wonderful new years with the familia

So, after 7 or so months, I finally got to spend a week with my lovely sister Talia, her husband Jeremy, their two most precious children, and my brother Elijah! And what a week it was too!
While mom and dad and Lydia went off to the airport I had to stay at home and tidy the house up and make the beds and all that. Then I sat waiting quite impatiently, jealous of the others getting to spend the extra time with them in the car. :P They finally got to our house around 1 a.m. and then the hugging and kissing and hellos and "I've missed you"s ensued. We stayed up a little while chatting and all and then bedtime! They took over my room so I camped out on Lydia's floor.
Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly just hanging out and we had work in the afternoons(lame). Wednesday we worked in the morning for only two hours, so that was good. Then it was home to get ready to party! :) We three sisters decided before the festivities began we would go get coffee, so we headed to our nearby Starbucks. It claimed it was open until 6, and we there around 5:30 and it was already closed. The other nearby one was also closed. So we drove around and decided to try this Celtic Tavern that was new. Talia went and looked to make sure it wasn't too bar-y for a pregnant woman and two underage girls. We decided what the heck why not. So we walked in and just stood there looking kind of awkward but this waitress came up and we told her our problem and asked if we could get coffee and hot chocolate and she said no problem. So we found a booth and sat down. It was a pretty cool place and it was very decorated for winter and new years. We got our drinks which were very good. Lydia was debating getting some onion rings but they weren't on the menu so we asked our server about it and she said she could make some. We were like woah. But then our dad called, so Lydia was talking to him and she looked confused/worried. And then Jeremy called Talia and she almost looked concerned too. So our server waited till they were off the phones and we told her we had to go, since we had dinner and everything at home. Now we're pretty sure she thought we had some family emergency or something. So she told us it was all taken care of. On the house. We thought that was way too nice, so Talia tipped her pretty good. Definitely an interesting experience. Then we had to go pick up beer for the people at home, so we headed to a liquor store. So a tavern and a liquor store. Quite the new years eve for a pregnant woman and her two underage sisters. Lol!
So we came home and we three sisters took pictures so Lydia and I could use a couple for Talia's Christmas present. We all wore black tops. But man, did we have the hardest time finding a good spot or way to take the picture. We decided we finally had a good one after some silliness. Of course. :P We had some pizza and waited for the Enochs to get there. Once they arrived we all sat around talking, played some pool and played Catch Phrase. I will never get tired of that game. Such a blast! At 10 we went downstairs and watched the ball drop in NY and toasted with champagne! More Catch Phrase, which definitely got funny with people thinking different things and all. And once Lydia and I were so on the same train of thought. She said something about a weird book I knew immediately what she meant and I was right. Weird sister thing I think. Lol. We hung out doing whatever until midnight when we all toasted and sang Auld Lang Syne. We wanted to wait until 1 so we could toast California as well. So we did, along with random music and videos thanks to Elijah. Chris and Rebecca spent the night so they could go with us to the mountains the next day. So off to bed we all went.
Next morning, all 12 of us piled into the Enochs large van and took off to Evergreen hoping for some snow to play in since we didn't have any down in Denver. They barely had any up there either. But we were not aware that the annual Ice Plunge was going on so we stayed around to watch that for a little while. There were like 100 people who all went separately to jump into the freezing cold water. It was kind of interesting since some people got really into it with their costumes. Others just in their swimsuits. Crazy people. We watched all bundled up in our coats and hats and gloves and scarves and such. The little girls were getting bored so we decided to go find some snow. We drove a little ways and found a nice little patch and the girls were thrilled! They even built an adorable little snowman and made snow angels! So cute. :) We were all getting hungry and some had to pee so we decided to head back to Evergreen to find a place to eat. We found this place called Little Bear which someone said was a family restaurant. Not so much. It was very dark and bar-ish( how you liking my new words?? :P) and they had live music and dozens of bras hanging above the stage. What?!? It was pretty weird. But the music and food were pretty good! After that we headed back home.
Later that night, Tyra and Christine and their two children got here!! Brayden had grown oh so much since we had last seen him. He's seriously the chubbiest little boy. So very adorable with his big smiles! :) Friday was our Christmas! We had brunch, including mamosas(mmm. :)) and then we started our present handing out. After seeing those presents under the tree for the past several weeks just tempting us, we finally got to open them! Yay! hehe. It was really fun watching everyone open all their presents, especially the ones from us. I got some pretty good stuff too! Clothes and movies, a necklace, a game. Out of all our family there were 16 DVDs received and 8 games! Goodness. We had our Christmas dinner later that evening. My very good friends, newly engaged(! :P), Carson and Hannah were in town so they came up for dinner and games. After dinner was birthday time! Since it was Elijah's birthday that day and 4 other family birthdays not too far away, we had delicious cake and presents to unwrap.
Saturday was spent just hanging out at home doing whatever. Poor Lydia was sick on the couch all day. :( Sunday we had church twice and we watched Elf later. I finally got to see it! Very hilarious. Got to love Will Ferrell and his humor.
Early Monday morning, we said goodbye to Elijah and Talia and Jeremy. :( Sad day! I really do hate saying goodbye to family. And how I miss them all.
Back to bed for a little while and then off to work that afternoon. The rest of the time Tyra and family were there was spent mostly playing pinochle, definitely a family favorite, and chilling and we watched Iron Man.
Wednesday morning they all left to head home. :( So now the house seems so very empty and quiet. There are times I actually prefer the chaos and bustle and noise of a full house. Maybe it's because it's full of the people I love dearly.
One of the loveliest weeks and new years! Full of love, laughter, talking, silliness, and wonderful family moments and memories. I had a cold for several days which consisted of a constant runny nose and a very manly sounding voice(lol), but other than that it was amazing! :D
My blog wouldn't let me post pictures for some reason, But Lydia has many on hers! And I'll probably post some later, so Jeremy can be in a few. :P
I hope my relaying of the week wasn't too long and rambly for you all.

