Top 5 Posts from 2011

In the spirit of end of the year best of lists here are the top 5 most viewed blogs on http://kylenalli.blogspot.com/ in 2011. These are based only on page views not necessarily content. But its a fun review of the year :)

1. Broken! 2. Baby Must-Haves 3. My Favorite Podcasts 4. Navajo County Fair 5. Eternity.

Can you tell this is Kyle and not Alli for only the 2nd time this year :)

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas my Mom, Dad, and Derek came to spend Christmas with us in Holbrook. It was the first Christmas morning we've had at our own house and there's just something about spending Christmas morning at home. When Macy woke up she didn't really know what was going on. We took her into the living room and she looked at the doll house and just kind of ignored it. I think it was just plain weird to her that she went to sleep and there wasn't a doll house, and now there was. It took her a little while to warm up, but she loved her stocking immediately. When my parents came in the room my Dad asked her what Santa brought and she said "Candy and a Soda!" Kyle's sister Kathleen had given us these cute little (like 4 oz) sodas to put in our stockings, and that was by far Macy's favorite present. 

Kyle and Macy playing with the doll house stuff.

 Macy and London in their Christmas Dresses

 Derek cuddled up with his T-Shirt quilt from Mom and his new best friend Barkley

 Grandpa and Macy playing with the shapes that London got from Gma and Gpa Carbonneau

We spent Christmas morning unwrapping presents, went to church at 1, and then spent the rest of the evening at Kyle's Mom's. I love that our families get along so well and that everyone enjoys the time we spend together. I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas as well. 

Christmas Eve

Every year Kyle's brother and his wife put on an awesome Christmas Party. Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year they decided it would probably be best to party it up on Christmas Eve. We all go to their house, have lots of yummy Mexican Food, do pin the button on the snow, break open a pinata, and play some games. 

 London did pretty well with the button, she was a little low but since she's only 1 we'll give her some credit. 

 Macy did a really good job with the button and she was lucky enough to get a present from the snowman (a.k.a. Grandma Gardner). 

 The pinata is always a hit (no pun intended) :) It's always fun to watch toddlers try and hit a swinging object with a baseball bat. Watch out everyone Justin's got a great arm! 

 After the little kids get a couple turns we had the bat over to one of the teenagers and let them wack it. Macy was SO excited that there was candy all over the floor. She would run around pumping her hands going WOO-HOO WOO-HOO as the rest of the kids were snatching the candy up. 

 She got plenty of candy though, and the best part? The leg. Macy got her very own bulls leg. Best. Christmas. Ever.

After the kids were well worn out, we went home and did another tradition- opening the P.J.'s. Macy was so funny opening presents. This girl loves surprises, so while she was opening the present she would close her eyes, then when it was all the way open she would open her eyes and yell "SURPRISE!" 

The little girls in their PJ's. Too cute.

We had an awesome Christmas Eve at the Gardners. I think this year was extra special for us because we got to spend Christmas with both families- at the SAME TIME! Kyle's family is awesome, and my family is awesome, so we decided to mix the awesomeness and invite my parents and Derek up to have Christmas with us in Holbrook. I'm so glad they came and I think we all had a lot of fun. 

Chop Chop!

I have always loved little girls with long hair. I just think it's so adorable, so I couldn't stand the thought of cutting Macy's hair. It used to be super curly in the back but lately it had kind of just did this weird limp thing, so I decided her hair just needed a little trim. My Mom and Dad had come up for Christmas so before we left for the Christmas Eve Party I talked Grandma into doing it for me. Macy was a little nervous at first but she was a super good sport about it. 

She really didn't cut off that much, but it was amazing how much better her hair curled after getting a little trim. Thanks Grandma!

Santa Claus is coming to Town!

The girls didn't do very well with Santa this year...

We'll try again next year...

Gingerbread Decorating

How on earth do you say No to a face like that?

 Macy had been asking me for a couple days to make a gingerbread house. I had picked up a kit and because I wasn't in the best of moods (morning sickness will do that to ya), I kept putting her off. Finally a bucked up, told myself Macy was only going to have her 3rd Christmas once, and decided to decorate the house. Macy wanted to do it all by herself, but after some convincing she said I could help her. We checked out the box and she decided which house she wanted to do, and got to work!

I wish I had some pictures of the finished product, but alas I don't. It really was a fun little activity to be able to do with her. I hope to continue traditions like this every year, morning sickness stricken or not.

