Christmas Day Photos

Here is a short video compiling all the photos for Christmas day (actual photos are below if you don’t want to watch the video & there are a few extra I couldn’t fit into the video). I am going to start doing more videos of any large group of photos that I take because we discovered “Couch” mode on Vimeo when we play it through the xbox. It basically will play all the videos we upload continuously, so it is like having a high production slide show that we can put on any time we have family gatherings. Ideally over the next year we have a bunch of them, so I hope you enjoy them as Jeremy and I create them (I will start posting all the short videos Jeremy does with the GoPro as well).

We had an absolute blast on Christmas day – it was so much fun, it was loud, the kids were in heaven with all their cousins, presents and treats to eat. We thoroughly enjoyed the time with family and it was one of the nicest Christmas’s I can remember. It has been a rough couple of days following it while we try to get back into our normal routine again.

A Merry GoPro Christmas

The big gift this year was a GoPro Hero 3+ for Jeremy. The last nice HD Video Camera we got was just before we were married (excluding phones), so this is seven years ago… It was definitely time for an update. Gone is the bulky camera from before, now we have one that Jeremy can fit inside his front shirt pocket and you would never notice it was there. The video quality is amazing and he is still learning all the features, settings, etc. but here is what he pulled together for our Christmas Day at my parents house:

Thanksgiving Day

We have been on a crazy schedule over this last weekend between the Preschool Thanksgiving Feast, Thanksgiving at my brothers house and then hosting second Thanksgiving with the Halbert/Butler side of the family on Saturday and I am WAY behind on processing photos. I gave a quick view on the Preschool Feast, now I am on to Thanksgiving Day. Second Thanksgiving will be coming at some point…

So on Thanksgiving, my eldest brother Scott and my sis-in-law Kim were gracious enough to host around thirty people for Thanksgiving. THIRTY PEOPLE. She is amazing (I do not give my brother any credit on this one). The whole day went off flawlessly. There were fun activities for the kids, the turkey who was named “fat Patricia” was delicious, not to mention all the other wonderful food that we had. But the best part was enjoying everyone – we had such a great time! So thank you Scott & Kim – it was a wonderful day and you guys were amazing hosts!

I didn’t get as many photos as I wanted (sorry husband, you are absent!) and only did a super fast edit on them, soooo, here goes:

Thanksgiving morning Carter asked me to send this photo to Heather – Heather is the 13 year old daughter of our family friends that Carter LOVES. Not just “Aw, I like her” but as in he has been talking about seeing her on Thanksgiving for a month. And then he informed me that he loves her more than Conner and Beverly (his two best preschool friends). That is saying something! Anyway, this photo his is defending her with his light saber … I can believe it with that look on his face! (phone photo on this one)

These two hoodlums are my brothers Scott and Mark

Our lovely table decorations – all the kids decorated gingerbread houses for our centerpieces

My little man Gavin, looking cute as always

Our family friends Garrett and Sandy

Kimmy and her mom Cindy

Judy, who got WAY more photos than I did!

My mom and Kim – getting the food ready

My mom and Greg, making some gravy

Sandy getting the sides ready

My mom and Judy, hanging out

Heidi – Kim’s Sister – and I before dinner starts & Scott getting the group shot ready with my pose (yes, I actually wore a skirt!)

Heidi and Stu, the new “whatever”

Homemade rolls that were DELICIOUS!

Melissa and Michelle

The whole gang again

Throwback Thursday

Todays throwback Thursday is a shout out to my brother Mark. Congratulations on surviving the xBox One launch! His family hasn’t seen him much over the last half year as he worked hard to help get the next generation of xBox out the door. I am proud of him and so many others that I know who worked tirelessly on it. I hope that everyone celebrates and then gets some much needed rest and time off.

And dude, everyone (especially your wife!) is ready for you to shave that mountain-man beard! (his group couldn’t shave until launch day and the growth he is sporting is … full, haha).

Congratulations!!

<This photo is from our wedding in 2007 – I can’t believe how young Ryan and Nikki are and that Ryan is almost as tall as Kimmy now!>

July Stuff

Happy August 1st! Here are a handful of photos from July that never saw the light of day (well, most of them) … I didn’t do any editing to these, they are pretty much just as shot, so don’t look too closely, haha. Even though I post throughout the month, I kind of like the idea of pulling together a collage at the month end – I have a few friends who do this and I always enjoy it. Here is my first quick attempt, I am sure that I will refine it each month, so let me know if you have any suggestions.

Quick run down of what is in here: Flowers from the yard, fourth of July ferry/parade/festivities, drawings for Grandma & Grandpa, family reunion weekend, Happy Birthday to Sandy & Ryan, & a couple of self portraits that I am trying to get better about doing. Enjoy!

The Next Teenager

Today my nephew Ryan turns thirteen. THIRTEEN. It hurts a little to say that… The family got together over the weekend to celebrate this huge milestone and here are a handful of photos from the event (and I am finally getting better about getting some proof I was there too – lets see if you can find me, haha). HAPPY BIRTHDAY RA! Love you!

Mattawa Photos

Here are the rest of the photos from the day – lots of riding, a “tight rope” like walk, playing in the dirt (and wow the boys got DIRTY), Gavin loves the motorcycles, and relaxing in the sunshine. Sit back and enjoy!

Easter Afternoon – Hanging with the Fam

Grandma prepared our traditional turkey dinner for Easter this year – why not ham? My family likes turkey. And pie. LOTS of pie. Grandpa tried to chain the fridge with the pie closed so he could hoard it all for himself, but that is a different story …

Anywho, at Christmas, Mark & Kim got Ryan this cool remote-controlled off-roading car. But it isn’t a normal remote control car – this sucker can fly. I *think* it tops out around 40mph? It actually might be 60mph, but for once I will go with under-exaggerating something. We always end up hanging out in my parents front yard/street watching them speed along and jump it, yelling “Car!” anytime a car approached so it didn’t become road kill. Mark ran into Gavin with it (Gavin yelled, ’GEN! for again), Carter got chased by it, and Scott broke it eventually (TYPICAL!).

We had a great Easter Sunday – all the sunshine, the egg hunts, and the time with family.