new year's 2015

my favorite week of the year is the one between christmas and new year's.  the frenzy of christmas is over. everyone is enjoying new toys and the five of us get to hang out together for a week and do whatever we want, or nothing at all.

i met with a friend who was visiting from up north.  she has been a dear friend since our boys were in pre-school and i enjoy spending time with her, catching up, and sharing family stories.  our boys are the same age, similar in mindset and interests and are going through the same phases of their lives - which gives us plenty to talk about.  just wish they lived closer.

on monday we took the kids on a hike here in the valley.  such a great place to go and it's easy enough for the kids to do.  we made a goal during our walk to do this more often this year.

we found the swing.

we had a special guest over for dinner - our school's headmaster.  the kids were a bit nervous to have him over but they warmed up to him right away.  i made sopes de chorizo for dinner and he brought poached pears and ice cream for dessert.  turns out he's a fabulous cook.

we also spent one day on campus shooting a promo video for the school gala.

for new year's we went to our friends house.  just a small gathering which is fine with us.  it was casual but still felt like a party.

and they have a home theater system.  don't you love those lincoln commercials?

we had a tostada bar and lots of desserts to choose from.  after dinner we played a game called things and totally 80's trivial pursuit.  i grew up in the 80's but i was terrible at this game.

kids and grown ups gathered around the tv at midnight to watch the ball drop and make a toast to a happy new year. and to sing happy birthday to jordan.

he still loves having his birthday on new year's day.  we had family over on the first to celebrate with him.  we love having a full house to start off the new year.

the very next day we grabbed our snow clothes and went up to kernville for a few days.  we had two goals, 1. to play in the snow and 2. to spend time with our cousins.

but first we had some hot chocolate.

this was during the cold spell in the valley but in kernville the temperature was sunny and the slopes were icy with no fresh snow.  

they didn't care.

and found enough snow to have a snowball fight.

and spent time with our awesome cousins.

we accomplished our goals.

saturday we went for a hike.  something we talk about every time we go to kernville.  there are fantastic hikes here but we just never make a point of doing them.  so this day we did.  plus we needed to add some steps to our fitbits.  the first thing sofia saw was the no quads sign - she was bummed.

it was an easy trail for the kids.  there were lots of places for them to chase "zombie lions."

we ended up at this little stream

with a cool bridge.

andrew taking care of his 3 year old cousin right before she told him she loved him.  this is what these days are all about.

dinner was pizza, wine and a card game then we went home.  that gave us one day to unpack our suitcases, put christmas away and get ready for monday - boohoo.

can't think of a better way to say goodbye to 2014 and start the new year.  

editor's note: on yesterday's post i was corrected that winter solstice is actually the shortest day/longest night of the year.  either way it was a fun party.