Holiday Highlights: Part Two

 More holiday goodness, how lucky are we?! 

We spent Christmas in HH with family and it was so lovely! The 5 grandkids had a blast, it is just so fun to see them all together.  Jeffrey - 17.  Luke - 16. Hallie - 15.  Evelyn - 6.  Amelia - 4.

Uncle Mit and E - having a hammock heart to heart

Shesh has a co-worker who is a Jello artist of sorts and made this jello dog with jello decorations in a jello grass base.  It was Hilarious (and weird) - the kids (and adults) got such a kick out of it!  So much laughter!  

Ima and A - such a precious duo

Girl Time!  No boys allowed

The cousins do a Secret Santa gift swap and E was Luke's secret santa.  She did a great job and gifted him a game and his favorite snack and Pokémon pajama pants.  Perfect!  It is so fun to see what the kids get for each other and they are so excited to give the gifts.  

Ima came up with the most fun gift giving 'game' - she went through her things and found some gems that she and Shesh no longer need or use or want.  She wrapped them all up and then we would individually choose a mystery wrapped gift.  Once opened you could keep it, trade it, or donate it.  It was hilarious and fun and just the best!  We loved it!!  Jeffrey made out with a marionette!!  You can't beat that.  Someone also went home with a bowling ball (ha!) and Luke came home with a cake pan in the shape of a turkey.  Needless to say there were some real 'gems' in this mystery gift game.  :-)

Shesh hasn't golfed in probably 2 years but he was adamant about taking his grandsons out for 9 holes.  They had a great time and I know it meant a lot! Love does.  

Bikes, a body of water, and fishing gear are all these two really need.

We have played this game before but we revived it again this year where you have to blindly draw a holiday scene while the paper plate is on your head.  These three were the best by far! Daney walked away with the prize (a scratch off lottery ticket) because her snowman arms were actually attached to her snowman.  

Brief sidenote - if you are paying attention you can see that some photos have Evelyn with a cast and sling and some do not.  Sweet E broke her arm (radius and ulna) on Christmas Eve playing around with the cousins.  It was terrible and sad and we all felt so bad!!  Accidents happen of course but it was a tough evening.  Evelyn is the bravest little girl ever.  She was never hysterical, she was matter of fact, she rallied better than most people I know would have.  She is a trooper and resilient and positive and just the greatest kid.  She didn't let it slow her down....case in point the picture above.  I just held her plate on her head and she participated with no problem.  She is the best!  And I told Daney and James this but her positive attitude and acceptance and resilience is a testament to them as parents.  Simply amazing! 

The Pokémon kid and his proteges - the little girls are just getting into collecting and love to show Luke their new cards.  

Big kids and L playing a card game, Amelia got a cleaning set for Christmas and is busy with her duster.  A sweet and hilarious candid shot. 

Games galore!  The oldest two...

The youngest two

The weather was lovely and I was able to get out for a couple of sunrise runs.  You can't beat this view

A full family boat ride....we saw probably a dozen dolphin! 

Always on the lookout

The men

L said he had the best seat in the house :-)

Hoops with an ocean view - these kids are so lucky!

Molly and Me 

The Big Three

The Kids and the Grandkids

So very thankful to all be together! 

Ima and Sheshy and their pride and joy! 

We are forever grateful for all they do with and for us!

I love this one. 

We had a fantastic time and were so lucky to have amazing weather.  Most of all we are grateful for TIME - a priceless gift.

We made it home for the last few days of the year...

Leo is an exchange student from Italy who is such a great addition to the friend group and he is headed home so they had a sweet goodbye party for him.  He will definitely be missed! 

We didn't have our little family of 3 Christmas until 12/29.  It was a great morning full of small gifts and time just the three of us.  I loved it!  

I got to squeeze in a girls game night with some great friends and their daughters.  We had a blast and so much laughter!  Good for the soul. 

And we rounded out the year with another USC basketball game - this time the men's team.  A co-worker of mine has season tickets and he always lets us choose a couple of games to go to.  It was great and we are very thankful for generous friends!  USC won and there happened to be free concessions on this particular night so...win-win!  

This is the last day of a year full of a lot of great moments, great people, great places, and great love.  There are always hard things and tough days and low moments but in the grand scheme of things we are so very very lucky to live this life.  As 2026 rolls in our guidepost will continue to be living on and with purpose.  Happy New Year!