Merry Christmas!

Santa did not disappoint this year! Luckily he came through! Christmas morning was super fun. The kids got to go in and peak to see if he came and sure enough he made it here! You could almost reach out and grab the excitement in the air. Santa wrapped most of his gifts and it was lots of fun opening the presents.

The kids all got pillow pets, Carly and Anna wanted them the most. Mac was excited to have something like Anna and Carly and Brad could not have cared less about his.

Brad was, however, stoked about the Lucky Charms Santa left! He opened them right up and started picking out the marshmallows immediately. He didn't care about much else, just the Lucky Charms and fruit snacks in his stocking.

Anna got a Littlest Pet Shop Clubhouse, clothes and some new earrings.

Carly got a pogo stick, jewelry box and clothes.

Mac got a remote control Hiro train and new cars. Brad got his own Thomas the Train, so Mac doesn't have to part with his (ever), and a big box of Huggies Wipes! Thank you Santa!
Our family gift were these Plasma Cars. The kids have had lots of fun with them and can get going pretty fast on them. Plus, they don't require shoes. What a fun morning and day! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve! After a super yummy dinner we dressed up in our costumes for the nativity.

Mac was the donkey... with a shepherd hat. That is what he wanted to be and it was Christmas Eve so who was I to say otherwise?

Anna decided this year she wanted to be a shepherd. She has been all the others so she wanted to try out the shepherd.

Carly will never pass up the opportunity to be Mary. She is very motherly so this fits her perfect.

Brad was the entertainment. As soon as he knew it was an option to ride on the backs of others, he was hooked! After the nativity we went caroling to some friends and came back and played games. The kids went to bed about 10 but Anna could not fall asleep until after 12. She was so excited for Christmas! All that adreneline! Brad decided to party with us from 3-5 am so needless to say McKay and I were pretty pooped out on Christmas morning. We tried to be as happy as possible. All the kids in their Christmas PJs. Anyone know where I can find some PJs with magical sleeping powers?

Barlow Family Pictures

We took some pictures before a Christmas Party in Palmdale of everyone together and here is the final result. Pretty good I think! Plus it was our shortest photo session ever - which makes them look even more amazing in my mind.

Christmas Treats and Santa

Anna and Carly each make treats at school and brought them home. Since we have a major ant problem they had to eat them promptly and they were thrown away. Way to go girls.

Luckily Santa came to our Ward Christmas Party because we had not seen him yet this year. We had a pajama breakfast that was fabulous. The kids had a great time and we stayed forever because McKay was doing marathon church work. What is better as a kid than running around the gym at the church?

Brad wanted nothing to do with Santa. He calls him "ho ho" but got about three feet from him and turn and ran.

Mac's Preschool Christmas Program

Mac goes to preschool down the street from our house. Mrs. Kathleen does a great job with her five star students. They put on a Christmas program for their parents. They sang three songs and each of them had a speaking part. It was super cute and Mac did awesome. He sang his heart out on Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. For Silent Night they did sign language and it was very cute.

Mrs. Kathleen talked about each of her students and gave them a Christmas present. She said Mac was the peacemaker of the preschool. He is always willing to share and is so kind to the other children. It was a great night.

Two Parades in One Day

So I decided I am officially crazy if I will take four kids to two parades on the same day. In the morning was the Camarillo Christmas Parade. McKay had to work so I took the four kids. Luckily we have great friends who saved us seats in the shade (yes it was December 11 and we were worried about getting seats in the shade.) The kids had a great time and we stayed until the bitter end.

Brad was pretty good and his running in the street wasn't really a problem because there were so often times of no action.

Later that night we went to our second parade at Channel Islands Harbor. We got to see the boats with all of their Christmas lights. It was a little colder but still fun. Grandpa Barlow treated us to Topper's Pizza before so our stomach's were happy!

I was pretty tired by the time the day was over but so often I am looking for things to do when McKay is working on a Saturday. The Parades were a great option to kill 5 hours.

Disneyland!

Anna was lucky enough to be able to go to Disneyland with Corrine, Alisa and Kate. Corrine and Alisa take all of the neices and nephews for their eighth birthday. Anna had been looking forward to this day for a very long time. She had so much fun and is a roller coaster queen! She didn't want to go to any shows because then she might miss her chance to go on a fast ride. Her favorites were Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn. She is kind of a closet thrill seeker. She also discovered her love for churros, thanks to Kate. Even though she got home at almost midnight she still got up at 7 to go to school the next day. Needless to say she had the time of her life! Thank you thank you fun aunts!

Anna's Baptism

"The reason it is great to be eight is because you get to be baptized." A quote from Anna herself. It was a super special day for our family. Anna was baptized by McKay a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was a little nervous but mostly excited. We were so lucky and had lots of our family in town.

Before being baptized. Anna said the water was freezing but she was beaming when she came out.
Our family after the baptism.

Anna and me after her baptism.

We had a dinner afterward at Grandma Barlows (thank you!) Everyone was able to come and continue celebrating. Anna wanted to leave her dress on the whole night - it is pretty unlike her - she ususally is the first one who wants to change.
Brad on her happy day.

Mac on her happy day.



Carly on her happy day.

Eating dinner.

Corrine made Anna's baptism dress. It was sooo beautiful! Corrine is a very talented sewer and took a lot of time out of her busy schedule to do this for Anna. Thanks Corrine!

It was such a great day! This picture sums it all up! We have so much to be grateful for! Thank you everyone.

Reflections Round 2

Both girl's photos and Anna's poem won and are now at the county level for the Reflections program. Good job girls!