Jan 2, 2011

Home for the Holidays - Carroll Style

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with family, friends and lots and lots of treats! We spent only 2 weeks of December at home! We packed up all our Christmas bags, boxes, tags, suitcases.... and our pup Roxy and drove the 10 hours to southern California. We made a stop in Provo and picked up Markham's brother Matt and all his things. I love our Pilot....It all fit...WOW.

We hit the ground running with lots of fun activities. We made gingerbread houses with the cousins, hit our favorite restaurants, had a big Bunko party with friends and family, sang Christmas carols and had treats with neighbors and friends, went to the Nutcracker Ballet, got some last minute Christmas shopping done, played lots of games, enjoyed a super yummy Christmas Eve Dinner with extended family and even managed to squeeze in 30 minutes of Lord of the Rings. I really wanted to watch the whole trilogy but by the time we sat down to watch it I fell fast asleep.
  Christmas morning
 Kaity was super excited about her Leapster 2 and games
 The brothers modeling new shirts
A new Christmas book!
 Raclette on Christmas Day
Kaitlyn really enjoyed catching up with her cousins.
 The whole family, even great grandma was there from Oregon.
 It was great to spend time with Markham's family. We don't get to see them that often. Markham's mom was amazing. She cooked, baked and grocery shopped almost constantly. We were a big group and there were quite a few times when we were just the base. Add neighbors, friends, extended family and it was sometimes around 50+   It was an impressive example of organization, stamina and the desire to provide all of us a wonderful time. Mission accomplished.

We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas as well. I failed to send out Christmas cards this year. I lost track of time and then I had no time to do them. Thanks to all our friends and family who sent beautiful pictures and letters. They were fun to come home to.

We wish you a Happy 2011!!

San Diego Zoo

Markham's sister Jen, and her family invited us to go to the zoo with them. It was super fun and warm! The sun felt AMAZING. I really tried not to think about the arctic tundra we would soon be driving home to.
Kaity with Mason, Derek and Aaron. She had a blast with them.
Kaity loved the monkeys and the polar bears. Jackson enjoyed himself as well . He liked the giant tortoises and giraffes. He pointed and laughed a lot.
 
Thanks again Jen and Bryan! It was awesome!

Just a Few Pictures