It's beginning to looks a lot like...

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

One of my favorite things to do for Christmas is setting up the Christmas Tree. Since we moved to Holbrook we have had dinner at Kyle's Mom's house every Sunday and during the Christmas season we put her tree up for her. This year Macy was a huge help and loved to put the ornaments on. 

London on the other hand thought they were funner to take off. She makes it looks so cute though.

Macy was super fun when it came to decorating our own tree. She insisted certain ornaments went in certain places, and always got so frustrated with London when she would bring me an ornament. By the end of the month the bottom half of the tree was looking pretty sparse with a bunch of ornaments out of London's reach, but it started out really pretty!

Let it Snow...

Winter sure came in with a bang this year. This was the view out of our front window! When people ask about the weather in Holbrook in the winter we always say "It snows, but it melts by noon and doesn't stick often." Needless to say, we were shocked at this 12 inch snow pile when we woke up! Snow day! Yay! We waited for the girls wake up and opened the window for Macy to check it out. I asked her what she thought about it and she said "SNOW! For me?!" It was the cutest thing. We asked her if she wanted to go play and she let us know that she couldn't without her mittens, good thinking little one. 

Macy took the snow pretty well, it's really the first time she's ever played in snow this deep. We had lots of people that have lived here for 20 years telling us that this was the deepest they had ever seen it snow here. London was a little nervous and pretty much just stood on the porch. 

She tried venturing out once and that didn't go well... 

Kyle was SUPER excited for all this snow. He and Macy made a snowman.

Me and Mr. Snowman. 

It really wasn't that cold, only if you actually touched the snow.

We are Thankful!

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Buckeye. We had quite a crowd with all 3 of my brothers and my Grandparents. It was a typical Thanksgiving, lots of great food, football, and family. My Mom did an amazing job this year with the table. Around the napkins she put two paper leaves and after we ate dinner we wrote what we were thankful for and we put it on her "Thankful Tree". She made a scrapbook and each year she will put the leaves into the scrapbook.. she's pretty awesome that Mom. 

Sorry for my lack of pictures of Thanksgiving, I think I was too busy just hanging out to take pictures :) These two were actually stole from my brothers wife Meghan, Thanks!

The day after Thanksgiving we got a babysitter for all 6 of the little kiddos and we all went to the ASU game. We lost, but it was fun to go and hang out with the group. 

 Here is half of the group, on the other side of Dad was Mom, Chris, and Kati

    

That Saturday, Kati and I decided we didn't want to sit around all day- so we made plans to go to the Wildlife World Zoo. If you ever want to go, I suggest buying a carton (or 2 or 3) of Hickmans Eggs and using the BOGO Free Wildlife World Zoo tickets! The zoo can be a little expensive, but since we had enough of these it was a little more affordable, and there is no expiration date so look out on your eggs and clip out those coupons! 

As you can tell London was VERY excited to go to the Zoo! 

 Macy and Brelee checking out the ducks...

 A lion cub, his poor paws were bigger then his head!

They're adorable aren't they?

 The best picture I have of the motley crew, Mom and Dad, Chris, Kati, Wesly, Travis, Nathan, Brelee, Me, Kyle, Macy, and London.

 I don't think I've ever been to a Zoo where the littlest one hasn't fallen asleep, which means it was an awesome adventure!

Big Girl Beds!

I got a call from my Mom asking if I would like a set of bunk beds, they were in good condition and she had a friend that was giving them away. Of course! I'm always up for free things, if it's not "my style" I can change it up a little to make it my style. The beds were a light wood color, and they were about 15 years old, so they have their fair share of dings and scratches. They didn't really match Macy's room, so I decided to paint them white! If only I had taken a before picture, but ta-da!

I love them :) The top bunk is about to my chin, which really isn't tall at all. When we move London into Macy's room we need to build a ladder, but that won't be hard since the bed looks like 2x4's. Yay for "free" bunk beds! (After primer, paint, and seal stuff it probably cost me about $70, still way cheaper then a "shabby chic" bunk bed from the store!).

"I'm just changing her diaper Mom!"

When your 13 month old walks up to you like this....

 You automatically say to your toddler "Umm... What happened?!" Macy's response? "I was just changing her diaper, mom!" "Whose diaper?" 

"The bear..." Oh.. of course.

Victim #1...

Victim #2

 On the things I never thought I'd use a vacuum for...