NoVa December 2016

Part 1 of December (before heading to Arizona for Christmas).

We kicked off December with the kids’ first visit with Santa for the season, hosted by our realtor (shout out – Pam Campbell with Century 21 out of Alexandria!). We may have stumbled a little as we explained to Colt why Santa was hanging out at a Century 21 office on a Saturday morning and why Santa was telling me about his previous military career 😉 but overall Colt blindly accepted our lies and went with it. His big ask from Santa this year was to go to Arizona for Christmas! (Spoiler: he got his wish.)

Finn is not quite as comfortable with Santa.

Our family with Pam’s daughter with her husband and two girls. They are long-time family friends and the girls all clown (is that a verb?) and had come from an event that morning!

Colt helping Dad pick out a tree!

Colt and his ever-growing stick collection.

Finn taking after his big brother!

Sneaking by Colt’s classroom after a morning coffee with some parents and caught Colt at the snack table with some of his pals! Adore!!

Boys busy creating.

Jumping in puddles and finding MORE STICKS!

Michael and I wanted to go to New York Dec. 9-11 so to make it possible, Sharon and Lise Harper were so generous with their time and energy and flew across the country to watch our boys for the weekend so that we could get away! They had a great time together and the boys could not have missed us less. 😉

Nana with her two boys.

Colt and Finn giving Lise a neighborhood tour.

In New York, Michael and I stayed with Joe at his cool apartment in NoHo.

We made it!

For dinner Friday night, we met up with Michael’s good friend and law school roommate, Josh. We spent Saturday touring around, seeing the lights, the windows and the tree – so fun to be a tourist in NYC during Christmas.

Christmas in NY.

That night we went to, what was supposed to be a surprise birthday party for one of Michael’s best BC buddies, Jon, which was being thrown by his girlfriend, Katie. It started off with the big surprise at Jon and Katie’s apartment and just when Katie was presenting him with this amazing book that she put together, Jon totally turned it around and PROPOSED to Katie on the spot! He confessed that he had figured out the surprise and decided to take the opportunity to ask her in front of so many dear friends and family. It was such a blast to then get to celebrate his birthday AND their engagement.

The happy couple surrounded by some friends.

Partying with Joe + Vinnay & Thu.

Sunday afternoon we drove back home and when we pulled up to our house…it was THIS DELIGHTFUL SIGHT that greeted us!

Nana, Lise, Colt and Finn had a little Clark Griswold surprise for us!

The crew had lots of little giggles while we were gone, secretly decorating our house with some pretty serious projectors, netted bush lights and a plethora of other festive, GLITTERY creatures to welcome us upon our return. As much as we loved it all, we felt that the numerous, bright orange extension cords and wide open power strips throughout the yard may not be the safest thing for the projected rain the next day BUT it definitely made us laugh and Colt had a blast with it all.

Getting cozy for Christmas!

Painting time in the kitchen.

Festive rice crispy treats! And a great fake-smile to go with them!

I mean…!?

Here is a random comparison shot. Colt is a few months older in his pic but pretty close. They are definitely unique but I do think they favor each other.