Michelle Pomeroy yesterday. Miles did a wonderful job blessing her. She was perfectly content before and after, but cried during the blessing. I couldn’t help but smile when Miles blessed her with a “kind and happy disposition.”

Both of our families were in town for the event. Miles’ family drove all the way from Mesa, AZ and stayed with us for three nights. My family got a hotel nearby. We had so much fun with both families. On Saturday we took the Trax to Temple Square. It was a bit of a challenge herding our big crowd around, but it was great just being together. My favorite time was spent just hanging out and chatting with everybody. It’s awesome that our families get along so well! It’s too bad it only happens every few years.

We feel so blessed to have so much love and support!