New Years Eve

And so we end another year in the Abbott families life.  The Top 10 List for 2012:

1. Hazen getting tubes (he's speaking more and hasn't had an ear infection since September-- after having more than six in the previous year.
2. Summer Tour de New England (Cape Cod, Maine with friends from near and far)
3. Cally being at Poker Hill (the best place in the world for her right now)
4. Bates Burning Man (surrounded by dozens of amazing old and new friends)
5. John's Birthday in Montreal (great culture and new friendships)
6. Katy's 40th Birthday celebrations (skiing, relaxing at the spa, the great song, and fun friends)
7. Idaho (being in big mountains with old and new friends, babysitters, and snow)
8. Finishing the front porch (and stringing it with lights for the holidays)
9. Down to only one nap a day (freeing us to actually go on family outings)
10. Christmas Storm (time for Mom and Dad to ski, but also having the whole family on the slopes)

We spent the last day of 2012 doing exactly what this family loves to do.  John and I earned some of the most amazing turns of the year with our good friend, Anton at Bolton.  We took four laps and returned home to cook some food for the Harris-Plimpton Sledding Party.  The conditions were ideal! I think Cally took 8 or 9 runs with the big girls (she already has no interest in hanging with her parents-- at 4!).   

And the best part was the lift back up the hill after every run!

We didn't make it very far into the evening.  With the kids asleep in the car, we did stop at an adult only party for 15 minutes, but I'm pretty sure we were all asleep by 10pm.

A White Christmas in Vermont

You've got to love Vermont!  Our neighbor, Chris Cleary and his friends (including John), spent hundreds of hours building a 15 foot tall mastodon-- with toe nails, tusks, and kissing wreaths as testicles!  It was loaded with fireworks and supposed to be set ablaze on the solstice.  However, there was a crazy storm on Friday-- with gusts clocked at over 100 mph on Mt. Mansfield, so the event was postponed until the 23rd.

With snow flying and temperatures dropping, we were able to share this amazing spectacle with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and neighborhood friends.  It will surely be an event that will be remembered for many, many years!






We were able to sneak in a dinner in Waterbury with Jamey and his family before the holidays.  It was a bit chaotic, but so great to see the cousins together.



One of the biggest treats, was getting to go out for a half day of skiing in 12 inches of powder with my best ski buddy in the whole wide world!  We poached closed trails, snuggled on the chairlift, and new the kids were having a ball with their grandparents.



Rob and Nif made a great Christmas Eve dinner and the kids got very excited for Santa to come:

 We had a great morning and lazy afternoon followed by a gorgeous late afternoon sled on Casey's Hill in Underhill.  With the alpenglow ablaze on Mt. Mansfield.




We had a traditional Thanksgiving feast for dinner and the kids had a great evening romping around and being playful cousins.

It was great to have family and friends around to celebrate the holidays with us in our home.  It meant deep cleaning the house before people came, while they were here, and after they left and grocery shopping and cooking a lot, but we loved the coziness of being in our home heated by our neighbors trees and filled with so much fun and love.  There was a bit of an emptiness in the house when everyone packed up and left today, but it was fun to have our unit back, ready to make some turns together on a sunny day, awaiting a huge snow storm tomorrow.  Thankfully, we still have another six days of vacation!

Celebrating 4 Trips Around the Sun

It was a perfect day and a perfect way to celebrate this amazing spirits fourth trip around the sun.  We started with butterfly pancakes with our extra special house guests:

Birthday Breakfast with Bumpa and Grandma

Lots of presents were opened and playing was done:

We got out for a lovely dog walk/ski up to Underhill State Park:

And we made it home just in time to get dressed and do a little prep for the birthday party before our first guests arrived an hour early!

Those in attendance for the kid part of the party were:  Ada, Piper, and Dylan, Hazel and Milo, Aiofe and Fenn, Addie and Mason, Tiller and Edie, Thompson, and Elijah.   We did some cookie and crown decorating:

and capped it off with buttermilk chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting:

It was such a treat to have Grandmpa and Bumpa in attendance:

And in case you can't see from the photos, Cally was on Cloud 9 for the entire party (which had a second part when her godparents, the Ganz Clan, the Whelans, and Marriots joined us) , which lasted for almost six hours.  She loved everything about it and we were really happy to celebrate her birthday in such a special way.  

Cally, you are not always the easiest kid, but you make me more and more proud everyday that I get to know you.  You are smart, inquisitive, articulate, sensitive, energetic,  thoughtful, and kind.  You make me laugh, you make me think, and you remind me everyday how lucky I am to have you in my life.  I can't wait to get to know you better and see the person that you are going to become.

Tis the Season

This time of year seems to come alive with two small children in the equation.  From what I can gather, John has always been about the decorations and festivities.  I'll never forget, a month after we started to date, he was living alone and was headed to visit family for the holidays, but he insisted on getting a tree and decorating the house.  He's even more into it, now that he's got a few little red heads to impress.

We got our tree early this year.  There was snow on the ground, so we decided to seize the moment on December 1st.  Addy Harris was hanging out with us for the day (her parents were in Boston), so she was a great helper.

We didn't actually decorate the tree for a few more days, but we did get to pull the sled on the snow.

Although the white blanket of fun was short lived, we have managed to get out on the slopes a couple of times over the past few weeks.  We even got little H on the hill and after a little apprehension, he seems to love it!  Cally is all over it.  She's cruising on her own and turning a bunch.

The kids got to go to another fun birthday party at the Smuggler's Notch Fun Zone.

 

Cal and I got to go on a really fun mother-daughter date to the Nutcracker.  The local Ballet Company put together an amazing show.  She didn't even get squirmy until the last scene!

 The events of last week in Newtown, CT have really hit me hard.  I don't know if it is because I am a teacher or that I have been in a school when a shooting happened or if it's because I'm a mom or because it took place so close to where I grew up, but this tragedy has had a big impact.  I know that what happened is so random, but every time I look at my kids, who are just budding into the people I have so many hopes and dreams for, my heart breaks for those parents and that community.  I just recently found out that one of my neighbors from growing up lost her son to the tragedy.  This makes everything so much more real and awful.  I don't want to dwell too much on the ugly and I'm trying to use this to cherish all the moments with my little buds-- even when they are biting or hitting or whining.  It makes me so appreciative of what I have.

We've got lots to do between now and Christmas.  We've got grandparents arriving, a dinner with cousins, a solstice burning of a 15 foot mastodon, a 4th birthday to celebrate, cousins to host, and parties to attend.  I'm really looking forward to some good quality time with family!