Yesterday was the big 12/12/12. And to mark it, I made everyone gather in one room at the same time and take a family photo. I wanted to remember what we looked like on 12/12/12.
This one won't make the Christmas card--I've already ordered those, but there we are.
What a year 2012 has been--busy as the past several years have been. Christian became a Marine, Sidney went to junior high and Spencer and Kristina to high school, I wrecked my van, Spencer got his driver's permit and has not wrecked a van, I traveled a LOT, Dean and I both worked a lot, we kept our heads above water and we made it to 12/12/12.
And to celebrate the year 2012 and the upcoming holidays, here's a little fun. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Yes, I am more than a bit behind on the blog. Sorry, but when life gets busy, the blog goes by the wayside. I must repent of this in the new year.
So here we go. A quick recap of the last few months in the Shupe household.
Christian finished up an amazing marching band season with American Fork High School. In spite of the tragic accident involving Heather Christensen, the band moved on and won several competitions. They won the Western Regional Competition and then, thanks to the generous support of family, friends and sponsors, they went on to Indianapolis for Nationals. They made the semi finals there and ended up placing 15th out of the 91 bands attending. We were able to watch them perform at nationals via a live satellite feed at the high school. It was a great wrap up to a unique season. Here is a YouTube link if you want to take the 9 minutes or so to watch the performance. It was a tribute to World War II veterans and featured music from Band of Brothers. Christian is the second bass drum from the left if you can spot him. Also note the injured band members in the front by the pit, playing their instruments but unable to march. And hang on for the tribute at the end.
Remember this cute, fluffy little thing? Well, she's grown...
...and grown and grown and grown. Inga loves the snow and it makes for quite a challenge when walking the dogs. Jack prefers to keep to the sidewalk, Inga prefers to romp through the snow off the sidewalk. I think she's pretending she's in the Swiss Alps tracking down a lost traveler. But we love her and she has brought new life into ten year old Jack. They are the best of friends.
And speaking of cute things, have you been to Hogle Zoo yet to see this baby elephant? If you haven't, you really must. We went to see her in October and all I could think was, "I think my dog is that big."
Halloween came and went. It was the year of the pirate. Sidney, Kristina, myself and several friends dressed up as pirates. Even Jack the dog ended up in a pirate costume. Poor thing--he's just too good natured to protest when we do such ridiculous things. Inga had the good sense to have nothing to do with any costume.
And Thanksgiving came and went. We held it at our house this year and stuffed ourselves until we thought we would burst. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? Oh, yes, and the thanks part too.
We took the family to Disneyland for Christmas this year. We spent three days in mid-December at Disneyland. The first day, it poured rain. Never fear. Who's afraid of a little rain? Not us. But apparently, a lot of other people. We spent six hours at the park and walked onto almost every ride. The next day was perfect. It was overcast so I think that scared people away but there was no rain and again, we rode ride after ride after ride with little if any wait. The kids actually went on Splash Mountain twice in a row and didn't even have to get off in between.
Day three was sunny so we ended up with a busier day but still not crazy. Kristina complained about the ten minute wait for some of the rides. I think we spoiled her with the previous two days.
And Christmas was wonderful. It has been a relaxing and wonderful holiday for all of us. We hope it was the same for you. Life is good, not perfect, but very good. We are blessed.
"Holiday gifts: To your enemy, forgiveness. To a friend, your heart. To all, good will." --Don Ward
It started early, 6:00 am. The packages were opened, much candy was consumed, the whirlwind mess is finally cleaned up. Santa and Mom and Dad did well this year. It's snowing and beautiful outside. It's a very good day.
Here are a few highlight photos:
New PJ's on Christmas Eve.
Reading Luke 2 on Christmas Eve. Kristina was following along in Russian. She read "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, Peace, Good will towards men" to us in Russian.
Christmas morning.
A white Christmas. Sledding fun thanks to JJ Mace.
We hope all of you had as wonderful of a day as we did. We are so grateful for family and friends and for the birth of our Savior. I think Linus sums it up best.
It's Christmas Eve. Today we'll have a big dinner, watch a Christmas Story, read Luke 2, open new pajamas and then send everyone off to visions of sugar plums while Dean and I wrap all the presents. Since TBS has A Christmas Story on for 24 hours beginning Christmas Eve at 6:00 pm MST, we time our Christmas prep by how many times we get through a Christmas Story. So in light of that funny movie, what was your best Christmas present ever?
This is a hard one when you actually have to sit down and think about it. Christmas was always pretty magical growing up so it's hard to pin down any one thing. It could be this.
This doll was tiny and she had this tiny little furniture to go with her. She even had a miniature amusement park with a merry go round, ferris wheel and everything. I love everything in miniature so this was a pretty good one.
But it could be the year I told Santa to surprise me and he got me the Olympic gymnast Barbie with her own balance beam and a Barbie cruise ship. Or the year I got the supersized Stuffed Mountain Lion. I had been prepared to just get the small one and then the jumbo one showed up Christmas morning. That was a pretty good one too. But then last year, Dean and my parents surprised me with these.
Library Drawers! Those of you who have never aspired to being a librarian or who have no love of things antique may not understand this one but it was pretty great.
I'm posting this assignment to my kids and husband so I'll post later with their favorites. Please post and let me know yours.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night! (This was a pretty good Christmas present too.)
We are in full Christmas mode at the Shupe house. It took a few days to get everything up (we took it slow and easy this year) but the house is now decorated and as festive as can be. Kristina has had a great time seeing all the new decorations (it's not as festive as my mom's house but we're not that far behind). My kids have had a good time rediscovering decorations through Kristina's eyes. And the great part---she didn't wear out like the rest of the kids do when decorating. She stuck it out to the end. We'll see if she has the same stamina when it is time to take it all down.
Here's a few scenes from our house.
If it isn't obvious, I have a soft spot for Christmas Story, Peanuts and nativities.
The kids did gingerbread houses this year. We didn't have any major house crashes (last year Spencer and Christian's looked like an earthquake had hit). And you know what the best part of decorating was? Charlie Brown's Christmas was on at the same time, not on video but actually on TV. Does anyone else remember timing your life around when the Christmas specials were on TV? I lived for those and Wizard of Oz. It is nice to watch them at will but there was something about scarcity that made them more special.
Now that I have a blog and am posting photos for all to see, I've finally decided that it's time to go manual on my camera and play with aperture and shutter speed. These photos would have benefited from that. If anyone has some great sources for learning more about photography, I'd love to hear them. (Lit, if you are reading this, I'm sure you will say, "It's about time.")
We hope everyone is having a great Holiday season this year. We'll keep you posted on more of our events.
I had so much fun making the ElfYourself video yesterday that I made another one today. After all, Dean needed to get in on the action. The kids helped me and laughed as hard as I did.
Once again, Merry Christmas from the silly Shupes.
I'm a crazy busy full time working mom of four. I'm a Close to My Heart consultant, wanna be librarian, who is never happier than when creating, reminiscing or reading. So welcome to my little corner of the world where I'll share with you what I do in my little bit of spare time.
