Saturday, December 31, 2011
Ending The Year on a High Note
12/31/11 - Today is the last day of the year. The last day of 2011. The last day that I get to sit on my butt and enjoy this wonderful "time-off." Tomorrow will be another day of cleaning and the start of a new venture - THE GYM! Ugh! I've had the membership for 4 months but no motivation. Now that things are clean and tidy (at least in the common areas of the house), I'm ready to hit some exercise equipment. I also kick off my eBay business again. I found it to be so successful a few years ago that I've decided to go back into the game. Heaven knows that I can actually make some money instead of donating the tons of things I'm going through. The scrapbooking stock on hand alone is going to give us back our garage!
So let's review a little of the year so we can catch up-to-date:
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| Camp Butano Campers |
JANUARY
We started out the year with my BFF & family. The kids actually stayed awake! Lexie turned 7 and we threw her a party at The Golden Skate. The place hasn't changed since I was Lexie's age. Bella, Lexie and I went to Mother/Daughter Camp in Pescadero. It was a Girl Scout training for me and the girls went to have fun. It rained most of the time but that didn't stop us from enjoying camping. It was awesome.
Our troop hosted a Girl Scout Safety event that included a couple other troops. The girls had the police and the CHP come out to the school and do an presentation. During the Girl Scout meeting the girls created posters and we were out all week long holding up "Safety First" signs in the school drop-off area. It was a complete success. I even put on my old Traffic Officer, yellow, neon coat and directed the cars through.
FEBRUARY
Little Lauren turned 5 on Valentine's Day. We decided not to do a birthday party - just because she doesn't have that many friends in Preschool, only her BFF, Penelope. Instead, we had Penelope over for a playmate and the big event for Lauren was to take her and the family to Disney on Ice. Unfortunately, when the day came, Lexie and Brayden were throwing up and Milenko had to stay home with the kids. Instead of making it a family event, only Bella & I went with Lauren. We still had fun with all our other friends that went too.
GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ARRIVED! This was the first time I got to experience the whole thing. My garage was a cookie cupboard and it pretty much consumed my life for the month. At least now I know how to do it so that next year it will all come back to me and be much easier. The girls did a lot of sales walking around the neighborhood with the wagon but did the most sales by participating in cookie booths. We had about 8 of them this year and they were a lot of work. The girls had a blast though - especially when they got to dress up like the cookies!
TeeTee (Michelle) came out for a short visit too. She actually had a funeral service to attend, but we got to have her for a day. Having TeeTee out was great. I truly think that Bella warmed up to her the most. She adored Shell.
MARCH
Cookie season was still in full swing. The girl got to participate in the St. Patrick's Day parade. We walked the entire parade and the parents pulled the wagons full of cookies while they sold to the people on the sides watching the parade. They made a killing.... and they all had so much fun.
Milenko turned 41 this year. I'm now officially married to an old man! haha The kids dressed up and gave him presents. Then we headed out to our new Sushi restaurant that has a hibachi grill. It's like Benny Hana's, only less expensive.
Bella went on a field trip with her 3rd grade class. They all dressed in their very best and went to see The San Francisco Symphony.
APRILWe didn't have too much rain. Milenko and I went out together with Matt & Donna to celebrate both of our birthdays. We went to this great restaurant called Barone's and then my friend gave us some tickets to a comedy show to see Bobby Slaten. Just having a night without kids was perfect but the fun and the quality time with our friends was the topper.
We did lose a very important member of our family though. Biscuit passed away this year. She didn't survive a pit bull attack from the neighbors dog. Neither did the dog after we got the city involved but we will forever miss that kitty. She was just over 13 years old. RIP BISCUIT
We did lose a very important member of our family though. Biscuit passed away this year. She didn't survive a pit bull attack from the neighbors dog. Neither did the dog after we got the city involved but we will forever miss that kitty. She was just over 13 years old. RIP BISCUIT
Just as we do on all the birthdays, we dressed up and went to Yanagi's for dinner. The Teppan chef got a nice fire going with some oil on the grill and then put marshmallows on a stick for each of the kids. They thought that was the best part. Brayden ducked under the seat when he made the big fire poof that sends off a plumb of heat.
