Ari made up little "houses" for Maya and him out of the kitchen chairs

The other day I noticed Maya had disappeared into her room.  Thinking she was probably filling a diaper I went in to check on her.  To my surprise she had wrapped her dinosaur in a blanket and was rocking it in the rocking chair.  I guess even if she wants to be like her brother the girlishness in her comes out!

Maya and Ari wanted to get their animals dressed for bed too!

Ari making his own "Dinosaur train!"

Last Friday after our family hike Peter and I got to do a hike without the kids!!  We had two cars so Nana and Papa took the kids and let us have a little Friday night date:) The kids were wiped out and slept in the car almost the whole way home!  We decided to do a 5miler called Devil’s Garden.  At one point you have to scramble up boulders and then walk along the “fin” which meant we had a steep drop off on both sides!  Thankfully the ground was dry and sky was clear.  It felt so good to get out just Pete and I…hiking is one thing we really enjoy but with kids you can only go so far.  Thanks Nana and Papa!

Here’s a few more pics from Balanced Rock, a site we stopped at before heading to delicate arch

We took Nana and Papa down to Moab on Wednesday and visited Arches National Park on Friday.  It was cold but great hiking weather!  The kids did great in the car…they did great hiking too but had to be carried on the 3miler to the delicate arch.  We for sure won’t forget Maya’s backpack next time!  She got super tired toward the end and looked like this:

Ari on the other hand loved his little binoculars.   They let you check them out at the visitor’s center and Ari didn’t want to give them back!

Despite the rough ending of the hike they kids really did have fun with all the rocks

Nana and Papa (my parents) were able to come out this week and we had a blast.  The kids just adore their Nana and Papa and well I think the feeling is mutual!  We had a be-lated Christmas with them (Ari got a Thomas train set and Maya a little kitchen).  In the week they also made cookies, and took the kids to the dinosaur museum and Farm Country at Thanksgiving point.  We also spend two days in Moab but that will have to be its own post tomorrow!  Thanks for a great week guys!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care...well under the window:)

With two little ones Peter and I were really excited for Christmas morning.  Of course it started like usual with Maya getting up at 5:45am.  It’s Christmas I reasoned I can’t let her cry it out so instead I got her up and let her play in our room until Ari woke up.  Ari forgot it was Christmas but his face sure lit up when we reminded him.  It was really cute to see them run out to the living room.  Maya had a little rocking horse unwrapped so the first thing she did was to jump up on it.  Ari’s were all wrapped but he loved the dinosaurs Santa brought him.  Maya also got a baby doll from Santa that she just loves. Here she is feeding her water.

Ari’s other present from Santa was a motorized crane from the Thomas the train set.  Ari’s the kid who had made his own cranes out of string or wire for the last 6months.  He honestly has not stopped playing with this one!

Maya also got a little push car that she loves.  Her baby even fits in front!

Ari also got some dinosaur stamps…two of his favorite things…dinos and stamps!  Thank goodness they are washable!

Hope this weekend is wonderful for each of you!  We sent out our family newsletter by email this year.  If you did not receive one let me know in the comments and it will be sent right away;)

With my new flash aimed directly at subject

With new flash aimed above subject

With the OLD flash!

So I know you didn’t really enjoy seeing the toys on our floor…but can you see the difference?