Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Week 52

Welcome back and happy New Year's Eve!  Sorry I'm late.  I wanted to get these last few days of 2014 in so this is going to be a big post with a lot of pictures.  I hope you are all having a great holiday and winter break.  I know we are enjoying some good quality time together and are having some much needed fun. Can you believe the new year starts tomorrow?!  

Here is how we spent our Christmas week and the last few days of 2014:


Day 356- Monday, 12/22/14
Today we had some business to take care of.  Tyler had a dentist appointment in the morning and Rusty had his annual checkup at the Vet this afternoon.  I know it looks like Brandon has him in a choke hold but Rusty actually kept positioning himself this way so he could hide and was happy one of his kids was there to protect him.  All is well.  He's one healthy cat that just wants to go home ;0)  





Day 357- Tuesday, 12/23/14
I was actually was able to bribe Tyler to sit in one the Santa picture again this year.  I had to up my ante though.  Just Starbucks wasn't going to cut it.  It took Starbucks AND Cinnabon to do the trick.  Whatever works!  After spending the morning at the mall we came home and started our baking frenzy to make cookie plates for the neighbors.  Justin and Brandon both were a huge help.






Day 358- Wednesday, 12/24/14
Then one foggy Christmas Eve we whipped up some homemade pizza for a grand feast and toured the neighborhood holiday lights with cocoa in hand before opening a gift and heading off to bed.  The boys almost love Christmas eve more than Christmas day itself with all our little traditions.






Day 359- Thursday, 12/25/14
Merry Christmas!  Even the pets got some good gifts.  We had a nice relaxing day at home opening gifts and playing with our new toys.  It's great when there is no real timeline to keep and we can just let the day unfold  however it may.  I also decided to try something new and make a yule log instead of my usual Christmas cake for dessert.  It turned out great and was a huge it.  Justin now wants one for his birthday :0)





Day 360- Friday, 12/26/14
Today the WHOLE day (why does it have to take so long?) was spent buying a new to us car.  We needed to replace our Nissan Armada so we found a more recent model with a lot less miles and more high-tech features.  John's a happy boy.





Day 361- Saturday, 12/27/14
It's their first ride in the new car and we're off to Middle Earth.  Seeing the Hobbit movies has become somewhat of a Christmas tradition, but what will be do next year?  It's sad this is the last one.  We enjoyed them all very much.  Next year we'll just have to find something new to see together. 





Day 362- Sunday, 12/28/14
Time to say goodbye to the old Armada.  John is taking it to CarMax today.  We bought this rig brand new just a couple weeks before Brandon was born and now 10 1/2 years later it's been replaced.  Here he is with miss Olivia as a baby the first year we had the car and now grown so big and into a fine boy on our last day with the car.  Time flies!





Day 363- Monday, 12/29/14
We are lucky enough to have snow in the mountains over winter break this year.  It's been a few years since that has happened so we took advantage and headed up for a family ski day at Sierra at Tahoe.  It was cold but sunny and nice out.  The kids had a blast and did great.  It's wonderful that they no longer need ski school so we can all ski together.





Day 364- Tuesday, 12/30/14
There's not a whole lot going on today so I'm finding some time to get to know my new camera that I got for Christmas.  I wore the buttons out on my old one and had managed to put a chip in the lens somehow so it was ready for retirement.  This one will come in handy for a lot of pictures to take in the brand new year.  My kids just roll their eyes and tell me I need help.  Haha!  Jokes on them--photography is my therapy ;0)





Day 365- Wednesday, 12/31/14
It's New Year's Eve and the boys are getting ready to party.  We are packing up and heading to a friend's house.  They are super excited to be celebrating with others this year and are looking forward to a sleepover.



Almost done but there's one more-

December's Family Photo

This was taken Christmas Eve just before we let the kids open their one gift.  It's amazing how well the cooperate when they know something good will be happening next.




Ok that's it!  Wow!  That was a lot, but we are all done for 2014!!!  Thanks so much for stopping by and hope to see you in the new year.  Stay safe and enjoy the celebration tonight.


The Mom Creative

3 comments:

  1. Great pictures! I agree, my kids love Christmas eve so much because of the traditions too. Love your new car! The the picture of Brandon as a baby and now. That is a neat record to have. Your new camera looks cool. What kind is it? I would love to take my kids skiing. Someday. . .:) Happy new year and looking forward to your photo record keeping for next year!!!

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  2. What a festive post! I love your Christmas Eve traditions. Homemade pizza and Christmas lights---sounds like a perfect evening. Our traditions aren't very solid yet since our kids are still so young. i can't wait until they look forward to stuff like that every year though. Glad you guys got to have a family ski day too. That's nice that you have some slopes not too far away. Happy New Year to you and your sweet family!

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  3. Great end to the year! Enjoy the new car and the end of vacation/start of 2015!

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