Fast Away The Old Year Passes...

Well, the last week of 2015 has come and gone and we've officially rung in the New Year and welcomed 2016 with open arms! Here's a recap of our last week of Christmas Break:

Monday the 28th was cousin Sophie's 5th birthday, so we joined the celebration by meeting them for dinner at Red Robin, and then having cake and ice cream at their house afterwards. My kids sure love having their cousins closer!

Wednesday, December 30th marked our 11th wedding anniversary. I had a doctor's appointment that morning, and then Jon had to work from noon until about 8 p.m. that night, so we didn't get to do much celebrating that day, but it was sure fun to look back on some of our old wedding pictures. We look like babies! Leah even asked Jon, "what's that stuff on top of your head?!?" She thought his hair was a hat. I think our eleventh year might quite possibly have been our most "eventful" one yet-- separating from the military and completing a schooling/scholarship journey that started 9 years ago in Philadelphia, a Bahamian cruise, moving across the country from NC to CO, starting a new job in private practice, buying our first home, and a new baby on the way! I think I'd be okay if #12 is a little less full of life-changing milestones!    

I taught another Body Pump class that night and took this selfie afterwards. I get so many strange looks from people when I walk in to sub a weight-lifting/cardio class, but it truly is my sanity. I love being able to work out, so even though I'm still just a "sub" I take whatever classes I can get (and lots of people needed subs over Christmas, of course)-- even when I'm ENORMOUS and 36 weeks pregnant.  

For New Year's Eve we headed over to Jeremy and Kylene's house for a pretty sweet par-tay. We'd decided to keep it simple and just do appetizers, and we ended up having a great spread of food-- I'd brought Kings Hawaiian ham and cheese sliders, cheese and crackers, a pesto cheese loaf, caramel apple Heath dip, and pina coladas. Kylene made some amazing potato skins and several different dips, and feast we did! 

These two are peas in a pod! They had fun playing My Little Ponies and Dragons and Harry Potter and whatever else they play when we get together. 

The adults finally got to enjoy a "game night" somewhat child-free, and dusted off the ol' Settlers of Catan game box. It was some pretty intense competition, but it's safe to say I won fair and square, even while my husband repeatedly tried to sabotage me with the Robber. I guess the cream always does rise to the top!

Around 8 p.m., which was plenty late enough for all of us party-ers, we counted down with the London New Year's fireworks and had an impromptu dance party, before heading home and putting everyone to bed well before midnight! 

The next night we hit the jackpot and worked out a "swap" with Jeremy and Kylene to watch our kids so we could have an Anniversary Date! We'd gotten a gift card from a local endodontist to a really nice "Double Eagle" steakhouse called Del Friscos. We splurged and ordered calamari as our appetizer and it was delish!

Jon got the prime rib, and I ordered the shrimp scampi. Both were very good-- and it was like eating cruise food, tempered by the fact that of course we'd have to pay for it at the end though.

Our waiter found out it was our anniversary and tried to bring us out a champagne toast, which is their tradition at the restaurant (Hello! He is the first person to not think I looked 9 months pregnant when we told him why I couldn't drink it, ha, ha), so instead he brought us this amazing molten chocolate cake, on the house. Problem solved! I wonder if we would have still gotten the cake if we'd just told him we were Mormon?

After our luxuriously expensive dinner in which we splurged and ate every single thing, we headed to the historic district of downtown Denver to Castle Marne, which is a local B&B. Jon had cooked up this surprise all on his own and was so thoughtful about planning everything! The fact that it was even historically significant was SO up my alley! That's why I love him and he's still my best friend after all these years (although he may feel differently if this baby doesn't come soon, and a certain somebody's pregnancy hormones don't drive everybody nuts in the meantime, ha, ha)!!  

Everything had been renovated and redone to be historically accurate, and it was BEAUTIFUL inside and out. It was built in 1889, to a wealthy Denver mining family, and then passed through several hands along its way to its current present-day usage as a B&B-- including serving as a boarding house during WWI and WWII, renting out as office spaces in the 1970s and '80s, and finally being abandoned and almost demolished in the 1990s. 

The old-fashioned parlor, decorated for Christmas.  

Our breakfast of spinach and cheese quiche, homemade rosemary focaccia toast, fresh fruit and juice. Yum! We even got to sit in the fancy dining room with most of the original furniture. You can tell that the family that currently owns it is absolutely passionate about taking care of it and restoring it to all of its former glory! 

The exterior really does look like a castle and that's how it got its name. Isn't it gorgeous?? 

The original peacock stained glass window on the side of the house. It was glorious! 

