Here comes Santa Claus

So I took Amy to the mall to see Santa yesterday. They have changed the set-up from just the normal picture spot. Norad Tracks Santa was the sponsor this year. Some of you may have heard of Norad Santa tracker before, but just in case you haven't, this is what it is.

About NORAD
NORAD is the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defense of the United States and Canada. NORAD, created by a 1958 agreement between Canada and the United States, provides advanced warning of impending missile and air attack against its member nations, safeguards the air sovereignty of North America, and maintains airborne forces for defense against attack.

So Norad has set up a Santa tracker where kids can go to their website on Christmas Eve and see where in the world Santa is. It is really fun to do with the kids. Here is the link http://www.noradsanta.org/

There were multiple interactive things for the kids to do while waiting in line. There were things to read to the kids and then there were trivia questions to ask them. They taught them about satelites, gps units, and the different time zones. It was nice to have something to do while we were in line.

This was a map listing all the diffent time zones throughout the world. They could drag Santa and his sleigh through all of them.
Cute picture by a Christmas tree just before we got to the front of the line.

Santa was asking if she has been a good girl this year. She looks like she is thinking really hard.

Ok, confession time is over. Smile for the picture.

He is such a great Santa, real beard and all. This mall has the same guy every year.

Top Gun

My brother-in-law Matt is a Navy Pilot and last weekend graduated from Top Gun. The whole family went to Fallon, NV to see him get his diploma and celebrate such a great accomplishment. We are so proud of you Matt.

The day before the graduation we got to see him in his final Top Gun flight. We got a tour of the base and watched them take off. They flew right above us. It was amazing.

Here he is getting his diploma.
Here is the whole family after graduation.

Matt and his two nieces, Lexi and Amy.

Amy posing with the jet planes on base.

Amy just posing.
The whole family.

We had such an amazing time. It was such a special occation and to spend it with the whole family made it even better. Love you all.

Random Pictures of Amy and Family while in Reno

Here are some fun pictures of Amy and the family over the weekend. We had such a great time being together. As you can see, Amy really loves her little cousin Lexi.

I love this picture of Amy and her Aunt Lizzie. She always has so much fun when they are together.
Amy just loves her Uncle Matt. She came up to Mike and I and said "I love Uncle Matt. I just can't get enough of him". I thought it was so cute.

Amy and her Aunt Megan in Sams Club. They had races down the aisle.
Lexi is such a sweetheart. I hadn't seen her since she was a month old. Now she is 7 months old and just adorable. I had so much fun playing with her.

Amy loves being goofy with Uncle Elias. They are like two peas in a pod when they are together.

Amy let Lexi hold her special pink blanket.

My cousin Nichelle who lives in Reno, came to see us while we were in town. I haven't seen her in so long. I am so glad we got to see her. Amy loved getting to know her again.

Here is Lexi wearing Amy's sunglasses. "No pictures please".

Pa holding his two grandaughters.

O'Ma and her two great-grandaughters.

Amy holding Lexi. I think Lexi looks like a cabbage patch doll here. Such a cutie.

Amy thought it was so fun to make Lexi laugh. This was so cute.

Ready, Set, Cut

Amy has been asking to cut her hair short for a while now. I have been putting it off and putting it off because I just love her long curls. So I finally told her that she could go as short as her shoulders. Believe me when I say that it was much harder on me than it was on her. Here she is just before it was braided. Look how long it was!

Cutting off the braid. We cut it below the shoulders because her curls lift it up so much.
Getting it styled and blown dry.

Getting her first look. At least she was smiling.

The final hair style. Look how old she looks.

Remembering December 7, 1941

I know this is a day late but still important to remember the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. We went to Hawaii in June and had the privilege of visiting Pearl Harbor for the first time. Nothing prepares you for the feelings you experience when you visit the Arizona Memorial. The love, sorrow and gratitude you feel for these men is hard to explain. I think what suprised me the most was how Amy responded. We explained to her the events of what had happened that day and she also watched the movie they show you before you go out to the memorial. When we were there she was very quiet. When she looked into the water, she asked if that was the boat the people were in. I was suprised at how much she understood and it actually brough tears to her eyes.

Then what really got me choked up was when we went into the room with all the names on the wall. She asked what it was and we told her it was the names of all the people who died that day. She started crying. Here ia a picture of Mike holding her. Then she got down and looked closer and found someone with the last name Hopkins and started to cry again.

Visiting the memorial truly brings to life what happened that day. It reminded me how lucky I am to live here in this country where men and women of our military are willing to fight and die for our freedom.

Getting Ready for Christmas

I finally got the Christmas decorations out. Amy was so excited to decorate the tree and she did a great job. Everytime she picked up an ornament she asked if it was a special one. If I said yes, she said that she would be very carefull with it and she held it like it was going to break in her hands. It was cute.



The tree is finally done. Not a very big one but it was fun to decorate. I love putting up our decorations every year.

It is a tradition in our family to have Santa's elves come to our house. They keep an eye on Amy and make sure she is being a good girl. Starting December 1st one elf arrives everyday until Christmas Eve. They hide somewhere in the house and Amy looks for the hidden elf every morning when she wakes up. The first day a "personal elf" comes in the form of a doll. This is the only elf she is able to play with. On Christmas Eve they slowly start leaving the house throughtout the day until they are all gone.

Ths is Amy with her elf. She loves that she has curly hair just like her.