Instagram Christmas

Dear Readers, Doing things a bit differently this year. Normally I take pics all Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and post them in a Merry Christmas post. Well: Merry Christmas. But these shots are my favorite of the whole season including the actual Eve and Day. We had such a merry holiday despite me being deathly ill. My favorite memory: when we told P and H that we're taking them on a surprise trip to Disneyland and they were not all that impressed. oh, brother. I suppose just being with family and celebrating Christ's birth was more important...ummm, duh!! Love how my girls are getting it right young. ;) Enjoy!

Mistle-toe and Merciless Harrassment.

This year's holiday card. There was much debate about sending this. Namely because I didn't forgot to tell Mr. B that we were going to be smooching. I'm afraid his friends loved it and by love I mean teased him mercilessly. May I remind Mayer that this is the season of mercy. Anyway, I honestly loved the fact that Pea is just mauling Harp. It's, in a word: awesome. And so, without further ado...

Stan the Man.

This year we started the tradition of The Elf on the Shelf. The girls (namely Pea) were really into it. Stanley was named by Pea, which I think I mentioned in my last post and happens to be the name of the late Mr. Stanley Birky (my grandpa). I love that his name lives on in this small way. Pea loved waking up every morning searching for where Stan would be perched to watch them being naughty or nice. Every night he flies back and reports to the BIG man. It's a peace maker miracle around these parts. Stan has some tricks up his red sleeve. Once he taped streamers across their doors and was caught red-handed with the streamers, tape, and scissors. He also: peed in potty (and may I say ONLY because we are potty training H: separate post to follow), had a hot date with Barbie, and ate some fro yo (he has SUCH a sweet tooth, not unlike his namesake. Oh, Stan, Momi we wish you could be here all year long...

Lang Family Christmas 2012

One of our favorite gathering all year long and a special tradition with Ty's family. This year was in point of fact: absolutely mayhem. There were kids EVERYWHERE. And two more on the way! It made the party insane (in a good way) and produced some hilarious group shots. This year's gift exchange was thrown for a loop when Casey revealed his secret and highly COVETED gift: a cutting board complete with Grandpa Lang's original company design. Many in attendance thought Cheri was going to have a sincere heart attack, however it was later discovered her behavior was fueled by sentimentality and consuming an ill-timed Diet Coke. Bitty gave an excellent rendition of the Christmas Story and all had a merry time!

Progressive Dinner 2012

This year was a bit different! With two households returning from Costa Rica the day before, another REALLY prego cousin, and the general intense craziness of the Christmas season; our annual dinner was NOT so much progressive as it was stagnant. It was decided to do a Christmas version of Meatfest at just the Lomarbardos (this year only). The dishes were as always AMAZING and ALL cooked by the one and only Joey. In other news, this year's game was super fun: Left, Right, Center. I wish I would have won the pot, but it did help front the cost of a new mattress cover for Taryn... Returning to tradition next year, but for this year still such a fun night with family.

From Costa Rica to Christmas

Been quite a strange transition from my nail polish completely melting off in the sun and beach of caliente Costa Rica to arriving home to the cold Christmas holiday, but here we are! We introduced our new tradition of the Elf on the Shelf (his name is Stanley, which Pea picked and happens to be my grandpa's name); separate post to come on Stan the Man. AND we ventured to see THE jolly old fellow this morning. Pea is now at the point (like her cousins) where she believes this Santa in the little green house is the REAL one because he has a REAL beard so we keep going back there. Praying he makes it to next Christmas as well! Here are the highlights:

Pura Vida

We just returned from Costa Rica for our week long vaca of adventure, sun, and jungle. We traveled into the depths of the rain forest at the foot of the Arenal Volcano and then over to the Pacific side of this beautiful Central American country. I have to say I didn't understand just how WET the rain forest is; nothing EVER drys. It's just damp everywhere and your nail polish melts like my heart when my girls say, I love you. We went white water rafting, which was SO fun and I'd like to do again for sure and zip lining over a rain forest canyon 50 stories, which I'd say I'm good doing just once... After those adventures we traveled to Guanacaste (west coast of Costa Rica) for some sun and boy was it HOT. The perfect ending for a bit of R&R. Below are just a few of my pictures. There's so much more to say about this country and it's people and what we did, but I can't put it all into words: except to say as they do: Pura Vida. oh, and these will have to do...