We picked up the kids from Jeremy and Kylene's house (and they'd done just great overnight, thankfully) and spent the rest of the day down at the Denver Science Museum using our new pass. Leah loved the baby dinosaurs!

But her absolute favorite is this "dead" Snow White lying in her coffin in the Poisons exhibit. She is completely fascinated by the poison apple and could stare at her all day!!

We finally made our way to the more hands-on children's section, and spent the rest of the time playing there. It's great having a pass because I don't feel pressure to "keep moving" all the time. If they want to sit and play somewhere for an hour, so be it. We'll just come back!

Zach was very proud of himself for making the letter "Z" on this giant Light Bright and requested his picture with it. We had such a fantastic Christmas break it was SO hard coming back to reality on Monday and sending the kids off to school and Jon back to work. Yuck. Back to the grindstone! We enjoyed sleeping in, watching all the Star Wars movies, playing with friends and neighbors, enjoying the sunshine, and just being together for 2 weeks straight! 2015 was a very, very eventful year with lots of changes for our family, but we are excited to welcome 2016 and see what it brings! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

It's December the Twenty-Fourth!

December the Twenty-Fourth finally rolled around, and the reason for the season was officially pulled out of the last pocket on our Nativity calendar.

 All 3 kiddos patiently waited for their turn to open the pocket all month long, and Miss Leah ended up getting to put Baby Jesus in His manger bed, making our scene complete.

We totally surprised the kids Christmas Eve morning and woke them up at the crack of dawn to tell them we were traveling by train to the North Pole to see Santa. They were a little confused and a little cranky, but Jon and I had been saving this secret since November! I'd reserved special tickets online to the "Santa Train" at Pikes Peak Cog Railway in Manitou Springs, CO and we were up and at 'em on and on our way by 8 a.m.! 

The depot was about an hour away and we had to be there to board by 9:30 a.m. Luckily some very friendly elves greeted us as we got in line!

It was SOOOOO freezing cold! Holy cow! We were traveling up to almost 15,000 feet and the wind chill at the top, or the "North Pole" as it was deemed for the day was -2. We needed a lot of Christmas cheer to keep us warm.

Ready to go see Santa! Leah was ecstatic about being on a Christmas train! I think this is the first year she's really understood Christmas and been so excited about everything from start to finish.

My handsome boys and Zach's signature "troll face," ha ha.

After about 30 minutes straight up the mountain (no joke-- it was a STEEP climb for that little train) we made it to see Santa and Leah was first in line!

She told Santa she wanted "princesses and princess palace pets for Christmas," and asked Santa if he wanted to eat our cookies (that we'd made the day before). I'd warned her back at the depot that she'd better go to the bathroom before she sat on Santa's lap because she couldn't pee pee on Santa or none of the other kids would get to see him. As soon as she finished talking to him she proudly announced to the whole room, "I didn't pee on him, Mom!!"

Zach-O wanted Legos and Hot Wheels, and Lucy just wanted a Kindle and some Harry Potter surprises. I could have told him that myself!

CHRISTMAS EVE 2015

Back at the North Pole we had to wait for the rest of the kids on the train to meet Santa obviously, so we killed some time scarfing down the free hot chocolate and Christmas cookies, and posing as snowmen!

Back on the train, Mrs. Claus and Santa joined us on our way down and led everyone in singing Christmas carols-- much to Lucy's delight. She has been wanting to go caroling all month long! You can tell how thrilled Jon was to be singing with our fellow train passengers. It was so fun to surprise the kids and was totally the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve morning. I think we'll make it a new tradition!

We headed back home to hand out the cookie plates we'd made, and then watched "The Nativity Story" to put us in the right mood for our Holy Supper. The kids look forward to this special meal all year, and I love that it helps re-focus everybody on the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas since Santa seems to take over the next day anyway.

We light the candles, lay out the foods Joseph and Mary might have eaten that night-- flat bread, fish, goat cheese, hummus, nuts, and grape juice, and listen to "Jesus" music as we eat sitting on the floor. 

After our Holy Supper, the kids act out the Nativity story in Luke 2. Here is our faithful shepherd watching his flocks by night.

Lucy was Mary, Jon was Joseph,  and Leah was Baby Jesus-- see how very still she was holding lying there in the manger??? I had a hard time not laughing, but she was determined to be Baby Jesus, and NOT the angel! We always write our "Gifts to Jesus" right after, which are resolutions we make to be better in the next year-- as our first and most important gift of the season. 

Next everyone opened a brand new pair of pajamas!

Here they are! Zach got Yeti jammies, Lucy got Hedwig jammies, and Leah got Snowman jammies.