At the very end of the month, my Girl Scout troop voted on spending their hard earned money on a Campout. We got together at Donna's house and set-up a tent in the backyard. My friend Ron at Dr. Beans gave us a thermos of Hot Cocoa and we lit up the Fire Pit for roasting marshmallows. The girls surprised me and my co-leader with a Happy Birthday Cake (our birthdays are 2 days apart). Some of the girls slept inside while others did the tent. It was such a fun evening. There were activities going all night long. We even had stories and songs in the tent and an award presentation in the dark. Gotta' appreciate all the fun things that the Girl Scouts give to not only me, but the camaraderie and fun that it gives the girls!
MAY
Mother's Day was special. Bella's class did a wonderful presentation for all the moms. The kids decorated their classroom and presented each of us with a handmade flower, some artwork and served up muffins with coffee/tea/water. In Brayden's preschool class they each made us a decoupage jar and inside was a pencil made into a flower. Then the kids got up and sang a few Mother's Day songs. Brayden was the one who topped it off though. He found it important to pick his nose and dispose of the booger. I won't describe it, but I'm sure you can guess where it went.
Bella and Lexie went to a Me & My Guy Luau event with the Girl Scouts. Lexie went with her Deda (Milenko's Dad) and Bella went with her Daddy. They went out for some sushi and then went to the dance. I got to be one of the lucky mom's who was taking photographs of the kids and so I got to see most of the dance.
Camporee was the highlight of the month. I was able to take my troop up to Cazadero to Camp Royaneh. I have been to Girl's Camp through my church, but this was just the same - without the religion. The girls were so close to each other, nobody singled anyone out, the entire trip was filled with activities for the girls. We made up our own songs, learned to do the flag ceremony and experienced a BIFFY. (Bathroom in the forest for you) The girls can't wait to do it again and the bonds that they developed and the respect they learned on their own was amazing.
JUNE
SCHOOL'S OUT! Brayden moved out of the 3's program and will start Pre-K in September. Lauren graduated from Preschool and will head to Kindergarten. Lexie is now a 2nd grader and was top of her class. The teacher said that 1st grade came extremely easy for her. Bella is now a 4th grader. She did so well on her Star Testing that she made the Honor Roll.
In Girl Scouts, Bella and Lexie both advanced to the next level in Girl Scouts at a Bridging Ceremony. Lexie went from a Daisy Girl Scout to a Brownie Girl Scout. Bella went from a Brownie Girl Scout to a Junior Girl Scout. Their uniforms are completely covered with badges - and this is only their first year. Imagine what it would look like after 2 years in their respective level.
The pool was ready and waiting for the kids. We had a pretty hot June too. The temperatures were in the high 90's and low 100's most of the summer. Then again, it's perfect for Northern California.
My God-daughter, Kaitlyn, came up for a few weeks. This was the first chance that the kids really got to know Kaitlyn. We stared off by surprising Kaitlyn with a trip to Marine World. We met up with Donna's family and spent the who day and evening there. Brayden became an appendage to Kaitlyn.
We also took a few trips to the beach, we went to the County Fair and went to San Francisco to do some sight seeing. We mostly vegged out in the backyard by the pool. Not much excitement, but a lot of one-on-one time with Kaitlyn.
JULY
Fourth of July was an absolute blast. The weather was extremely hot and we spent the entire day by or in the pool. For the evening hours we had Donna's family, Terrie's family and Kaitlyn join us. We probably set off fireworks for close to 2 hours. The kids had their favorites with the sparklers and when they ran out, found it more amusing to run in circles around the fireworks. Too bad my camera was broken. Most of my photos didn't turn out. :(
Shadow Cliffs also became a fun hangout for the kids. We went a few times with Donna and the kids and also with the Bidstrup family. As long as they took a shower after they came home to get that dirty, grimy water off, I was okay. Have a slight green coating on your body when you get out of the water was a little gross. They kids spent most of the day collecting shells and snorkeling to see the little fishies.
