It's Official...
2013 is here!
2012 was good to our family.
We finished it off with a bang in San Diego with family,
Where there were lots of Christmas lights, reuniting hugs and kisses, cousin giggles, a stressed out Grandpa (aka 'Grumpa') with all the little kids destroying his house,
and a whole lot of Christmas love.
As always, we learned a lot this trip, and had a great time doing it.
We learned:
#1. Grandpa's milkshakes are better shared.
(Who am I kidding? No one wants to share their milkshake. We all want our own tall glass of heaven drizzled with chocolate, with 3 inches of whipped cream all to ourselves.)
#2. The Malufaus, and our offspring, are not the best ice skaters to ever graced this planet,
But we all sure had fun doing it.
(Although, just looking at this picture makes my back hurt. Skating with little ones, more fun in theory than in actuality. Totally worth it though to see his little feet in tiny size 5 ice skates!)
#3. My sister throws the best Christmas Eve Bethlehem dinner. Ever.
Complete with eating fish, grapes, and flatbread on the ground in candlelight... surrounded with palm fronds, everyone in 'Bethlehem attire,' and Jared singing O Come Emmanuel.
(Even little Bethlehem boys have to size each other up)
And sweet little Scouter holding this doll like it is the real baby Jesus.
#4. Santa is always fun to see, whether he has a:
Real Beard...
Or Fake.
#5. It is so fun to have your kids sit in the same chairs for a picture that you and your brother did when their age at the Hotel Del in Cornado!
#6. It is never too young to start practicing for those New Years Eve kisses.
Alright. Maybe you can be too young... especially when a little baby tongue is involved.
#7. Scout and Porter are going to get real tired, real quick, of my new camera (ba-da-bing) being pointed at them.
#8. Being able to play outside Christmas morning, without a jacket. . .is the BEST!
It drives Ammon nuts, but I am totally fine without a 'White Christmas.' That's San Diego born and raised for you!
#9. It didn't take long to learn that I am slightly in love with my new camera!!!
Especially when I capture this cute boy's faces!
#10. Cousin sleepovers in new princess tents are the best!
#11. Aunt Kailee is the best at painting naiils...
Even if she paints your son's...
And he walks around the house with his fingers outstretched, yelling,
"Daddy!! Daddy!! Look!"
#12. La Jolla is beautiful!
Especially with these two!
#13. Seeing the dozens of seals sleeping on the beach never gets old!
#14. Two boys in jammies, means double the trouble (my parent's Christmas tree didn't stand a chance the moment these two walked through the door), but worth it for double the cuteness!
#15. Watching this little girl's bare feet hop around the tidepools, finding fish and collecting shells is worth every ounce of sand we find in our car for the next week!
#16. Boys will be boys!
Our last night at my parent's, Ammon, my dad, and 2 of my brothers spent 2 hours out in the garage trying to 'end' a little rat that was taunting us all weekend. We all knew (well. . . all of us having hot chocolate inside while this charade was going on outside) knew that the night would end with the rat still alive and doing tapdances in the attic.
It is pretty funny watching a little 5 ounce rat outsmarting 4 grown men, one BB gun, 4 smoke bombs, multiple peanut butter laced trapes, and boxes of DeCon.
I guess it is the 'inner man' that make the thrill of a hunt so exciting!
That is one smart little rat that has chosen residence in that garage. I am sure it even toasted in the new year, much to the dismay of these 4 men.
At one point as I was loading up our car, I even saw the little bugger run across the garage, through my brother's legs, do a little tap dance, and then run behind the freezer. SO Funny!
And #17. The 7 hour drive home, and cute sleeping kids, gave me lots of time to play around with Mama's new toy!
Here's to a smok'n 2013! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday break!
Love the post Cass! Look at you, 3 days into the New Year already you're way ahead of the blogging game with 2012 already all finished. Way to go! Still playing catch up on mine, just did a marathon one of my own. Whew! Lucky my fingers still have strength to type.
ReplyDeleteI love Ammon's pic with the hand outstretched... doing secret hand signals that only male hunters understand? checking for wind direction and speed? deodorant check? ready for someone to high five him? getting all gangsta with the rat? Whatever it is, it looks cool although I'm secretly happy I don't have to console a crying child and try to explain why they just off'ed Gus-Gus.
Miss you already...when are you coming back??
Oh and your new camera pics are looking finger-lickin' good!
Scout's expression on the fire truck is amazing. What kind of camera did you get? It looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteSo I just received the Christmas card I sent you back in the mail - sad yours was the only one this year. So email me your address if you want a Christmas I mean Valentines card. Thank you for your sweet one and the kids loved the note from Scout! Glad your holidays were awesome!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are back to posting. I sure was missing the updates. Your little family is too cute and I want to squeeze the snot out of porter.
ReplyDeleteso fun! Glad you had a good Christmas with your family. Miss you tons!
ReplyDelete