The Mishlers: January 2010

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ben and I decided we wanted to make a quick trip to Utah for New Years. We packed up the kids and made the 10 hour trek to hang out with family and friends! It was so much fun to hang out with people we love and miss! We were able to get together with some dental school buddies for what is quickly becoming an annual Christmas party! The Ladies (Tami, Me, Michelle, Cindy and Becca)

The Guys (Mark, Ben, Aaron, Dave, and Brian)

Kena with sweet Isabel. (She wanted to take her home with us!)

Cute little Ryder

My hungry kiddos

Christmas Evening

For Christmas dinner we went over to my dad and Christina's house. We had a wonderful lasanga dinner and stayed up way too late playing the Wii! It was so fun to be with family! My brother Nate thought it would be very funny to give my kids each a box of matches for Christmas, (he had recently taught them both how to strike a match!!) and he gave me a fire-extinguisher!! There were several fun gifts passed around. My kids were totally spoiled! Benson got a ride on dump truck and Kenadee got a little piano along with a ton of other stuff!
Kena and Benson love their Papa!

Because he lets them do stuff like this!

And this (My kids thought they were really playing, it was so funny to watch them move around like everyone else with the wii remotes!)

Me and my dad

Nate and Millie

Miss Marie (my family's adopted grandma), Paige and Christina

Heidi and Maddie

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Christmas Morning

My mom and Heidi came over to our place for Christmas morning. It was so fun to wake up with the kids, at 8:30, and go out to see what Santa brought! (This may be our last year to sleep in on Christmas morning!) The kids were so excited! Kenadee got several games and books, Benson got a tool set and some balls and together they got a play house. Ben got some games and gift cards and surprised me with bedding! We had a yummy breakfast of carmel french toast, scrambles eggs with bacon and cheese and orange juice. It was a wonderful day!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve we went over to the Benefields. We had dinner, watched the Miracle on 34th street and visited. Afterwards we took the kids home and let them open one present each, then read the Christmas story in Luke. I love the expression on Kena's face as Benson opened his Thomas the Train bathtub toy from the Benefields!
Kenadee opened a package with some fun balls from Samantha.

Christmas Projects

This year I made a lot of our gifts. These sock monkeys were my favorites!

The Zoo with Maddie and Paige

Since it was Christmas break, my little sisters Maddie and Paige came to stay a couple of nights with us. We took them to the Phoenix zoo. Kena and Benson absolutely love the zoo! It was so nice to have extra help with my kiddos!

Christmas Clothes

Here are Kenadee and Benson in their Christmas Sunday best.

Ben's Birthday

Ben turned 29 on December 17th. We flew out to Illinois that day for his company's work party. Heartland flew out all of their doctors and spouses. It was a kids free trip which was a great birthday present for both of us! The party was a black tie affair and was held at the founders home in Effingham. It was so fun to get all dressed up! When we got home my mom and the kids had the house all decorated. Kenadee picked out Legos for Ben, I got him some new work clothes. We sure love Ben! Thanks for being a fabulous husband and a wonderful daddy!!
Eric also works for Heartland so we were able to hang out with them. While Eric and Ben went to meetings, Aimee and I went shopping!

This Ferrari is one of the founders many exotic cars.

This is his home. It was incredible, but I sure wouldn't want to be the one to clean it! :) Thanks Jen for letting me borrow your dress and shoes!

McCormick Train Park

We started our Christmas season this year by heading over to the McCormick train park with our friends the Jurcas. Every year in December the park sets up a ton of lights and run the park until 9:30 pm. The kids loved all the lights! We went on a Saturday night, but the main train line was so long we decided to go back on another night too! They had a huge decorated tree and several costumed characters walking around.
Benson loved the train. He wanted to sit all by himself.