Can you believe that it's already been 11 years since Milenko and I got married? Wow! That makes 13 years of sticking it out with each other. I honestly couldn't be happier though. Funny how you think you love someone so much when you get married - only to find out that after a decade has passed, you love that person more than ever. I'm just curious if at 20 years of marriage I will love him even more than I do now. 10 years ago I would have said it was impossible to do that. I was wrong then. We celebrated this year at Piatti's Restaurant with the Burdusis, Bidstrup and Constantinides couples. Perfect anniversary!
AUGUST
This is the month that you realize that Summer Vacation is almost over and you try to cram in all the fun stuff. This was a very warm summer in general and so I can say that my kids turned into water babies over the season. I had a nice golden tan going as well.
We spent a lot of time either in our pool or Donna's pool. This was definitely a summer that the Dugorepec & Burdusis kids were able to get a close bond with each other. Bella and Alyssa are BFF's and Brayden and Ryan are BFF's. With the friends only being weeks apart in age, it really makes their friendship blend nicely.
We ended our fabulous summer by taking a trip out to Stinson Beach. We were expecting it to be completely crowded but we ended up getting a nice spot near the water and having a fabulous time. All the kids got out there in the water and it was hilarious to watch Brayden try to stand up when the water went out. After the entire day at the beach, we headed up to a Muir Beach lookout and froze our butts off while we set the camera up for a quick remote shot. The kids spent some time playing the the WWII bunker that they used as a lookout for enemy submarines. Great shot for a picture but we quickly headed back to the WARM car.
Soccer practice began in August and so did shuffling the kids back and forth to the fields. Milenko coaches the Under 10 Girls while I did all the busy work of being the Team Mom. Lexie was on the Under 8 Girls team and she played for Team Brasil. Her uniform was quite bright.
At the end of the month, school started again. The kids were more than jazzed to get back to school. So was I. With Brayden in Preschool, this would mean that I would get 3 mornings a week to myself. (NOT!) Lauren had Mrs. Moirao for Kindergarten just like Bella and Lexie. (Funny that her husband was my Principal back in 1980.) Lexie got Mrs. Suminski for her teacher. Suminski normally teaches 5th grade so I was excited to get someone who would present Lexie with some educational challenges. Bella got Mr. Gomez for a teacher. I was so happy about that. I worked with him a lot last year when I was tutoring Nicolai. He's an excellent teacher and I know Bella will do well with him.
SEPTEMBER
Brayden turned 4 years old! We threw him a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's with the Burdusis family. Brayden only chooses to have one friend: RYAN. That's okay, they make the best of friends anyway.
Soccer still went on throughout the entire month. Milenko's team did very well. Bella didn't like soccer to much but after a visit to the doctor (a few months later), we found out that her pain is associated with her feet. She is "toed in" (similar to pigeon toed) and it's painful to run as she distributes her weight oddly on her foot.
Soccer was 2 days a week so this was a grueling time. School work, Girl Scouts, babysitting and projects didn't leave much time to do anything. Taxi driver was a little hard. Lexie practiced with Milenko's team and she developed stronger skills that helped her dominate the games that her team played. Lexie's favorite sport is soccer. Unlike Bella, she will continue on with this for the next few years - maybe even longer. Too bad Bella didn't want to do it. When she concentrated, she was awesome. She's interested in Volleyball so we'll try to get her hooked up with that soon.
We started off the Girl Scout season with a pool party at my house and a Girl Scout Meeting afterwards. The parents came with their kids for the pool party and then we did our meeting outside on the lawn in patio chairs. What a fun way to kick off the new year. This year I have a troop of 9 Brownies, 8 Juniors and 3 guests from other troops that will join us each month.
NOVEMBER
Following up Bella's Birthday, I had to plan my first Daisy Meeting. Yes, besides being a leader for the Brownies and Juniors, I have a group of 8 Kindergarteners that I also get to work with. You would think that would be difficult but in fact, it's easier than the older girls. These sweethearts absolutely melted my heart the first time I got them all together. If I didn't enjoy Scouts before, this was the one moment to remind me of how much I love to do this. Lauren's now a Girl Scout!