christmas day

These adorable kittens and I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas!! May your day be extra wonderful and full of Christmas cheer. Let us remember what this season is really about and may the Lord bless us!
Have a most joyous holiday with your family and friends, lovely bloggers!

Peace

As I'm laying in bed the other night drifting off to the music of Secondhand Serenade my mind is running over the last few days and the days to come. This time of year is always so wonderful and amazing to me. To some it may be stressful trying to get everything ready by Christmas day, all the presents wrapped and bought and all the food cooked and the house all decorated and cards sent out and whatever else comes with it. To me though, even with all the bustle, it's a time of peace. Saturday night we went and heard the beautiful music of Handel's Messiah and I must say it was amazing. Such great voices and instruments. And the words. Always so wonderful. And my dad's sermons lately have been so wonderful and comforting too. And when the snow is falling softly on everything with the Christmas lights twinkling underneath in the dark, the peace is there too. And I know we can only have true peace through our Lord, which we should remember all the year but this time of year it's manifested even more.

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. " Isaiah 9:6

seesterly love

So Lydia keeps asking me if I'm writing a blog about her. I think she's perhaps joking, but you never know. haha. So I decided, hey why not.
So about my sister Lydia. The one that gets mistaken for my twin almost every other day. the one who can finish my sentences and even say the exact same random thing at the exact same time. The one who gets me and takes part in my silliness and seriousness. The one who I can talk to for hours about practically nothing, but yet everything. The one who I know will always be there for me, as I will for her. The one who teases me continuously just because she's a couple inches taller. The one who seems to be so much more mature than I am. It's pretty unfair sometimes. But how I love her.

She loves me pretty well too. Whether she's giving me kisses,

or scowling at me (ignore Chris as he's not a sister),

or sunburned and not so lovely with me on car trips.

And in just 9( NINE!!) days we get to add another sister to the whole sisterly love experience. Our dearest older sister who is one of the loveliest and sweetest people out there. How I love her too!

Feeling the sisterly love vibe?

It's been one week

Who knows why I only end up blogging once a week. I guess my life isn't too thrilling or something.
So these are the highlights:

• I won Steph's blog giveway! So yay for me! I like never win anything, so I'm pretty excited. Pretty nails, here I come! Thank you, Steph!
  
• It's currently 0 degrees outsides, yep zero. Brrr! And yesterday to church when it was like 2 I wore a skirt with heels, bare legs. Genius there.
• Saturday night was our church's Christmas program. We sang a whole bunch of Christmas carols, which I just love. We've got some good voices there too, which is extra nice.
  
• Lydia and I have basically all our presents wrapped and I must say they look just lovely sitting under the tree. We went with a blue and silver theme so they all match with their paper and ribbons and mini ornaments as gift tags.
  
