GOoDbYe to Another Year!

2012 is no longer.......

Hello 2013! Can't believe how fast the years are flying by. Every year seems to go by faster than the last. So many happenings in 2012 that have changed our lives forever.....nothing tragic (thank goodness).....just some big growing up phases. It is so evident from the many posts that I have added for this year. It will be fun to look back and reread all that 2012 brought to our family!

But this last post of the year is always a fun one......New Year's Eve.

NYE is always a family affair.....always has been.  Maybe one day that will change, but we have always just spent it with US!  As the kids have gotten older and hit the Stake dance, it still works out since it doesn't start til later.  This year with T gone that means the dance part is gone since M hates going to those.  However, she was invited to a party at a friend's house, so we still lost someone for the midnight hour.  No worries, we celebrate in style around here.

J and K went with me that day to the Party store and found some fun hats and necklaces to add to our supply at home.....even found a cute wall hanging.  Add the horns and poppers we always have, we are set.  Oreo Balls are a standard treat on the table for New Years Eve too.  Add a good dinner, games played (Yea, I kicked in Nuts, AGAIN), movies watched, it was time for Dick Clark's Rockin Eve and watching the ball drop.

Duke always goes crazy with all the noise and stuff flying everywhere...it really is annoying.  It was really cloudy, so we were not able to see the fireworks off the top of Pikes Peak.  But the girls went outside anyway to see and of course had to add their own "Happy New Year" yell to the world.  K was surprised when she got a reply...too funny.

2012 was a great year and I am banking on 2013 to be just as great!

Happy New Year to all!

Broadmoor

Every year I say I want to go to the Broadmoor Hotel and just walk around during Christmas time.  They have it all decorated and pretty, or so I hear.  I've also been told they have Gingerbread houses every year, so I keep saying we will go.  Finally this year, we went.  Believe it or not, I have never been to the Broadmoor before.  Not saying to stay as it is expensive, but just to walk around the beautiful old hotel and the grounds.  T has gone a few times, but the rest of us have not.

Not sure the rest of the family really wanted to do it, but I told them that was what we were doing this year.  We were running out of time before the new year and so we were limited on our nights we could go.  We ended up having to choose between this and the zoo's electric lights.  We go every year to the zoo and it really has become a tradition, but it gets to a point that "you have seen it all before".  That sounds so harsh, but now that the kids are older, some of the magic is gone.  Don't get me wrong, we love the zoo and Christmas lights, but I think we are all ready to move on.  Maybe we will make it an every other year kind of thing, we will see.  Anyway, it was such a beautiful hotel at Christmas time. 

There are Christmas trees everywhere.....in every banquet room, every room in the lobbies, outside....everywhere.  It really was all done up to the hilt.  But then again, this is the Broadmoor.

There were tons of people milling around, sitting in the many comfy couches, and enjoying the warmth of the fireplaces. 

I must say that it was down right cold as we walked out by the lake, but it was fun to see the girls laughing and playing and having fun together.

The Gingerbread houses were cute....Western theme this year.  My favorite was the sawmill where they were cutting the gingerbread men in half....yes, morbid, but oh so funny.

It was a nice evening to end the Christmas season with as we get ready for the new year.

Looking for Clear Skies

Now that we have a fun new toy, we are always looking for the best times to use it.  Unfortunately it is winter, so it is very cold out at night and then or course, there is the need for no clouds.  That is hard to find, but we were lucky to get that the day after Christmas. 

It was fun to go out and look at the moon through our new telescope.  We are just learning the ropes so it is taking us a bit to figure out all the bells and whistles, but we are having a fun time doing it.  I just wish it wasn't soooooooooo cold.  We bundle up in coats and hats and blankets to look at the sky.  But we are having fun.  Can't wait for warmer weather where we will stay out there for hours trying to find all the fun stuff in the night sky!

So glad that we have an attachment for my camera so we can get some cool pictures too.  What a fun Christmas gift!

Merry Christmas!

It was a great Christmas Day......it had snowed and so we were having our first truly White Christmas since 1987ish.  It was what we had all wished for and were thrilled that it had happened.

 

Christmas morning starts out the same as usual....at the top of the stairs.

 

Then finding what Santa left in our stockings.....

 

Then figuring out which presents are whose under the tree and passing them out to everyone.  Then we take turns opening them, this year we started with the oldest....you go first hubby!

 

All presents were unwrapped and we were all just sitting around when K noticed one more gift coming down the stairs.....

 

She was thrilled to finally have her 53" plush bear from Costco that she had been asking for every year for several years in fact.  She was thrilled beyond belief and into tears she was so excited.

 

Then we sat the girls down to have them open one more gift to figure out the family gift.  My hubby had been giving them clues for the last couple of days and the day before came to me and told me that M had guessed it....he didn't know how she did, but she guessed.  He never confirmed she was right, but that was the first thing out of her mouth when they discovered it....

Yea, a telescope!  We have wanted one for awhile, so finally we had gotten it.  Of course, the one year that it is super cold and snowy AND cloudy.  But we look forward to using it a lot no matter the temperature.  I think it was a fabulous family gift and we will get many hours of fun out of it.

 

We spent the rest of the day playing, eating, dancing, reading.....

And the best part for me at least as a mom was getting to talk to T.  The day before he had sent an email with the words.....have your cell phone close by tomorrow.  That was it.  So we had no idea what time he would call.  But he texted and told us to get online and for the next 2 hours we saw this gorgeous face looking back at us......

 

It was the best Christmas present I could get.  Ok, I would have rather had him home with me, but I know he is where he is suppose to be and so I was so happy to get to Skype with him.  The connection was not the best, but it was great to talk to him, all of us together.  He looked so good and he seemed happy.  For Christmas, he had gone to the Dollar store and bought us each something and wrote us a personal letter.  It was perfect.

 

My hubby got T's first badge he had at the MTC.....he said he needed one since he never got one of his own.  And he found this ancient things at a garage sale.....too funny.

 

So happy and so blessed this Christmas season.  Merry Christmas Everyone!