2011 holiday season favorites

 

1. homemade grape juice that was mixed to create a lime rickey

2. the man (& cousin) behind the grape juice

3. burton family christmas party

4. petersen family christmas party

5. not one but two bags of flo's delicious caramels (one for him, one for me...we've been known to fight over the last caramel because they're that delicious)

6. an evening spent listening to my favorite christmas cd making christmas coal to be delivered to our neighbors by none other than santa briggs

7. i made coasters for a couple of my co-workers christmas gifts

8. caroling at an assisted living facility (we gained a few carolers along the way too)

9. a secret day of relaxation (which was also an early christmas gift)

10. gordon gave me a starbucks gift card which gave me the chance to try every holiday flavor

11.  lunch with the staff at my sister's work

13. breakfast with the boys (and by boys i mean gordon's friends...i love it when chris is in town)

14. fraga family christmas party.  lots of listening to frank sinatra records with my grandpa.

15. a christmas eve movie favorite: sherlock holmes!

16. christmas was on a sunday...it was nice to feel the spirit on christmas day.

17. abbi got leopard print booties from my mom for christmas.

18. the petersen family circle on christmas day.  no, it doesn't have to be christmas for this circle to form.

19. my brother was at every christmas activity we had.  we even got to celebrate his birthday with him.  he's doing so well.  i pray he continues to stay strong because we love making memories with him.

20. no photo but my grandma was released from the hospital a couple of days before christmas and is doing okay.  an answer to many prayers.



my besties since junior high

12/21/11

birthday dinner for bree

dinner at mandarin

we were there until they closed

we didn't want the night to end so we found the only place open past 9pm on weekday

so it wasn't awkward we were hanging out there without purchasing anything we got boba drinks

we laughed all night

it was just what i needed

simply having a wonderful christmas time

christmas 2011

the older i get the less christmas is about gifts and the more it is about spending time with family, making memories, and smiling.  lots of smiling. 

*most of the smiles captured in these photos were because of gifts, but that was definitely not the only reason there was smiling.

a christmas party i'm not ready to have.

christmas time means lots of get togethers with our family.  over the weekend we had two family christmas parties (and gordon's company christmas party).  it's always fun getting together will extended family.  you get a chance to catch up and see each other one more time before the year ends.  the burton family christmas party was a bit different this year than from year's past.  we were missing one very important person...my grandma.  she hadn't been feeling well and couldn't stand to be away and off of her oxygen for too long so she opted to stay home.  when i was younger we use to have the family christmas parties at her house.  i wish we could have done that.  instead we had it at a church to fit all 80+ of us.  it wasn't the same without her.  a christmas tradition has always been that as we leave we get a christmas orange.  my grandpa use to be the one to pass them out.  he would give each and every one of us a hug and "grandpa kiss" (the slobbery kind that i miss oh so much) as he handed us our orange.  my grandma took his place once he died.  this year the oranges were passed out by other family members.  it just wasn't the same and it gave me a glimpse of what's to come once my grandma does pass on and i didn't like it.  don't get me wrong, my grandparent's posterity is made of some of the finest people, and as i spoke to my grandma after our party was over to tell her how strange it all was and how much i missed her she told me how proud she was of her posterity and loved each of us so much, but i don't want to have christmas parties without her.  ever.  not realistic, i know, but i need her there.  it's just not the same without her.

she's currently in the hospital.  turns out she has more fluid around her heart and lungs and she's in heart failure.  none of this is new.  she's been in heart failure for the past couple of years.  however, the size of her heart has significantly increased.  it's not looking good.  she's fine, under great care, and is in no pain.  but with her heart the size that it is the doctor says it's only a matter of time.

many prayers are constantly being said on my grandma's behalf and for that i am eternally grateful.  it's those prayers that have kept her here as long as she has been.  i know she's ready to be with my grandpa again.  shoot, i am too i miss him so dang much.  i love my grandma so much and know what ever happens next is what's meant to be.

it's just hard.

dinner with my besties

12/8/11

dinner at tona on 25th st

an evening for just us girls to catch up and spend some much needed time together.

love these girls and all the memories we have together.

nights like this make me miss the good ol' college days with these ladies.

some of the best times of my life are because of them.

*photos taken with instagram

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what's been going on...

1. date night. 

we made homemade pizza, watch art of flight (a snowboarding film), & washed it all down with virgil's rootbeer

2. favorite part about the city during the holidays: FREE PARKING!

3. went shopping at a mall far far away from my house.  i made the mistake of looking at that section in nordstrom that i'll never be able to afford.  i tried on this sweet vest.  jodi made me do it. ("all in the name of instagram" she told me...i'll do anything to instagram it)

4. mel made yet another impressive cake.  this one was for baby k's first birthday party.  our kids will not be as fortunate as mel's (unless of course aunty mel makes them a cake...)

5. the birthday girl. yeah we also think she's the cutest baby in the world.

6. don't ask us to do anything july 26, 2012.  we're going to see wicked! (by the time we actually go it will have been close to a year and a half since it's been planned...i've never scheduled something that far in advance before.  it felt silly doing it and feels silly saying it out loud, but i'm ridiculously excited for it none-the-less!)

7. sunday dinner at my mom's.  briggs is in heaven there.  he never wants to leave (can you blame him...non stop treats and the comfiest spot on the couch are all his!)

8. a treat for a sister date night to watch new girl.  new girl is quickly becoming my new favorite tv show.  "new favorite tv show meet madbrook donut holes"...great night!

9. gordon wishes there was more snow to shovel...and not because he likes shoveling snow.  the snow season needs to arrive quickly because this husband of mine can only watch so many snowboarding films without living them in real life.

10. i've become a little obsessed with my iphone.  everyday i hear "you sure are glued to that phone" from gordon.  it's true.  i am.  (especially instagram. favorite app ever!)

33 hours

i'm pretty sure that's the longest i have ever gone without power (besides when i'm camping).

last week we had a record breaking windstorm in our area that literally blew the roof off of people's homes in our neighborhood.  our power went out thursday morning mid blow-dry of my hair.  it didn't come on until the evening of the next day (33 hours later).  we were tricked into thinking it was on earlier than that because others in our neighborhood had power but apparently we are on a separate power line (and water line but that's not really related to this story) than they are. sometimes that works for us, sometimes against us.  we made it through (with gordon telling me that it was just like we were camping).  we bundled up in the evenings, and when it was time for work i made sure my dogs were bundled in their sweaters (since they would be left home in the 52 degree house).

all of this just made me realize how grateful i am to live in a time that i have all the comforts of electricity at my fingertips.  i could not have been a pioneer.

over the weekend: my husband the holiday decorating expert?

my mother in law's home during the holidays is beautiful. she has a lot of holiday decorations.  so many that she practically replaces all of her normal home decor with christmas decor.  because she is recovering from back surgery, she hadn't had the time to put up her christmas decorations this year yet.  so on sunday night that's what gordon and i did.  her house was prepped ready for us to arrive (thanks kim!).  and close to three hours laterwe were finished.  gordon brought in and took out millions of rubbermaid bins, each one filled with christmas decorations.  my favorite moment of the night was when we were down to the last four bins, gordon opened one of them up, then looked at leeann and me and said "this one is full of thanksgiving crap! this is the best thing to happen to me all day!"  needless to say he wasn't thrilled to be putting up all of his mom's christmas decorations, but by the end of the night he was a pro.  so much that leeann may just ask him to help every year!

we also brought the dogs.

 abbi is cute.