Arizona

We traveled to Arizona the day after Christmas to spend a week with family and friends. We left on the 26th and drove half way to Las Vegas and stayed the night. This helped break up the 12 hour trip into two days. We stayed at the Platinum Hotel and Ashley had a blast running around the hotel suite. She also liked how big the jacuzzi bathtub was, but wanted to get out as soon as we turned the bubbles on. I wish I had taken some pictures, but we were so tired from the 6 hour drive. On Saturday the 27th we woke and drove from Vegas to Mesa, where we were staying at Chris' parent's house. Chris' friend Jake was moving to Utah, so Chris left early Monday morning to drive the Uhaul with Jake back to Utah, and left me in Arizona to spend the week with the girls and also so I could have the car for the week. Chris was hoping to stay the whole week as well, but he had to get back to work on Tuesday morning. We had a really great week. My sister and her family (from New Mexico) were staying the week at my moms house so I spent most of my days there. At the beginning of the week, my dad took my sister and me, and our kids to McDonald's so the kids could play. I've never taken Ashley to the playland in McDonald's because she isn't old enough to crawl up to the tunnels by herself. She had her older cousins help this time so she was so excited. I couldn't get her to come eat; she only wanted to play! My niece Eva had her 4th Birthday while we were in Arizona. My brother threw a party for her at Makutos Island down on Ray Rd and I-10. It's a huge indoor playland with large slides and tunnels. I thought Ashley would be too scared to go down the really big slides, but she wanted to go down them over and over again. My Ashley seems to have no fear! After the party, we headed over to my brothers house, where Ashley and my nieces played dress up.

Madison enjoyed a nap with Grandpa while we were in Arizona too.






My parents wanted to take their children out to dinner without the grandkids so we would have a chance to talk. We had a great time at Texas Roadhouse but we were sorry not all of us could be there. (Chris was still in Utah, Camille had already returned to Utah after visiting for a few days, and Nathan and Bethanne had gone out of town.)

Madison's Baby Blessing

Since we were going to be in Arizona around Christmas time, we wanted to bless Madison while we were there, so our family could be with us. We blessed Madison on Sunday, December 28, 2008. We were so glad to share this beautiful experience with family. I am so grateful for this new addition to our family. She has been such a joy and blessing.

Christmas Snowstorm

We had a huge storm come through on Christmas and the morning after Christmas. We got at least a foot of snow. I love when it snows, but I also love when it melts so the roads aren't slushy and the sidewalks aren't icy.

Christmas Day 2008

This is the first year that Ashley understood that Santa would be coming to our house. She was so excited when she came out Christmas morning and saw that Santa had brought her a new tricycle. She immediately hopped on it and started riding it around the house. That's when she noticed the other presents under the tree and wanted to open those. She had said she wanted Santa to bring her a guitar and dolly, and she was blessed to get both. (Thanks Nana for the dolly!) She also loves dinosaurs and Nana and Grandpa sent her a huge stuffed dinosaur that she tried to sit on and ride.

Christmas Baking

The Saturday before Christmas my friend Kathy invited me over for a day of baking. We spent the entire day making homemade chocolates, chocolate dipped pretzels, almond joys, peppermint bark, and much more. I brought the girls with me and Ashley had fun playing with Kathy's granddaughters.

All I Want For Christmas.......

Last year Ashley was afraid of Santa so we were hoping for a better outcome this year. She seemed so excited to go see him as you can see in the video below. She couldn't wait to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. While we were standing in line at the mall, she kept asking if it was her turn because she just couldn't wait any longer! Once she got on his lap, she froze and wouldn't say anything to him, but we were glad she wasn't scared enough to cry. When we told her to smile for the picture with Santa, she would only stick her tongue out. We thought it was the perfect picture of Ashley because it shows her true personality!

Ashley our star

Ashley was attending the St. Joseph's Villa Daycare for the past year and a half. They had been practicing for weeks on the Christmas program, and they invited Ashley back to perform in it, even though I had already pulled her out of daycare at this time since I was now staying home. We couldn't stop giggling during the entire performance. I had to break up each performance by song, since blogger won't allow me to post that long of a video. Ashley is wearing donkey ears during the whole program because the older kids who performed after Ashley's group had Ashley and her friends, as the stable animals while they performed the story of Jesus' birth.

Visit from Peter Johns

Peter Johns was a missionary companion of Chris' and they served in Ireland together. Peter is from Wales and was visiting the US for two weeks. He spent part of the time in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and then he was able to stay with us in Utah for a few days in mid-December. We were so happy to see him. It had been 7 years since we saw him last. Chris took him snowboarding a few times and they got to spend some good quality time together.

No Matter How Old I Get.....I'll Always Need My Mom!

My mom came up to Utah to visit after Madison was born and was such a huge help. I don't know what I would have done without her. She cooked and cleaned and it was fun to hang out and talk with her.



Ashley enjoying Grandma's cookies!


We also went to see the temple lights at Temple Square. My mom had never been up to Utah during Christmas time to see them and we really enjoyed the opportunity of having her with us when we went. It was much colder for her to see these lights, than the lights at the Mesa, AZ temple! It had snowed that morning so we bundled up to keep warm.

December Updates

Yes, Yes, Yes, I am super far behind on my posts. After having a new baby and with everything else going on in my life right now, I haven't posted in months. Here's the December update. I'll actually do a few different December posts. Too much happened to put in one!

With my two sisters and myself living away from Arizona, it is hard to get together and have Christmas as the Hathcock family. Normally we have Christmas here with our immediate family and then travel home to Arizona for New Years. Since this has been the case the past few years, my Mom and Dad wanted to do something special for our family. She sent up a huge box that we couldn't open until December 1st. On that day we opened the letter and the box, and to our surprise we had twelve gifts inside, for the 12 days of Christmas. Mom and Dad had spent all year gathering stuff for each of my siblings and their families to open up each day for the first twelve days of December. We were so touched at the time my parents (especially my Mom) had put into this. The theme was "It's a Wonderful Life" and each present was something we could do as a family to continue to build our forever family.

As you can see from the pictures, Ashley opened each gift each night and couldn't believe all the stuff Grandma and Grandpa had sent. The first night was the movie It's a Wonderful Life and hot cocoa in mugs to have while we watched the movie.










On this day, we all received Christmas pillowcases my mom had sewn and Ashley received a prayer rock. It was to remind us to have family prayer together.




Here Ashley is opening up Day 4, which was a Christmas scrapbooking page kit. This was a reminder to create family memories and to keep the memories where we can look back and remember the good times we have.



Here is Madison on "Day 4" of the Twelve Days of Christmas. She is only ten days old.

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