Andy & Adam - the hunters...

While we were camping with our friends (remember this) Andy and Chris cooked up a plan for taking the oldest boys hunting. Ryan has been a few times and seems to enjoy it - up to a point we're told - then it just gets boring - ha. Adam was excited about it and Andy will take any excuse to use the camper and shoot guns - lol. So the weekend before Christmas Adam and Andy set off on a little hunting trip down at Chris and Ryan's hunt club - yes - my 9 year old spent the night at a hunt club. They didn't get any deer - in fact apparently they didn't even see any - but from all accounts they had a great time - rode around on ATV's, wore camouflage, cooked hot dogs over the fire, got dirty - etc. etc. Definitely a fun guy's weekend for father and son. :)

Office Christmas Party...

One of the highlights of the holidays each year for me is my trip up to NY for my office holiday party. I don't get to see my colleagues all that often so taking some time to get together and celebrate the success of the year is always a good time. This year the party itself was at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains. The weather was a bit cloudy which was too bad since the views would have been ridiculous from our party room. Of course it was a good time none the less. 

The real fun, however, is had at the after party. We ate our favorite flat breads, laughed over stories, and just toasted to the holidays and the year ahead. 

I say it every year but I truly am so thankful for the company I work for and the people I work with.

A tale of two Christmas trees....

I love our tradition of going to Meadows Farm at the beginning of the holiday season to pick out the biggest and best tree we can find. We've had some stunners over the years and this year's tree was no exception.

Sadly this tree didn't quite make it past the finish line - rather upon arriving home from a business trip I noticed that ornaments were sliding off due to droopy branches and needles that once were the perfect shade of Christmas tree green were now more of a yellow/brownish green...yikes! So we made the tough (but safe - hello fire hazard) decision of removing all the ornaments, the bows, the 700+ lights and returning the tree (they actually have a return policy at Meadows) a week before Christmas and picking up one of the last trees on the lot. Harper was confused to wake up to a missing tree and Al spent the night crying (I feel you Al). 

Sure this tree wasn't as perfectly shaped but it was going to come home with us and we were going to let this tree fulfill it's destiny (per Phoebe Buffet). So we once again brought the family over to assist with putting up 700+ lights (more were needed for this one), all the ornaments, the bows, and the tree skirt. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end. We even let this one stay up past New Years. 

A Christmas we'll never forget - and a lesson in watering for the boys in the family when mom's away on travel. ;) 

13 years....

We celebrated our 13 year anniversary in December and am still in disbelief that time has flown so quickly. It's amazing to think all the fun and adventures we've packed into those 13 years and we talked about a lot of them over a delicious home cooked Tuscan chicken pasta dinner paired with one of our favorite red wines from King Family Vineyard. 

Cheers to the next 13 and beyond...

Air Force Band Holiday Concert...

Going downtown to see this concert is officially a family tradition. No offense to the Navy Band, whom we saw last year, but the Air Force Band truly is the one to see - especially with kiddos. The matinee is perfect for planning in a pre-concert visit to the White House Christmas tree - really the highlight there are all the trains as the tree is kind of ugly. 

The concert itself is just off the charts. They really know how to entertain and fill the concert hall with all kinds of Christmas cheer. This year we had an added bonus of watching some amazing ballerinas perform to some music from The Nutcracker. They were beautiful dancers - I was mesmerized. 

Of course Santa arrived and once again led the audience in a sing-a-long while the children in attendance were invited to join in on stage. Adam took a little encouraging but then hopped right up there and sang along. Looking forward to bringing Harper along next year - he'll love it! 

St. Nicholas Day...

Al surprised the kiddos with their special shoes to put outside for St. Nicholas Day - straight from The Netherlands - they were so excited. 

The next morning they peeked out the window and were thrilled to see that St. Nicholas had left them treats in their shoes. Gold coins, chapstick (Harper's latest obsession), coloring books and Star Wars pencils made for smiles all around.

A fun tradition to be sure. 

Happy Birthday Andy...

We had a great time celebrating Andy's birthday with Ommy and Poppy. I made a sous vide prime rib (kind of a dry run for our Christmas dinner) and oh my did it turn out amazing - the perfect gift for Andy - ha! We had great food, yummy cakes, laughs and hopefully a birthday wish that comes true! 

Christmas Baking with Grandma...

Grandma asked Harper to spend some time in the kitchen with her helping out with her Christmas baking projects. Leave it to Grandma to have the faith (and patience!) to bake with a three year old - boy! Alas, Grandma knows best and Harper turned out to be a very good helper. They baked breads and made everyone's favorite Hershey kiss/M&M pretzel bites.

Happy 13th birthday Liddy!!

Oh sweet Liddy Poppins how we love you so. We celebrated her 13th birthday in November and still can't believe it. While she can still act like a puppy at times she definitely is showing her age more and more and I promise you no one is taking our time with her for granted. She's still the best little lap dog who snuggles up with whomever is sitting on the couch - just ask Grandpa who had a Liddy shaped imprint on his leg after Thanksgiving. We had a fun time celebrating her with party hats and of course Liddy Cakes...

Here's to another trip around the sun little poppins puddin head - we promise to let you swim, chase tennis balls, romp around the woods with Sadie, snuggle on our laps, sneak you treats, let you lick the peanut butter spoon, and give you all our love! XO