The next big things we did for November was take both Lexie and Bella to their play-off championships. Bella's team got defeated in the first game. However, that was pretty good. They came in 2nd place overall. They did a terrific job all year but kinda' didn't play well that last game. Lexie played 3 games that day and her team took the entire World Cup! They were awesome. We also had both girl's team parties. Although I'm very proud, Milenko is jubilant over the way the girls performed this season.
DECEMBER
Talk about Holiday Cheer. I think it was coming out of our ears this year. We even got the dogs involved with the Holidays this year. haha The kids went to the mall with us and we happen to see that there was no line for Santa. We let the kids go and visit him and we took a few pictures. This was the first time Lauren and Brayden have ever seen Santa.
We had our annual christmas cookie decorating with Donna & the kids. They opened their presents and got a really nice sugar high on that one. The girls also had a Girl Scout skating event and almost the entire troop showed up. Scouts on Skates is something we do each year.
The grandkids wanted to do something special for the grandparents (ok, Michelle and I wanted to do something with the grandkids for the grandparents), so we got together one night and took pictures of the kids out at the Library, Police Station and City Services Buildings. The pictures really turned out good and even ended up on our Christmas cards this year.
My Dad did something really special for the family this Christmas. Instead of going shopping and spending a ton of money on gifts that the finicky kids may or may not want, my Dad took the entire "Gardner" side of the family on the Niles Canyon "Christmas Train." There were over 12,000 on each car of the train and I think it had something like 15 or 20 cars to it. We had hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies on the train and the kids loved to explore back and forth on the train. The best part was when Santa showed up on the train. What an absolute great present and the entire family had a nice time together.
The last time we were able to get the "original" Gardner family in a picture together was back before Brayden was born (over 4 years ago). This trip we got the "original" kids together and even a shot with our parents too. I love the fact that our family is still so close.
We switched things up this year for Christmas though. We have traditionally kept Christmas Eve at our house for the Gardner Family. This year we did it at our house on Christmas Eve but asked the Dugorepec family to join us here. It was a very quiet and simple Christmas dinner and opening gifts. The best gift of the evening was Brayden's Doggy Doo gift. Yes, it's a dog that eats food and craps it out! It left everyone in stitches for hours! I think everyone had a nice time and by 7:30 we were done cleaning up our house and just our family was alone and watching some Christmas movies on TV.
The kids were up somewhere around 6:45 or 7am for Christmas checking out all the Christmas presents that Santa brought. Around 7:30 we came downstairs and they had already gone through their stockings and were opening the things that were out from Santa. Lexie ended up with a bike, Lauren, Brayden & Bella got scooters. Lexie, Lauren & Brayden got Happy Nappers and Bella got a new bike seat, grips and flares for her bike. Santa even brought Mommy a new laptop. :-)
On Christmas Day we headed out to Dave & Michelle's house. They prepared a nice dinner and the adults sat at one table while the kids sat in a completely different room at another table. It was nice and comfortable to have adult conversation and laughter without the kids around. However, it sounded like they were doing a great job of celebrating at their table too. We opened presents after dinner and stayed a little longer. Unfortunately, we all were feeling a little run down. Found out the next day that a few of us were sick and that's why our energy levels were gone. At least we made it through Christmas without any problems.
Today is New Years' Eve and although I've spent almost the entire day writing this, we are going to spend tonight with our friends, the Bidstrups. Maybe I'll add some pictures to this post tomorrow.
MAYMother's Day was special. Bella's class did a wonderful presentation for all the moms. The kids decorated their classroom and presented each of us with a handmade flower, some artwork and served up muffins with coffee/tea/water. In Brayden's preschool class they each made us a decoupage jar and inside was a pencil made into a flower. Then the kids got up and sang a few Mother's Day songs. Brayden was the one who topped it off though. He found it important to pick his nose and dispose of the booger. I won't describe it, but I'm sure you can guess where it went.
