Space Needle

The night before New Years Eve was our last opportunity to use some amazing coupons from Quadrant Homes to go up to the top of the space needle. We weren't sure how the boys would react, but we decided to take our family and try anyway. :) And thankfully, they had a blast! Unfortunately it was really super crowded, so we had to wait in line for quite a while, but the boys had a wonderful time anyway. They loved going up the big elevator and walking around on the inside part of the needle up top. We went outside to take some pictures in front of the amazing view, but the boys got cold pretty fast, so that didn't last long. It had been years since I had gone up the space needle, and Teage hadn't gone in a while either, so it was fun for both of us. The view was gorgeous, and though we didn't stay long, we had a wonderful night with the fam.

Christmas!!!!

We have so many family members, Christmas is always a little crazy for us. But, we always end up having a ton of fun and making great memories. Here are a few pictures of us decorating our tree....the boys were so excited to put up all of their baseball and Veggie Tales ornaments. And Emery loved watching everyone and laughing and screaming when her brothers came near her. :)On the Friday before Christmas we went over to Poppi's house for dinner and to hang out with my brothers and their families. We have a new cousin on that side and it was really fun to spend some time with the adorable little man. All the cousins had fun opening presents (Emery was mainly enthralled with the wrapping paper), and of course we ate some really yummy food. It was also extremely fun to see my brother Christopher, or "Uncle Toph", as he lives in Oregon and we don't get to see him very often. Thanks for hanging out with us everyone!!!

Mr L helping Uncle Brando to pass out presents...

All of the boys cousins having fun together! Isn't Mr Gavin adorable?

On Saturday we hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house with Teage's brother and his family, as well as my mom. Mom treated us to a fabulous seafood dinner, we opened a few presents, decorated cookies, and even read a few Christmas stories to the kiddos. We all had so much fun together watching the Norad website, waiting for Santa to come our way! The cousins loved being together, and we can't wait until little Miss E can join in the fun as well.
Teage reading all of the kiddos a Christmas story

The amazing finishing project from the kiddos
Miss Mila dancing up a storm

Mom and I being cheesy in our matching PJ's....love it!

All of of kids were glued to the computer screen watching for Santa!

That night my mom spent the night with us so she could be here on Christmas morning. This is the first year that I was truly excited to do stockings and surprises for the kids for the morning! I loved every minute of it! I think that I get more excited about this holiday then anyone else in my family, including the kiddos. Dylan and Lucas were a little tuckered out from the festivities the past few days, but they still would NOT go to sleep because they were so excited about Santa coming. They kept yelling at us to come up to their room, and when we would get there (thinking that something was wrong :) ) they would ask us over and over again where Santa was now...."how many more states away????" How can you be mad at that?? :) Mom and I wore our matching PJ's, Teage made homemade cinnamon rolls with as much frosting as you can ever imagine, and all of us tried to get a little bit of sleep. :)

Sunday morning was such a blast. Teage and I had gotten a Foosball table off of Craigslist for the boys from Santa, but wanted it to be a surprise, so it was not out when they came down from their rooms. We expected them to be asking over and over again where it was, but they didn't even mention it! We were the surprised ones! But, we opened our stockings from Santa, a few presents from Tutu and Mommy and Daddy, tried not to eat too much candy. Then at the end, Teage and I said that there was one more present that Santa left us a note about and had the boys stay inside with their eyes closed while we went and got the foosball table out of the garage. When they opened their eyes they were so excited, but not like we thought they would be! It was hilarious! When I asked them about it later, they basically just told me that they knew Santa would bring it for them, they asked him nicely and they had been good boys this year. Duh Mom!

The boys moving the star over the manger....they were so excited about it!
Sunday afternoon we were able to go over to Grammy's house and spend the day with my siblings and Grammy. We are always so spoiled when we go over there, and the boys of course were thrilled. :) They got so many games from Grammy that they didn't even know where to start! :) That is all they have been doing since we got home! My siblings and Teage and I always draw names for presents, and I love seeing the looks on their faces when they open them. This year we got David a kind of 'inside joke' present that was hilarious. Poor David, we all will never let him live down the Knock/Ace of Spades incident. We love you David! :)
Oh my goodness, so many presents!!
Poor David.... :)

After Grammy's house we all went over to celebrate with the rest of the Pfeifer family, had some fabulous food, opened some more gifts, and had some fun with the family. We are always so grateful for all that we receive during this holiday season. Although we truly missed Dad and honestly expected him to be here for this Christmas, we were so blessed to have the rest of our family to celebrate with us, and know that Dad was there watching over us as well. We hope that all of you had a fantastic holiday season and were able to spend some quality time with family.

This is a cute picture of Emery with our friend Sydney. We have a friend that took some pictures of the kiddos for a Nativity scene and this is our favorite one. Isn't it precious?

Our Mariner Family

The other day while we were doing some coloring, Dylan decided that he wanted to draw our family as Mariner players. At first I didn't think much of it and just told him to go ahead and that it was a great idea. It ended up being so adorable though. He was sitting there contemplating exactly who everyone in our family was going to be, he actually put a ton of thought into it. :) When I finally asked him who everyone was, he very clearly told me:

Mommy is Edgar Martinez

Daddy is Ichiro

Dylan is Jay Buhner

Lucas is Justin Smoak

and Emery is Dustin Ackley

And without skipping a beat he says "Don't worry Emery, Dustin hits LOTS of triples!!!"

It was hilarious! I was laughing so hard and Dylan was just looking at me like "What's the deal Mom?" So adorable. I love the way these boys think. And Mr. D always just says exactly what is on his mind. Love it.

Good Times, Good Friends

A few weeks before Christmas our family decided to take a little break for a weekend to go see our great friends the Waggoners. We had not gone on a trip as a family in quite a while, and had not been able to hang out with our buddies in so long, we couldn't resist the opportunity. We had nothing planned, and I think all of us were happy that way. We just relaxed, chatted, played games, let the kiddos run around together, and even saw Santa while we were there. The kids loved it and so did Teage and I. We miss you Waggoners!!!! :)

All the kiddos dancing together in the living room! They had so much fun playing together!

There was an old trolley line that runs through Yakima that we took the chance to ride. The trolley line does a special Santa run during the holidays where Santa actually takes the half hour trip with you. The kids were SO excited! And our Santa was amazing....he sat with the kids for a long time, talking to each one, giving them treats, and making everyone laugh. We had a great time. The weather was freezing, but it made the trolley line and surrounding area so beautiful. There were ice crystals all over the place and I got some amazing picutres.

All the kids posing with Santa

Just the girls....

Thank you for a wonderful weekend Waggoners. I think that all of us needed a little break, and we were so grateful to come visit with you for a while!!! We love you guys!!

Happy Birthday Dad

Dad's birthday was on November 25th. Since it was only a few weeks after he passed, it was a pretty difficult day for all of us. The family decided to get together and go out for dinner in his honor, then came back to Grammy's house for some of his favorite cake. The boys blew out the candles for Dad and we all hung out as long as the kids would allow so we could play our favorite family game of Knock. Dad loved Knock!

We also all planted some yellow daffodils for Dad as well. I planted them on his birthday. His favorite color was yellow. I am excited to see them when they bloom sometime this year. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Look Who's Sitting Up!

IT'S ME!!!! :)