Even Jon opened some new Star Wars jammies.

It's become our tradition to have peppermint ice cream mud pie (since you can only find that kind of ice cream during the holidays) for dessert on Christmas Eve. It doesn't really fit with the Holy Supper, but holy cow is it yummy!

After dessert, we finally got Santa's cookies and the reindeer's carrots set out, the stockings placed on the couches, and it was officially time for bed! Thankfully since we'd been up so early, all three of them fell asleep really quickly and mom and dad could get to work.... Jon and I have probably watched "It's a Wonderful Life" every Christmas Eve since we got married once the kids are in bed, and this year was no exception. I love it. It's the perfect backdrop to setting out Santa gifts!

Lucy got two new Harry Potter shirts, Crookshanks the cat, some new chapter books, and a Kindle.

Zach-O definitely got his Star Wars Legos and a Hot Wheels track, and his long-awaited "check shoes" (Nike sneakers). 

Leah got a new play tent, Frozen sleeping bag, Princess Palace Pets castle, and lots of princess stuff!

Thankfully the little rascals slept in until 7:30 a.m. or so and came straight into our room ready to see if Santa had come. Here's their three different reactions. The pictures are blurry because obviously, they were running at full speed once they heard that Christmas music!

Whoa! I love how excited Zach gets when he sees his toys!

It was so cute because as soon as Lucy and Zach saw that Santa had indeed come, they both immediately went over to Leah's chair and helped her see all of her new toys and were just as excited about seeing her stuff as she was. They pointed out each and every toy before they finally looked at their own stuff. It was very sweet. 

Lucy helping Leah open her new Princess Palace Pets castle. She was elated! 

In an effort to slow down Christmas morning and really make it linger, I've started wrapping more and more Santa presents and making them open them in rounds, one at a time. It's pure torture for my kids-- but I love it because I want to see their reaction with every single present! Here's the aftermath.

We finally got to the toys under the tree and started Christmas Morning Round 2. Leah's new baby doll from Grandma and Grandpa Morris. She LOVES her!

Zachary opening his new Harry Potter robe from Grandma and Grandpa Cardon.

As soon as he'd opened the robe and Harry Potter wand, he got dressed in this new red sweater and was ready to play Harry Potter with Lucy. I think we have another HP fan on our hands!

Lucy opening her gifts from very generous and thoughtful grandmas and grandpas and loving every minute!

We finally finished up around 10:30 a.m. or so, and it was time for MY favorite part of Christmas morning-- Round 3, Christmas Brunch. We have creme brulee french toast (which I made with egg nog this year instead of regular milk and it was to die for), deviled egg casserole, sausages, shrimp cocktail, and cinnamon bun white hot chocolate. Mmmmmm.

It's hard to put the new toys away long enough to come and eat breakfast, but I put my foot down and make them because I love this part of the day with my little family. 

Zach-O relishing his shrimp and french toast! We spent the rest of the morning playing with toys, building new Lego sets, and getting ready for our Christmas dinner with Jeremy and Kylene's family.

We decided to make it a "Grinch" themed dinner, and had Roast Beast, Who-Potato Hash, Cindy-Lou Salad, Grinch Greens, Mt. Crumpet Crescent Rolls, and Grinch Punch. For dessert of course we had Who-Pudding with lots of yummy toppings. Everything was delicious!

Happy cousins talking about what they got for Christmas and enjoying their Who-Feast! It was such a nice Christmas and we feel so blessed we were able to celebrate together as a little family, here in Colorado for the first time, and that Jon has a job that's able to provide for our kids' Christmas wishes and make it all so magical. More importantly, we're so grateful for that little baby born over 2,000 years ago who offers us love and life!!

I totally crashed Saturday morning and slept in until 9 a.m.!! I think the last few busy days had totally caught up to me and I was just SO tired! We didn't get going until later in the afternoon which was just fine with the kids, who wanted to stay home and play anyway. We finally headed out into the melee to return a few things, shop the after Christmas sales at the outlet malls and get dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I felt like I'd been in the kitchen for 3 days straight and I INSISTED I was not going to make dinner!

Whitney's package arrived with these adorable hand-sewn bears for each of the kids! So very thoughtful and fun from a long-distance auntie! You can see the only way we convinced the kids to come in the car was if they could bring along a new toy or two...

On our way home from the restaurant we caught this herd of deer on our neighbors' lawn eating a post-Christmas snack. It's so crazy to me that we see SO much wildlife here in Colorado-- even in our little neighborhood. I think we counted 8 deer total.

WISHING YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015!!!