Bella and Lexie went to a Me & My Guy Luau event with the Girl Scouts. Lexie went with her Deda (Milenko's Dad) and Bella went with her Daddy. They went out for some sushi and then went to the dance. I got to be one of the lucky mom's who was taking photographs of the kids and so I got to see most of the dance.
JUNESCHOOL'S OUT! Brayden moved out of the 3's program and will start Pre-K in September. Lauren graduated from Preschool and will head to Kindergarten. Lexie is now a 2nd grader and was top of her class. The teacher said that 1st grade came extremely easy for her. Bella is now a 4th grader. She did so well on her Star Testing that she made the Honor Roll.
In Girl Scouts, Bella and Lexie both advanced to the next level in Girl Scouts at a Bridging Ceremony. Lexie went from a Daisy Girl Scout to a Brownie Girl Scout. Bella went from a Brownie Girl Scout to a Junior Girl Scout. Their uniforms are completely covered with badges - and this is only their first year. Imagine what it would look like after 2 years in their respective level.
The pool was ready and waiting for the kids. We had a pretty hot June too. The temperatures were in the high 90's and low 100's most of the summer. Then again, it's perfect for Northern California.My God-daughter, Kaitlyn, came up for a few weeks. This was the first chance that the kids really got to know Kaitlyn. We stared off by surprising Kaitlyn with a trip to Marine World. We met up with Donna's family and spent the who day and evening there. Brayden became an appendage to Kaitlyn.
We also took a few trips to the beach, we went to the County Fair and went to San Francisco to do some sight seeing. We mostly vegged out in the backyard by the pool. Not much excitement, but a lot of one-on-one time with Kaitlyn.
JULY
Fourth of July was an absolute blast. The weather was extremely hot and we spent the entire day by or in the pool. For the evening hours we had Donna's family, Terrie's family and Kaitlyn join us. We probably set off fireworks for close to 2 hours. The kids had their favorites with the sparklers and when they ran out, found it more amusing to run in circles around the fireworks. Too bad my camera was broken. Most of my photos didn't turn out. :(Shadow Cliffs also became a fun hangout for the kids. We went a few times with Donna and the kids and also with the Bidstrup family. As long as they took a shower after they came home to get that dirty, grimy water off, I was okay. Have a slight green coating on your body when you get out of the water was a little gross. They kids spent most of the day collecting shells and snorkeling to see the little fishies.
Can you believe that it's already been 11 years since Milenko and I got married? Wow! That makes 13 years of sticking it out with each other. I honestly couldn't be happier though. Funny how you think you love someone so much when you get married - only to find out that after a decade has passed, you love that person more than ever. I'm just curious if at 20 years of marriage I will love him even more than I do now. 10 years ago I would have said it was impossible to do that. I was wrong then. We celebrated this year at Piatti's Restaurant with the Burdusis, Bidstrup and Constantinides couples. Perfect anniversary!
AUGUSTThis is the month that you realize that Summer Vacation is almost over and you try to cram in all the fun stuff. This was a very warm summer in general and so I can say that my kids turned into water babies over the season. I had a nice golden tan going as well.
We spent a lot of time either in our pool or Donna's pool. This was definitely a summer that the Dugorepec & Burdusis kids were able to get a close bond with each other. Bella and Alyssa are BFF's and Brayden and Ryan are BFF's. With the friends only being weeks apart in age, it really makes their friendship blend nicely.
We ended our fabulous summer by taking a trip out to Stinson Beach. We were expecting it to be completely crowded but we ended up getting a nice spot near the water and having a fabulous time. All the kids got out there in the water and it was hilarious to watch Brayden try to stand up when the water went out. After the entire day at the beach, we headed up to a Muir Beach lookout and froze our butts off while we set the camera up for a quick remote shot. The kids spent some time playing the the WWII bunker that they used as a lookout for enemy submarines. Great shot for a picture but we quickly headed back to the WARM car.
Soccer practice began in August and so did shuffling the kids back and forth to the fields. Milenko coaches the Under 10 Girls while I did all the busy work of being the Team Mom. Lexie was on the Under 8 Girls team and she played for Team Brasil. Her uniform was quite bright.
