Cactus Christmas

We were very blessed this year to celebrate a warm Christmas in Arizona rather than a white Christmas in Montana. All of Paul's siblings and their families made the trip to sunny Arizona where Paul's mom and her husband Dick spend their winters as "snowbirds." We had a great time, although there were certainly moments of stress--like tromping through busy airports with 4 kids (including a tiny newborn) and 6 carry-ons (our boys thought this was a grand adventure while mommy thought she might need her blood pressure checked upon arrival!) Some of the highlights of the trip included: enjoying a heated-outdoor swimming pool almost daily, making adobe luminaries at Grandma's potttery studio, exloring the Sonoran Desert Museum (our boys especially liked the scorpions and tarantulas), marveling at the myriad aircraft at the Pima Air Museum (Paul and his flyboys were in aviator heaven!), celebrating our Savior's birth while receiving our Savior's very Presence in the Eucharist at a lovely Christmas Mass, and witnessing the baptism of our gorgeous little god-daughter Holli. All the cousins loved spending every waking minute playing together---Nerf Dart-tag, Battleship, Shark-tag in the swimming pool, and catch were some of the favorite activities. Many treasured memories were made that I'm sure will last a lifetime. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I guess I should stop there and simply capture the trip's highlights via these photos for you to enjoy...

The desert mountains have a beauty all their own...although personally, I prefer a few less cacti in my foreground...Montana is more my style :}

This just does NOT look comfortable...cactus wrens must have very tough feet!

Nathanael's 1st Christmas was certainly unique!

Paul and Nathanael loved taking cat-naps amidst the cacti :)

Paul and his flyboys loved every nook and cranny at the air museum! The boys could identify nearly every plane and were thrilled seeing all their die-cast models that they play with at home in LIFE-SIZE form!

Mommy with her future aviators :)

All the cousins on Christmas morning...no wonder they are all smiles! :)

Jean and Dick...twitterpated by the "Christmas tree" (a.k.a. yucca plant) :)

Michael, Joseph and Dominic posing by the presents and the unique yucca Christmas tree :)


Dominic and Michael guessing what treasures lie inside their Christmas stockings that Grandma knitted for each of us

Dann and Rachel's cute, candy-cane Christmas pose :)

Jeff and Steph's family filled with Christmas joy!

Paul and Maria's family on Christmas morn...Nathanael slept through most of the excitement :)

Paul enjoyed bonding with his brothers Dann, Tom, and Jeff during our Christmas vacation (can anyone tell they are related?) :)

All the cousins eager to learn some pottery from Grandma Jean at the clay studio.

The cousins in the midst of creating their messy masterpieces! :)

The cousins all learning about the prehistoric creatures that once lived in Arizona.

Proud godparents holding newly baptized Holli Rae...we will pray for her every day!