Saying Goodbye is so hard.

Christmas 2011

 
Today, our family had to give away our beautiful dog, Bronwyn.  She's entwined in so many family memories, and it will be so strange to go home this week and not have her bouncing up and down with excitement when she sees me. 

2010

Bronwyn is so snuggly, so silly, so mischievous, and so wonderful.  She's one of the most beautiful dogs I know, and I spent most of my morning crying over this decision.  I understand that it is for the best, but it is still so hard to say goodbye.

2010

My heart goes out to my sister, as Bronwyn was her dog, and one of her best friends.  She won't even be able to say goodbye, since she's  away at college right now.  I know she is having an especially difficult time with this and hurts to see her so sad.

2007

Goodbye sweet puppy-dog, we will miss you so.

2007

Goodbye Summer

Where else do you say goodbye to summer, but the pool?  Our friend's parents invited a bunch of us to their home for swimming and a barbecue.  Their pool is the stuff dreams are made of, by the way!  It's simply gorgeous.  The whole yard was incredible, actually.

As awesome as the pool was, London was more interested in the trampoline and the cutest puppy in the world.  That's not even an exaggeration.  Dan hates dogs.  He thinks we're never getting one.  But even he admitted that this was one cute puppy.

I'm pretty sure your heart just melted.  How could it not??  Sweetness personified.  Or dogified.

Even if Saturday marked the first "official" day of Fall, this is southern California, so I'm sure we'll be able to squeeze a few more days like this out of the year.

All pictures from my phone, sorry if the quality isn't that great.

Memorial Day

Remember how awesome last Memorial Day was?  I was a little afraid this year wouldn't live up to it.  Which turned out to be silly of me, because of course it was just as fantastic.  Probably even better, since we had a cute little newcomer with us this time around.

In the morning, I went on a hike with my mother-in-law and a friend through Sycamore Canyon--pictures of that to come later.  Dan went golfing with his dad and uncle.  (It IS the Summer of Dan, after all.)  London got spoiled by her aunties, who still dote on her despite several very messy blow-out diapers this weekend.
That afternoon, everyone came back together for a classic Memorial Day BBQ by the pool.  Hamburgers and hot dogs, corn on the cob, home-made ice cream!  It was a dream!

To dive or not to dive? That water is still cold!

Mary Jane thought it best to stay dry.

Mason however, had no fear of the water.

Ok, for reals this time.

Grandma Vacc lends a hand to help crank some ice cream!

Look who woke up from a nap!

Not too sure about these shenanigans... 

It's not a party until somebody spits up!

 

So grateful for the sacrifice of my friends and family in the military, and for all that they do.   You guys are my heroes.  Happy Memorial Day first and foremost to you!

All I want for Christmas

is my two front teeth.  And a hippopotamus.  And to spend it with these people.

Jackson and "the" hotwheels!

Spicer and his stash from Santa.

How is she that cute in the morning?

Ti got some great comic book gear.

After the present opening bonanza, we had breakfast and hurried to get ready for church.  I actually really liked having church on Christmas.  It helped me keep in mind the reason why we're celebrating.  Heavenly Father and Christ love us all so much, and I could feel that love so close in my heart as I sat in the chapel.  Christmas is fun, but I love that there's a huge, wonderful, meaningful reason behind all the fun.  So even though I messed up big time on my duet in front of the whole congregation and started giggling like a school girl, I'm still glad we went.

Plus we all looked dang good.

And one with Daddy.

 Then the Carrs, young and old, sat down to a feast.  Thanks Mom and Dad for all the hard work! It really payed off!

The cute place settings!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the wonderful gifts we received.

Spicer vs. Dan in chess.

Jack and "the" hot wheels.

Bronwyn was very spoiled this Christmas.  A new bed, and lots of new toys.  She was one happy puppy.

Can't wait for next time!

Oh you better watch out...

Jack kept singing that song all week, as well as informing us whether we were on the naughty or nice list (Spicer and Dan were apparently on the naughty list).

Remember when I posted about those yummy Christmas cookies my mommy makes?  This was us Christmas Eve Day:

Ti and Hope rolling out the dough.

Even Dan got in on the fun!

The boys decided to get a little creative with their gingerbread men...Ti made a monster and Spicer's is a crime scene victim.  So cheery!

Christmas Eve is almost a bigger deal than Christmas Day in our family. It always involves a Mexican fiesta with plenty of friends to help us eat all the food.

The star of the show is always the tamales (they represent baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes!).  Normally we just get them to-go from a restaurant, but one of our guests generously provided them this year--they were probably the best tamales I've ever had.  We also had enchiladas, a chile sauce, Spanish rice, chips and dip, and a salad (with Cafe Rio dressing!)  Oh yeah, and more than enough dessert.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve as a kid was re-enacting the Nativity as my father or grandfather read from Luke 2.  It might be even more fun being able to watch it.  Are these kids cute or what??

Joseph and Mary...Mary is having a slight veil malfunction.

All gathering around the manger.

A nice group shot.

So angelic!

 Eventually all our guests hurried home so they wouldn't miss Santa's visit.  Our night continued on with a few more Christmas Eve rituals.  We can't go to bed until someone retells How the Grinch Stole Chrismtas. Which we all may or may not have memorized.

So classic.

"But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT."

Bronwyn enjoyed my father's retelling as well.

Before we put our special Christmas jammies on, Jack wanted to put out some reindeer food he made at pre-school.

In case you were wondering, Santa's reindeer love to eat a mixture of oats and sparkles.

Don't worry, we didn't forget to leave milk and cookies (along with a note) for the big man himself.

We had to take a few last pictures of our gussied-up selves before our Christmas Eve sleepover in the basement.

It's hard to hide all that personality.

Merry Christmas!