Our Lines Legacy

Since we live in the same city as both of our families, let me just say each holiday is crazy! Somehow we split each day in half and spend each half with each family. So, Christmas Eve and the first half of Christmas day we spent with my family. Christmas morning we opened presents at our own house and then went to my parent's house to open some with them and eat a yummy breakfast. We then went out to the desert to ride horses with my grandpa and some cousins (Kasey and Becca Self,their 5 kids, and Amanda Self). Mike got to ride and then came back and took Connor on a ride. Connor loved every second of course and had fun playing with his cousins. I just watched, took pictures, visited, and held Jake. I wasn't in the mood to smell like horses all day! After riding for a while, we went back to my parents house and made Christmas lunch. Ate some more yummy food and then headed home so Connor could take a nap and I could make a brownie trifle for Mike's family's Christmas dinner. We then headed into town where we ate lots more yummy food, opened presents, and visited. Talk about a fun, busy, & long day!

Mike and I have figured out a secret to Christmas shopping. Get the gifts the day AFTER Christmas! :-) Friday night we were going to go see Bedtime Stories, but the theatre was so packed, we decided to go another day and enjoy it more. Instead we got a smoothie and went to Sam's Club where they had all their Christmas stuff 50% off. Before Christmas shopping, we went as a family one night to Sam's Club and Connor saw a PegPerego jeep. After pulling him away from it (while he cried and yelled "Drive! Drive!), we just laughed it off. It was $500. But, last night it also was on sale for $250. I did my research and this is on Amazon for $600 and Ebay for $700!! Holy cow! Now, I'm all about a good deal, but that's still a lot of money. Well, we now are just going to take back the train table my mom bought for the boys and put that money towards the jeep. We paid for it with some of Mike's Christmas bonus that was on a Wal Mart gift card, and didn't have to pay anything out of pocket for it! We stayed up till past midnight last night putting it together while watching Season 4 of The Office (we've had to wait a whole year to see it! We just couldn't turn it off!) Once Connor got the key for it this morning(it doesn't start with it though, its just a play key) and started driving it in our living room (only about 2 feet in each direction constantly ramming into our couches), we couldn't get him off it! Thankfully it's now in our garage where he can drive it around our cul-de-sac. He's so proud of the fact that he has his OWN key to his OWN jeep (if you knew Connor, you'd understand how obsessed he is with keys and driving cars).

Mike and I have been married for almost 4 years and I have always wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer. I have always mixed everything by hand or using my hand mixer. So, when I saw that I could get the professional 6 quart one for only $197, I was all over that! It's normally $500 and was on sale for $400. I got an extra 30% off with my Kohl's charge card (this is my only credit card and for this purpose, I can get anything for 30% every month!), free shipping, earned $60 Kohls cash back, and got a $50 mail in rebate. It's red and matches my red and white cherry themed kitchen. Merry Christmas to me!

For Mike, we'll be getting ammunition for our safe at home. Since we will soon be having a stupid president, prices on ammo are going to be insane and we wanted to stock up before that happened. So, this year for Christmas Mike got himself a rear view camera for his truck (I didn't think there were any more toys possible to put on that thing, but leave it to Mike to find it!) so he can see when he's backing up and have 3 night vision cameras on it so that if someone tried to damage or break into it, he can catch them. Now while Mike works on his truck, Connor can be along side him working on his Jeep because it has a fake engine under the hood along with tools to play with. Boys and their toys.......

I can't believe another year has already passed. Mike and I now have TWO sweet boys (its still hard for me to fathom) and our house is never boring! We were so blessed this year and have enjoyed being surrounded by all our family and friends! We're so grateful for all you do for us!