• We finished season 3 of Supernatural. So very sad. Now to wait for season 4. Oh, the suspense!
• I cannot get enough of Josh Groban's Little Drummer Boy song. I just love it. Oh so good.
• Being with my boy when I'm not feeling particularly well is definitely one of the best get well methods. They say holding hands releases feel good hormones or whatever; so true.
• My mom's fudge puddles and rainbow bars are still just as delicious and sinfully good as they are every year.
• Saturday I went to coffee with Stephanie, one of Chris's sisters, and we talked for a good 3 hours. That was pretty nice since we don't really talk much. So catching up is fun!
  
• It's only 13 days till I get some sister and auntie time! Goody goody gumdrops for that! :)
  

my update ramblings

I have no excuse for being such a lousy blogger. Sorry.
Let's see, Thursday Chris came up and we celebrated his birthday. My lemon cheesecake turned out quite delicious and he liked the shirts I gave him, so yay for that. :)
Friday night, Lydia and I did kids night out at our church. We had the theme of church and sang some songs and made paper churches and ate some good snacks, can you say muddy buddies!, and played some games. We had like 8 kids there and my goodness 7 boys together are super crazy! Very weird a few are that's for sure. I couldn't count the number of times I was saying, "Shhhh." haha. But yeah, there's this one boy in our church who I don't think knows how to respect those older than him. He refused to do our crafts because we wouldn't allow guns and gore with his church. He wouldn't listen to us half the time either. I swear, I was ready to wring to his neck, but I'll let you know I restrained myself. So let's just say it was interesting. Hopefully it'll be better next time.
Saturday Lydia and I went and did our Christmas present shopping! That was pretty fun, since we always had to go with a parent before but now it was just the two of us! So we got everyone's presents and I'm quite excited for Christmas now, because I'm pretty happy with the presents we picked out! And I must say I love orange julius'. Yum! Okay, I used to like Hannah Montana, secretly I still do, but she is taking over everything! I don't think we went to a single store where her face wasn't printed on a shirt or a notebook or necklace or something. Honestly. But I must say, I had never been in the Disney Store before and it's so fun in there! Pretty darn cute stuff as well! So yeah.
After we got home Chris came over and helped unload the pool table my dad bought! Yay for pool! Although, I've noticed I need so much practice. lol. Honestly. My dad beat me in like 4 games last night. Pathetic. But practice makes perfect they say.
Saturday evening we all headed down the light rail station to go downtown for the annual Parade of Lights. We got to the station at like the perfect time because there was lighting ceremony going on so we got to see that and they had fireworks and everything, which was pretty cool! So after a few long lines we got to downtown and there were tons of people lining the streets! So we walked and found a reasonably good spot. I was glad for the fence I could sit on, otherwise I would never have been able to see, one of the downsides to being short. haha. Rebecca met us up there then too! So the parade was pretty fun! Marching bands are pretty cool. Good thing too since there were quite a few. One band was called The Snowman Band and when they were by us there was a hold up somewhere so we got to watch them for quite some time. And they were totally fun! They were having a blast trying to keep the crowd entertained. Dancing around, singing, doing whatever. There were some fun, very lit up floats with music and huge balloons. The people watching was definitely interesting as well. So after the parade was over we waited in line for awhile to get on the light rail and then came home, ate Panda Express and Chris put together the pool table. What a hero.
Saturday evening we figured out how truly retarded our cat can be. We had noticed our colored lights weren't working on our tree even though they were plugged in. So I looked at them and saw the cat had chewed completely through the wires! Who does that?? So add that to his list of things he's chewed on. He's like a dog, I swear. Shoelaces, blinds strings, earbuds, light wires. Crazy kitty.
Sunday was our long day at church with two services, communion, fellowship dinner, and Bible studies. So then we came home and relaxed and watching the old Parent trap on tv. I SO love that movie. Let's get together never gets old. Then we watched our weekly Supernatural episode.
And that's the end of my long, rambly post. With no pictures. Sorry.
Oh! On an excited note, exactly 3 weeks till Talia and her family and Elijah get here!! YAY! I so cannot wait. :D
Okay, bye. Xoxo

happy birthday to my boy

Today is my dear Christopher's birthday! I won't get to celebrate with him today, although he did stay at our house till midnight last night so we could tell him happy birthday. :) But tomorrow, he'll be coming up and I plan on making some cheesecake for him and all. So without any further ado, happy birthday, boyfriend love! Have a most terrific 24th!

I love you, babe.