2011 Holiday Wrap Up.

Oh, get off my case, I know.  It's nice to know that I have a life though, right?  A life that keeps me so busy I have absolutely no time to blog?

You're right.  I was watching the Criminal Minds marathon again.  And again.  And again.  I can't help it!  Morgan is so hot!

Anyhoo, here's what you've all been waiting for:  The Holiday of 2011!  Woot woot!

Have I even talked about Thanksgiving?!  Hold on, let me check...  Eek!  Not a real blog post since Texas?!  My word, let's get on this!

Halloween 2011:


The highlights from this Halloween were definitely being with my 2 nieces, Jaiden (2 years old) and Nixie (11 months old).  It was Nixie's first Halloween and it was so exciting to have Tiffer and her family back home.

(Tiffer made a spooky breakfast with a blood red hand-shaped ice cube punch.)

Jaiden dressed as a Bumble Bee.

Nixie dressed as a Ladybug.

And Tiffer dressed as a flower.

How cute is that?!

Let me go back pre-Halloween here real quick.  In our family we have a tradition of carving pumpkins together while watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Well, last year and perhaps the years before we carved pumpkins WAY too early and so by the time Halloween came around?  Let's just say we didn't make them look so raunchy on purpose, but hey, it's Halloween so they totally fit the part!  Jaiden picked my pattern and it ended up being the scariest of the bunch!  And yes, I do carve my pumpkins freehand, in case you were wondering!

Ok, fast forward to the night before Halloween:  We took the girls to the church for their Annual Trunk or Treat.  I love going to these with my parents because I get a better opportunity to see the little kids in their costumes.  Sooo cute!

(My pumpkin was so scary, no other pumpkins dared to sit next to it.)

On the night of, I went with Tiffer to take the girls around the parents' neighborhood Trick or Treating.  Jaiden became a professional by the second house.  Remember, this is her second Halloween.  She walked with me, holding my to every house.  then as she braved the front steps of each house, she told me, "You stay here.  I will right back."  So much entertainment!

Thanksgiving 2011:


This last Thanksgiving was pretty small.  It may have been one of the top 5 smallest Turkey Days I've ever been too.  It consisted of only the parents, Gina, Tiffer and the girls, and myself.  But you know what?  That didn't mean a thing in the amount of food we prepared and engorged on!  It was also my best turkey yet, according to the family!  I got to teach Gina how I prep it, so that was pretty exciting.  I like to teach people the way I do things.  Especially when it's successful!

(One of the mandatory appetizers: cream cheese with sweet chili sauce and crackers.)

(The traditional pies.)

(The reminders.)

(Pickle.)

(My beautiful turkey trditionally being carved by The Godfather.)

Christmas 2011:

(Every Christmas season it is mandatory we get Sees.  Here's Mrs. Sees herself helping out!)

(We went to Candy Cane Lane down in Balboa to check out the lights.  Oh and this was my silly Christmas app that was fun to play with.)

(Sweet Baby Kate all bundled up.)

(The winner of it all!  I'd be so bummed if I were their neighbor...)

(Jady is always more than happy to pose for the camera.)

(This was my favorite of the season.)

Ah, Christmas.  (Oh, hold on, I have to take my meatloaf out of the oven.)  Where was I?  Oh yes, Christmas.  This year was another sort of different Christmas.  We were talking about doing another form of charity work but it's hard to do that when Christmas falls on a Sunday.  And so we decided no presents (except for the nieces and nephew) and then we would do each others' stockings.  It turned out perfect and was so much fun!

(Too many stockings for the chimney.  That's a fabulous Christmas!)

(Christmas Eve with Jady.)

This was the first Christmas for Ashley and Adam as a married couple, Nixie and Kate's very first Christmas, and it was such a happy time being all together!  We were sure to Skype VJ and his family later Christmas night so that everyone could show us what they got.

It was the perfect Christmas and I am so thankful for such an amazing family!

(One of the toys that was in my stocking!  Pickle yelled at me not to shine it in my eye.)

New Years Eve 2011:

(Ready for the big night out!)

NYE was... well... different.  Haha!  I decided to go with Gina and a couple of our friends to a Singles' event at Dave & Busters.  We were supposed to go to something that was more our age oriented, but it got cancelled (lots of drama we won't discuss) and we were told to go to this activity.

Nothing says Happy New Years than being at the same event as your exboyfriends' baby siblings!  One of them I've known since she was two.  The other since he was about seven.

Sweet.

We stood in line for what seemed like hours.  When we finally got inside, it was so packed you couldn't breathe, let alone walk anywhere without touching someone.  We got to one of the dance floors and decided to make the best of it!  And so we danced.  Until the heels made it unbearable to stand anymore.

(Green, Deanna and I dancing our hearts out.)

("This party blows" pose. Haha!)

We made the rounds and found ourselves sitting in the mechanical bull room.  We grabbed some stools and sat in a corner.  That was when the night got fun!  Who needed to walk around when everyone else was?  Everyone we knew, including some we hadn't seen in a long time, were making their own rounds and finding us!  It was hilarious.  Have you ever seen the How I Met Your Mother with the "woo girls?"  That was us.  Every time someone we knew rounded the corner and saw us, we wooed!

(Scary fog on NYE?  Not a good mix at 2:00AM.)

All in all, it was a fantastic New Years!  I even got home safely in the fog before all the drunks headed home!  YAY!

(Another New Years Kiss against Fiyero's will.)

And so you have it.  The holidays of 2011 in a nutshell!  Now I'm almost caught up!  Woo hoo!  Until next time!

This Is the New Year

Let's do this 2012!