CHRISTMAS 2009...

MAGICAL...

LET IT SNOW....

let it snow, let it snow. That is the song my mom has playing on her phone when I call and I always laugh because I know it is snowing nonstop in Minneapolis, sorry Mom. Snow is no fun to live in, I do not like too shovel it, drive in it, walk or bike in it but

really, I do like snow. I like to look at it when I am inside by a warm fire. I also like to play in it because I do love to ski. But most of all I like to EAT IT on a warm beautiful Southern California December Day.

This place is the best!!!!!

YUMMY!!!!

They even have Christmas flavors like egg nog (pictured below), gingerbread and white chocolate peppermint.

My cute girl.

She was happy to watch us all eat and in a few months she will be able to taste all this good stuff she has been missing.

Snow would be no fun without enjoying it with family.

Thanks Kevin, Michelle and Kaleb for such a fun night out!!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

Get Cozy...

this is going to be one long post. I woke up this morning in pure amazement because we had no where to be and nothing to do for the first Saturday since the beginning of September. Where has the time gone?

My baby is already going to be 3 months old in a week.

I guess I will update starting with last weekend.

What a perfect day it was last Sunday to bless Shea. I think she realized she is special and needs to be just a little different than all her siblings so she screamed and I mean screamed through the whole thing. I knew we were in trouble when her eyes popped wide open as soon as that organ started to play. However she is an amazing baby and we adore her. She has been sleeping through the night for the last 2 weeks which I think officially makes her my favorite :) She is so sweet and loves to smile and coo.

and since we were all going to be together anyways we had our big

Dunkley Family Christmas Party

which is always a wonderful time.

I married into the most amazing family and truly feel blessed to be a part of it. We always have such a great time together and I enjoy their company so much.

Joe and his brothers

I did not think I was going to get cards out at all this year but luckily we were able to

take a moment and get a few family pictures.

No Christmas Season is complete without Santa. Our ward put on a great breakfast with Santa which means no standing in a long line at the mall, works for me.

Now lets talk about SOCCER which just ended for us once again not until mid December.

JOSH

This was his second attempt at soccer and Joe was the coach of his cute little team. Joe was long suffering and patient with these boys. They really only had 1 kid who actually played and they lost(got spanked) by every team they played. Josh will be retiring from soccer until he is old enough to sign a contract or something that he will actually play. He would practice hard and then come game time he would not play, he wanted to talk to his buddies, make funny faces and lift his shirt up in the air. He did look cute in his uniform :)

Little League here we come and sure hope it goes better.

TARYN

She had a great year and improved so much. We had a lot of fun at her games. Her favorite position is goalie but she did great at forward as well. Next year she will be playing competitive and that should be a lot of fun.

I think this picture is so funny because if you notice she has two different colored socks on. Each year at least one of my kids soccer socks disappear. Why, I will never know. This year Taryn's sock was lost after the first game and Anika lost both of her socks mid season. She ended up wearing a pair of Joe's dress socks, hey it worked.

ANIKA

She is the reason we were still playing in December. At the beginning of the Season we had a conversation that went a little bit like this Mom "Now Anika last year you had a really special team (they came in second and got the wild card spot to take them to the regionals) every year is a little different and no matter what I just want you to grow and have fun." Her team was really not that good but every week they did seem to be getting a little bit better. Well they peaked at the right time and ended up being the Cinderalla story of the season. They made it to the final game and this year they got it!!! Anika "Now Mom remember not every team is going to be the same. You have that right this one was even better." They loved playing under the lights and went on to regionals where they won, tied and lost one so they did not move on but it was another great year and she sure does love that trophy.

Sweet Shea had to endure soccer the moment she was born.

-ICE SKATING-

We were able to Ice Skate at the Irvine Spectrun (thanks for the hook-up, Michelle)

The kids loved it so much that we were there for just shy of 5 hours. It was such a beautiful day and the rink was not busy at all. It was a perfect afternoon.

Josh felt it necessary after going around for a few minutes to clean his skates, whatever.

We cannot wait to go again. The outdoor rink I would say is the way to go.

In December we also had a quick visit with Papa who flies in and out to catch an SC game. So this year was not the best season for them but the ride at the top for so many years has been a lot of fun and I think they will get back there again soon. As long as we beat Notre Dame and ucla I call the season a success.

FIGHT ON!!!

Joe looks a little scary here but it was early in the morning. I look even scarier so you will not see any pics of me that early.

December also brought us a visit from my Grandma. My kids love Great Grandma and we had a wonderful time with her staying with us. She is an amazing lady who raised 8 children and who is so in tune with her family. She plays such close attention too details and always remembers not only everyone's birthdays but all the little things they are into.

We love you Grandma!!!!!!!!

During Great Grandmas stay we had Lynnette come out so she could visit as well and celebrate Troy Boy turning 5. I love Troy he is such a cool unique kid. He is smart, organized (seriously, he gets annoyed when his room is messy and will pick things up if you ask) and very polite, he is a sweetheart. It was a windy but fun afternoon.

Something else unique about Troy is that he is the only kid I know who does not really like sugar and treats. That is not something that is a problem for any of my kids, especially Bryce.

We have been busy non stop baking (I think I am going to try and wait to take off the baby weight until January;) making crafts and decorating. Every year I wake up the day after Thanksgiving and I am ready to go. So fun.

The destruction, oh I mean decorating crew.

Anika found the pickle (a fun new tradition we do)

Moving onto Thanksgiving. It was wonderful and had all the greats, food, compnay, weather, food, conversation, gratitude and oh food!!!

My Anika put toghether these sweet place cards all by herself, I am so proud :)

This is the first time we ever did a Turkey and it cam out so good. Joe BBQ'd the thing and I thought it looked like it should be on the cover of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. YUM!!!

and since we are talking Turkey I thought I would end with my favorite one. This Turkey keeps stealing our camera and takes the funniest pictures. He always has us laughing.

We have been having a wonderfully busy Holiday Season.

I love this time of year!!!