At the end of the month, school started again. The kids were more than jazzed to get back to school. So was I. With Brayden in Preschool, this would mean that I would get 3 mornings a week to myself. (NOT!) Lauren had Mrs. Moirao for Kindergarten just like Bella and Lexie. (Funny that her husband was my Principal back in 1980.) Lexie got Mrs. Suminski for her teacher. Suminski normally teaches 5th grade so I was excited to get someone who would present Lexie with some educational challenges. Bella got Mr. Gomez for a teacher. I was so happy about that. I worked with him a lot last year when I was tutoring Nicolai. He's an excellent teacher and I know Bella will do well with him.
SEPTEMBERBrayden turned 4 years old! We threw him a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's with the Burdusis family. Brayden only chooses to have one friend: RYAN. That's okay, they make the best of friends anyway.
Soccer still went on throughout the entire month. Milenko's team did very well. Bella didn't like soccer to much but after a visit to the doctor (a few months later), we found out that her pain is associated with her feet. She is "toed in" (similar to pigeon toed) and it's painful to run as she distributes her weight oddly on her foot.
Soccer was 2 days a week so this was a grueling time. School work, Girl Scouts, babysitting and projects didn't leave much time to do anything. Taxi driver was a little hard. Lexie practiced with Milenko's team and she developed stronger skills that helped her dominate the games that her team played. Lexie's favorite sport is soccer. Unlike Bella, she will continue on with this for the next few years - maybe even longer. Too bad Bella didn't want to do it. When she concentrated, she was awesome. She's interested in Volleyball so we'll try to get her hooked up with that soon.
We started off the Girl Scout season with a pool party at my house and a Girl Scout Meeting afterwards. The parents came with their kids for the pool party and then we did our meeting outside on the lawn in patio chairs. What a fun way to kick off the new year. This year I have a troop of 9 Brownies, 8 Juniors and 3 guests from other troops that will join us each month.
OCTOBER
Our first event was the Ducky Derby at Great America. Nick and Chris spent the night and then we picked up Alyssa. The kids thought we were taking the boys home but instead, I surprised everyone by showing up at Great America and yelling "Happy Birthday, Nick." That was my treat to the boys for their birthdays. The Ducky Derby lasted about 1-1/2 hours but the fun at the amusement park last all day long. The place was decorated like Halloween and it wasn't that crowded. Not cold either.
School Pictures
Fall 2011
October is the annual Croptoberfest Retreat that I do with Cindy Bryson. This was our 6th year and even though we always say its our last year, I think this might be. Oh wait, it will change again come October 2012. We can't stay away. I did things a little different this year. I brought Bella with me. She needed some one-on-one with Mommy and she got a chance to crop. Bella definitely finds her element with adults rather than people her own age. For someone who is always shy and quiet at school, she was a chatterbox the entire weekend. Everyone loved her and the help she gave them. I was so proud of her. We went on a hike while we were there and we found a banana slug. I showed Bella how to kiss it but she wouldn't go within a few inches of even touching it.
October always ends with a lot of fun. The kids got together with the Ryan & Alyssa and carved pumpkins. Besides the Halloween parades at the schools, the kids did Halloween with the Bidstrup boys and they came back with more candy that I think we could eat in an entire year. Can we say CAVITY? Geesh. The best part was Michele and I got to stay at home while the Dads took the kids Trick-or-Treating. This is absolutely a new tradition!
At the end of the month the Girl Scouts went to a special performance of Hair Spray. All of us dressed up like we were in the 60's or with hair-do's that were "outta sight." We were definitely a fine group of cool cats. Grammy and Auntie Stacie (Matt's sister) went with us.
NOVEMBERYou would think that as the year starts coming to a close that things would settle down! Yea, not true. At least not in my chaotic life that I pack full of busy work. November started off with Bella turning 9 years old! YIKES! 9 years old! We had a Girl Scout party and meeting the day after her birthday and brought in cake to celebrate. After the Girl Scout meeting, a few kids spent the night and we had a nice pancake breakfast. After that we all headed out to Rockin' Jump (an indoor trampoline park) and they burnt off all their energy!
