Chutes n' Ladders

The boys have discovered the game closet,

and though the rules escape them,

they love to "play" nonetheless.

Now if I can only get over

my hatred for

"Chutes n' Ladders",

I can join in the "fun"!

They're only young once,

right?

Shoot!

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!

Busy Elves...

Goodnight, indeed...

Gabriel Dodge

The Christmas Uglies

After all the door bell-ditching is done

(and this year we were caught several times over!),

the kids finally settled in for the "uglies"

(a.k.a. cookies not pretty enough

- meaning they're crumbly or cracked-

to go on the door bell ditch plate).

Let me tell you,

there is nothing tastier! 

{smile}

Happy 30th, Jessica!

 

Old people,

meaning myself,

do get there kicks in now and then,

and never more so than when

we're welcoming the young'uns into the club!

Our newest member:

Jessica Elmer

Complete with gynormous old lady painties

(note the dainty white rosette),

"padded" slippers, a cane,

and an assortment of products

necessary for every infirm person's lifestyle

(Beano, anyone?)!

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y,  J E S S !

You rock, 30!



Guess Where?

Before & After: My New Baking Station

The holidays always give me the project bug,

and this year is no exeption!

I've been obsessed with baking stations of late...

an area of your kitchen designated for...

well, baking!

And found this gorgeous piece on Craigslist

-complete with a marble-top-

and set to work!

Ta-da!

H A P P Y  B A K I N G  T O  M E !

{note}

Shortly after this post,

the wall anchors from the top shelf pulled out

and everything

-and I mean, EVERYTHING-

came shattering onto the floor!

Samuel came away with a nasty cut on the head,

and I suffered a garbage can full of my pretties!

Lesson learned:

75 lb. Wall Anchors

Buy them!

Team 803

Samuel has the greatest privelege of

working with the young men of our ward

as Assistant Varsity Coach.

He loves it,

unfortunately,

being enrolled in an aggresive MBA program,

working fulltime for the city,

being a father of five rascalians,

and husband to ME,

stretches him extemely thin and

makes it impossible to attend all

the activities like he'd like to.

Thank goodness for school breaks,

when we ALL benefit from seeing him  little bit more!

Go Team 803!