Well, 2025 is here. It has been a bit of a whiplash start to the year. Jan 2nd, we got a puppy, Jan 7th, a wind storm came through, our power was lost, fires started, school was canceled, and homes were wiped out. Our hearts and prayers go out to all who have lost their homes or have been injured or affected by the fires. Dan hasn't been on the fires since he's on light duty these days, still recovering from shoulder surgery. We received tons of texts and calls making sure Dan was okay which we so appreciated.
I'm not going to talk about how fast the years are going because everyone says that. But they are. They are going really fast.
These last couple of months were so jam-packed with events and to-dos that I'm pretty sure I forgot something like a concert or award ceremony or birthday party or something. But the holidays have come and gone and now we say hello to a new quarter of the century. I very much enjoyed sitting around, watching movies & eating everything bad for me that I could get my hands on the week after Christmas. Now it's back to all of the normal responsibilities and some extra ones like walking our new puppy =)
Heard around here from my 1st & 2nd born =)
Me: Winter, stop. You're not Angus's mom.
Mya: I'm his mom.
Me: Addie, do you know how much I love you?
Winter: Less than me.
Here are pics from November and December. They are in order but not from oldest to newest because I can't seem to figure out how to do that after all these years of loading pics on my blog. I think I figured it out but it would take too long and this post would be a happy March post by the time I got around to doing it.
So. Let's start with our new puppy! Fisher. He's everyone's favorite guy. Super mellow and super sweet. He's 8 months old and already pretty big. I love his huge paws. It has been an adjustment as expected but honestly, he's a really good dog.
Common can you stand that face? Such a good Fisher Booooooy!
New Year's Eve was a fun night with a fun family. Nobody stayed up until midnight because we are all usually in bed by 9:00
Cousin sleepover 💞
We celebrated Christmas afternoon/eve with the Bakers. Dan made an amazing meal of steak, twice baked potatoes & veggies. I made an amazing salad that took me about 1 whole minute to throw together. But it counts as me cooking I think.
I introduced Wendy and Jason to readers. They were amazed at the clarity they provide. I sent them home with some old ones that aren't strong enough for my aging eyeballs. We also got some giant mugs from a neighbor we thought we'd use as props.
We forced the kids to go on a 5-mile hike a few days after Christmas and they didn't complain nearly as much as I thought they would. Mya says that if we would have started hiking with them when they were little, they'd be used to it and would definitely be enthusiastic hikers. She plans on doing that with her kids of course. She likes to provide helpful tips as to how we could improve our parenting =)
She's the best mom.
We really are so blessed to live in the foothills of SoCal.
We are hamster-sitting again. We love this little guy. His name is S'mores. He bit me when I was holding him a few days ago. I don't know what I did to offend him but I'm not holding him anymore. He actually fits in the palm of my hand. He's pretty cute, when he's not attacking me.
Auntie Wendy's Christmas PJ's. Winnie the Pooh this year. Love it.
Angus was in the kids' Christmas Choir this year. They were predictably adorable.
Nothing says Christmas like camouflage and sea creatures. I didn't realize we would be taking such a nice picture with such a perfectly Christmassy backdrop that morning. I have to remember that Addie and Angus are always in front in pics so they need to represent.
Also, Dan got the kids ready because I had to be at church early because I was singing in the grownup Christmas Choir. Everyone in my house likes to sing.
Winter had a Christmas party with her besties.
Our annual family Christmas party 💚💖
Also, Winter had a birthday! She's now 14.
Another annual Christmas party with more cousins
Mya's show choir Christmas performance. It was so lovely.
And Mya's orchestra performance.
And Addie & Angus's performance. Winter had one too. I must not have been close enough for pics at hers. Yes, we went to three separate holiday orchestra performances.
Angus was a drummer boy at the church living nativity.
Addie pretends that she doesn't adore Angus but I have proof.
They decided to draw pictures. In the bathroom...
Did I mention that Addie has been tutoring Angus? We are paying her far more than she would ask for and far less than a regular tutor so everyone wins. It is going extremely well. He's doing great in school and she is being impressively patient with him.
A few tired moms (mostly Mari because she just had her 7th baby) took a lovely 24 hour break and camped on the beach. Obviously it was amazing. We watched the sunset. And then early the next morning, I snuck out and watched the sunrise. Not too shabby.
Let's rewind to Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I don't have to host and I always get to see some favorites, including 3 Jasons. 😄
This is Thanksgiving #2 at my cousin's.
And Thanksgiving #1 at the Bakers'
Addie turned 11 💕
Mya made the cake. She wasn't proud of it but I think it looked amazing.
Addie had two of her besties over for a bday party/sleepover. There were a million giggles, lots of sugar, and an impressive amount of energy the next day after I'm sure about 3 hours of sleep.
Our annual Great Wolf Lodge trip. We've added families to our tradition.
I took the kids to see Moana 2 & Mufasa because my excitement to see those two movies could barely be contained. I love that I have movie buddies. We have a tradition before we go (aka a way of saving money). We each fill a snack baggie of candy from home, then we go to the liquor store and pick a drink. We're talking gatorade & snapple people. Then I get the large popcorn at the theater that comes with free refills. I ask for extra containers so we can all share. We go and sit down in our discount matinee seats with plenty of time to spare. I empty all the popcorn out into the spare containers, then go back to refill it before the movie starts.
For Moana 2, we had the theater to ourselves for the most part. For Mufasa, it was a bit more crowded since it was the day after Christmas. There were annoying teenagers in front of us who talked through the whole movie and brought a laser they used every once in a while on the screen. I gave them a few stern shushes and reminders to be quiet. Oh AND the toddler behind Mya sneezed so big that soggy popcorn landed on Mya's head and shirt. She told me that when we got home. We had the time of our lives for the most part and brought the extra popcorn home to Dan who detests going to dirty movie theaters for reasons I've already mentioned but loves the popcorn. The only pics I got were blurry but better than nothing.
And that's a wrap! I don't know about you but I'm exhausted.
Hugs and love to you all.
Here's to an amazing 2025!!
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