Christmas....Phoenix.

After some great R & R with Trent's family, we ran down to Phoenix to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th birthday and play with lots of Aunts, Uncles, and cousins!! 

We enjoyed a very nice family party at Aunt Kathi's on Saturday evening....a regular King feast with plenty of options, all the fixings, a full on dessert bar and barely enough room for all the family without having to stand while eating your dinner....just the way it should be.
The next day, before Church we had breakfast at Steph's house. All was going just fine until Kyleigh locked herself in Steph's spare room. Everyone was dressed and all ready to go....until Kyleigh figured out how to lock herself in the room but couldn't figure out how to unlock it. We were all pounding the door, she got scared for a second in there that she couldn't get out, and I think it was Uncle Jared who picked the lock and let her out. (She has now locked me out of the house twice....and that's not as pleasant when there is snow on the ground and the closest spare key is 15 minutes away studying law at the University Library. She eventually figured out how to turn the lock before Trent got into his car so he was saved the trip and my fingers were saved from frostbite. Who knew I had to take my house keys with me when putting Brenden on his bus to go to school).

Brenden grabbing some chocolate brownies while the gettin' was good. Abby asking for her turn!!






 Request granted!!



Little Maddy....growing up with a house full of sisters now gets to be picked on by a bunch of burly brothers in law.


 Scotty doing some quiet meditation and Jared working on his Zoolander facials.

Woah, serious conversation over there...

Maybe it's cause Maddy usually has some sweet games on her phone and others hang around waiting for a turn. Or perhaps she is just fun to be around....if you can manage to get her attention.

Who would do such a thoughtless thing to a poor guy just trying to watch his beloved team on the big screen?

No disrespect intended. These photos were just too funny not to post.  Most likely, my camera just caught them at an awkward moment. Take it with grains of salt. These girls will enjoy sleep overs and cousin get togethers soon enough :)

 Maybe they should just follow Brenden and John's example. :)

If all else fails, dog pile. On the 4 year old. Thanks to Steph who was holding all the weight so that Brenden didn't feel any. John probably could've taken a snooze down there.

The Aunties and Uncles were such good examples of some fun family wrestling, that I guess these two had their own wrestling session. Kyleigh's going to need better positioning if she wants to win here...

That night we got to watch Grandpa blow out some candles as he let us share some of his Birthday cake.

Fruit and vegetable, cheese and shrimp table. Cold items.

Can't beat Phoenix winter weather. Nice day to take your cousin out for a ride.

 And B has turned out to be quite the good little driver.

 And he sure enjoys it. Another quick trip but so nice to see lots of Family. Looking forward to Grandpa's 90th Birthday Party. Brenden would be happy to help blow out all those candles if so needed.