Showing posts with label New Years. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Years. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Our Christmas & New Years Holiday...In a Nutshell

What a year!

As I reflect on the year 2011,
I know with absolute certainly that Samuel and I
are officially old!

I putter,
sip insane amounts of hot cocoa,
and love to snug-in.

Samuel officially shaves his head
(it looks SO much better),
wears slippers,
and makes insane amounts of hot cocoa!

For guess who?

Time is passing so quickly,
but then again,
maybe we're just having too much fun?

This year, the kids started a new school
and it's been a great experience for our entire family!

We also visited several places for the very first time including
Mono Lake and Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park.
In the fall we stayed in Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park
and enjoyed the snow and hiking Morro Rock!

Isabella graduated to the older Activity Days group,
which means Young Women's is not far off...

Ava turned eight,
and was baptized with her cousin Jacob.
It was a wonderful day,
perfect for a truly wonderful girl!

We chopped Iris' hair
and she and I have never been happier! 
No more fighting, crying, or whining over
the daily task of trying to comb it!

{update}

Now she wants to grow it out! 
Nooooo...

Owen stayed home with
me and Gabriel this year,
and I have loved every minute of
having my boys at home with me!
This fall he'll enter kindergarden and
I'll have to learn to make do
without one of my favorite little men!

Gabriel officially passed Owen in weight,
and yes, people still ask if they're twins!

(For the record, they are not!}

As for Samuel and I,
we have been blessed beyond measure.

Our family continues to grow stronger each day
and we have a loving Heavenly Father
to thank for that.

We're also bearing down on Samuel's final semester of school,
and are all looking forward
to his graduation from the MBA program in May!

It has been a long journey, but he has worked so hard,
and we are so very proud of him!

Here's a peek into our holiday...

Love,
The Samuel Elmers


 Holiday Kick-off Dinner:

Chinese Take-out!



High Tea!

The kids went bananas and dressed to the nines!
The herbal tea was a flop with everyone except Iris,
but the various tarts and puddings were a unanimous hit!


Christmas Cinnamon Rolls! 

The downside?

No powdered sugar for the glaze!
I substituted regular sugar with poor results,
but sugar is sugar and we ate them anyway!


Our neighbors were kind enough
to give us a wooden cut-out of a snowman.

We debated as a family how to decorate it,
and finally I insisted:

OFF WITH HIS HEAD!

And there you have it!


Chrismas Eve Dinner is something we LOVE!

A West coast feast of dungeness crab,
shrimp, clam chowder, and sourdough!

I love California! 


Tradition rules:

Everyone opens one gift from mom and dad on Christmas Eve: 

New PJ's! 


This year,
before the kiddies went to bed,
we set out Santa's cookie plate. 

We remembered, too late,
that we didn't have any more homemade cookies to set!

Too bad!
Oreos it is-plus carrots for the reindeer!

Sure enough,
they were gobbled up,
and the big guy left a note too!


Christmas morning was a blur,
with the kiddies getting us up at around 6:30 a.m.

At church, later that morning,
a sweet sister asked,
"What did you all get for Christmas?"

To our kids delight they reported on the various
guns, knives, and ninja stars left under the tree!

She was horrified.

Looking back,
I guess there was a rather violent theme to the gifts... :)


One of my favorite memories though,
was of Owen learning how to use his cap gun. 

He was terrifed when he heard the caps popping
and started screaming,
"I don't want a REAL GUN!".

Made us laugh... :)


We visited my mom's for a Christmas feast,
and watched Grandma Lopez  gobble her See's candy
while the kids pounded huge balls of bubble gum!


At Samuel's parents the gift opening frenzy commenced
and we munched on appetizers throughout the night.

Yum!



One of the gifts Santa left for Bella was
new paint for her room.

She loved the peacock blue and I couldn't resist
a little paint stenciling...


Our house was all a twitter getting ready for the
big New Years bash!

We love having the family over and
I'm sure our neighbor's LOVED all
the whooping and hollering at the stroke of midnight!


It's hard to top fireworks when you're ringing in the New Year,
but watching the girls dance to Despicable Me
on the Wii is a pretty close second...


We took a much needed trip to San Francisco
and walked Lombard Street...



...the pier...


...Union Square and Chinatown!

The highlight:

Seeing someone pee on the street.  Awesome.


A true highlight?

The Oakland Temple!

We arrived too late to see the Christmas lights,
but really,
it doesn't need them!


As our holiday came to a close,
Samuel took the kids out into the field to give
Ava's bb gun a whirl.

Everyone still has all their eyeballs
so that ended well...


Last but not least,
on the kids first day back at school,
Iris woke up with the awesomest bed hair!

2012...

Here we come!


Thursday, December 31, 2009

What Does Your Wii Face Look Like?

In reviewing my pictures for our families annual New Years Eve Party, that's the question you absolutely have to ask.
Take a peek below and you'll see some good ones...
 
Rachel & Houston
 
Joe & Rachel
 
Clista & Jacob
 
Bill & Ava
And then there was the non-Wii player, Jessica, who took a blessed night off thanks to the bun in her toasty oven!
The kids did their own Lord of the Flies thing that they usually do.
Sword-fighting and what-not is a must!
And of course then there's the midnight movie feature, complete with stadium seating.
 After the big countdown it's outside for some fireworks action!  Oddly enough, this year it wasn't too cold for being as late as it was.
  
 My beautiful Bella...
 
 My sweetheart Ava...
 
 Princess Iris...
  
 ...and of course, our Rascally Owen!
  
 And then, the biggest goober of the bunch, my heart, my love
...my Samuel.
  
 After all the hoopla everyone finally heads home for a few hours of sleep before we're back at it again with a hearty breakfast composed of everyone's favorites.
Here you see the kiddie table...
  
 ...and the adult table.
  
 The meal is always amazing!
  
 I think everything tastes better after a super-late night.
  
 Houston determined to make faces in EVERY photo...or is that just how he really looks all the time?
You judge!
  

  
Families are such a blessing.  And as I stand at the close of yet another year, poised to start a new one, I am grateful for new beginnings.  

Elder Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke to this effect in his talk entitled:  


Regarding the past, he encourages us to:
"Dismiss the destructive, and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family, your friends, and your neighbors."

"This is an important matter to consider at the start of the a new year-and every day ought to be the start of a new year and a new life.  Such is the wonder of faith, repentance, and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

"Faith is for the future.  Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there.  Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the "high priest of good things to come."

"Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever.  That is a New Year's resolution I ask you to keep."

Truly words to live by!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!