December Part III

You know a month was a full month when you have a part III.  December brought me so much joy I didn't know how I was going to feel when everyone left.  Most everyone left soon after Darion's baby blessing.  Dan said the most beautiful blessing for Darion.  I was very pleased to hear the prayer he gave for Darion to our Heavenly Father.  I love seeing him be a daddy.  He loves and adores his "fantastic 4". 2R2D...R2D2...ahem, let's move along.

 It was wonderful to have so many made it out for Darion's special day.  We feel so loved.  When you are this far up, you know you are loved when people spend thousands of dollars just to come stay with you.

 Before everyone hit the airport my sister and I planned a little birthday party for my cute nephew who was turning 2.  My sister had been with us for 2 weeks and she booked her flight so that Zach turns 2 a day after they get home.  So technically he wasn't two when we celebrated but close enough.

 I quickly made a little yellow bus cake for him

 Had his daddy and my other sister put up some matching decorations

 And he loved it!  Did I tell you I'm getting another nephew?  My sister is expecting her second and last baby (or so she said) in March.  Looks like we might have the most kids at 4 kids.  My sisters are all business oriented ladies and having lots of babies are not on their list it appears.  I'm waiting for my other two sisters to start here soon so if I'm done I still have babies to snuggle with

 That face just made it all worth it for me.  Roro was a bit jealous

 We had some batter left so we made more cupcakes and dedicated them to my mom whose birthday was on New Year's day

 We sang and danced and hugged and kissed and sat down and planned our next vacation together.  "Planned" yeah we don't really plan.  We just "make" our vacations happen.  This is where Nguyens and Stevens are different.  The Nguyens, we call each other up and say, hey, where's your next vacation?  And we say let's all go there.  Stevens will plan theirs far in advance. 

 

 On the last night that everyone that's left was together, we bought some fancy cheese (to me it wasn't fancy since "moldy" isn't my thing but to some people it is)  Dan bought our cheese of the month this round and I proclaimed it to be a "nasty".  This here is Tomme Crayeuse.  The inside of the cheese was actually pretty good, though the mold really throws me off.

My sisters and I traded some clothes before they left.  Feels so good to be skinny again :)

 

We treated everybody to a ride on the Big Wheel

 

 

Thuyen and Josh were the only ones staying until New Year.  We hit the root beer store and came home with lots of flavors for the New Year's Eve party

 And on 12/29 Debrie lost her first tooth!!

 Thuyen and Josh love Krispy Kreme, especially when it's lit and you can get them fresh off the conveyor belt.  We went to Krispy Kreme twice while they were here

My sister and I took the girls for a swim

 We decided to go on a drive and showed them the beautiful Cascade mountains near our home.  We kept on driving and went to a resort - Suncadia is the name of the resort.  Beautiful and delicious food~
We dined there and had a good time

 Dinner by the fire on New Years' Eve

 S'mores in the snow

 Then it was confetti and root beer and happy cheer to the New Year

December Part II

December really has to be the busiest and fullest month for us.  I have to break it up into 3 posts.  If you are wondering how I have so much time on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.  It is because we are on vacation!  Yes the Dan and Thuan gang had the itch for more traveling since we got back from our New York Pennsylvania Niagra Falls trip.  We are in California right now with our not even 3 months old...although most everyone thinks he's 4-5 months old.  We are taking the kiddos to Legoland and dipping our toes in the warm California sand, visiting friends and families.  I do miss my nice warm bed already but for this Valentine's weekend and the kids mid winter break this whole week, we just had to do it.  But that is February, let's get back to December

More snuggles with baby Darion

 Thuyen and Josh made their appearance in our house after their week long vacation in San Diego.  Talking about traveling!  These two have us beaten on traveling.  They are every where!!  They are our Mr and Mrs Clause.

 But we love them so much we treated them, Thao, my other sister, and Reena and Debrie to the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  They haven't seen this clasic and this musical is also one of my favorites

Dan's parents made their appearance 2 days after Thuyen and Josh and they got to snuggle with baby Darion.

Then my dad arrived Christmas Eve.  We wanted him to be a part of the Nativity as well as Mike (who is on a mission) so we broke tradition and did the Nativity Christmas morning.

I gathered fabrics, costumes, and props for everyone to pick out what they wanted to be.  It was so fun and the best part was that my brother got to see it!!!

Our dinner was good.  The ham my sister bought was a bit of a disappointment but that is no one's fault except the maker (Kirkland brand). Everyone helped make the food.  It was yum!

We attempted to open presents every hour and one present per person so we have time to truly enjoy each present, but that didn't go too well.  The kids begged for just a few more so we did 2-3 presents every few hours.  That kept the mess down and gave us more time to appreciate each gift 

We did a lot of cooking, shopping, and eating.  Then Saturday my mom volunteered to watch Debrie, Ronin and Darion and we treated everyone to see the Sound of Music at the 5th Ave Theater, one of my favorites in downtown Seattle.  We already treated my mom, the girls, ny sister and her husband already when they were here for Thanksgiving.  We had pretty decent seats and it was a wonderful experience having the whole family, minus a few members  We went over to Zillow after the show for some treats and games

See you on the next post!!