Following up Bella's Birthday, I had to plan my first Daisy Meeting. Yes, besides being a leader for the Brownies and Juniors, I have a group of 8 Kindergarteners that I also get to work with. You would think that would be difficult but in fact, it's easier than the older girls. These sweethearts absolutely melted my heart the first time I got them all together. If I didn't enjoy Scouts before, this was the one moment to remind me of how much I love to do this. Lauren's now a Girl Scout!
The next big things we did for November was take both Lexie and Bella to their play-off championships. Bella's team got defeated in the first game. However, that was pretty good. They came in 2nd place overall. They did a terrific job all year but kinda' didn't play well that last game. Lexie played 3 games that day and her team took the entire World Cup! They were awesome. We also had both girl's team parties. Although I'm very proud, Milenko is jubilant over the way the girls performed this season.
DECEMBERTalk about Holiday Cheer. I think it was coming out of our ears this year. We even got the dogs involved with the Holidays this year. haha The kids went to the mall with us and we happen to see that there was no line for Santa. We let the kids go and visit him and we took a few pictures. This was the first time Lauren and Brayden have ever seen Santa.
We had our annual christmas cookie decorating with Donna & the kids. They opened their presents and got a really nice sugar high on that one. The girls also had a Girl Scout skating event and almost the entire troop showed up. Scouts on Skates is something we do each year.
The grandkids wanted to do something special for the grandparents (ok, Michelle and I wanted to do something with the grandkids for the grandparents), so we got together one night and took pictures of the kids out at the Library, Police Station and City Services Buildings. The pictures really turned out good and even ended up on our Christmas cards this year.
My Dad did something really special for the family this Christmas. Instead of going shopping and spending a ton of money on gifts that the finicky kids may or may not want, my Dad took the entire "Gardner" side of the family on the Niles Canyon "Christmas Train." There were over 12,000 on each car of the train and I think it had something like 15 or 20 cars to it. We had hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies on the train and the kids loved to explore back and forth on the train. The best part was when Santa showed up on the train. What an absolute great present and the entire family had a nice time together.
The last time we were able to get the "original" Gardner family in a picture together was back before Brayden was born (over 4 years ago). This trip we got the "original" kids together and even a shot with our parents too. I love the fact that our family is still so close.
We switched things up this year for Christmas though. We have traditionally kept Christmas Eve at our house for the Gardner Family. This year we did it at our house on Christmas Eve but asked the Dugorepec family to join us here. It was a very quiet and simple Christmas dinner and opening gifts. The best gift of the evening was Brayden's Doggy Doo gift. Yes, it's a dog that eats food and craps it out! It left everyone in stitches for hours! I think everyone had a nice time and by 7:30 we were done cleaning up our house and just our family was alone and watching some Christmas movies on TV.
The kids were up somewhere around 6:45 or 7am for Christmas checking out all the Christmas presents that Santa brought. Around 7:30 we came downstairs and they had already gone through their stockings and were opening the things that were out from Santa. Lexie ended up with a bike, Lauren, Brayden & Bella got scooters. Lexie, Lauren & Brayden got Happy Nappers and Bella got a new bike seat, grips and flares for her bike. Santa even brought Mommy a new laptop. :-)
On Christmas Day we headed out to Dave & Michelle's house. They prepared a nice dinner and the adults sat at one table while the kids sat in a completely different room at another table. It was nice and comfortable to have adult conversation and laughter without the kids around. However, it sounded like they were doing a great job of celebrating at their table too. We opened presents after dinner and stayed a little longer. Unfortunately, we all were feeling a little run down. Found out the next day that a few of us were sick and that's why our energy levels were gone. At least we made it through Christmas without any problems.Today is New Years' Eve and although I've spent almost the entire day writing this, we are going to spend tonight with our friends, the Bidstrups. Maybe I'll add some pictures to this post tomorrow.
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