That's a Wrap!

December flew past, as it always does.

But this year we did make a conscious effort to have a few slower moments.

Scaling down our Christmas shopping and "busy-ness" this year left time for things like family movie nights, gingerbread houses, and using our resources to teach Avery about the giving spirit of Christmas.

 

Every year Matt's work outdoes themselves with their annual Kids Holiday Party. Games, bouncehouses, raffles, facepainting, etc, etc, etc. And Santa, of course. This was Lear's first experience with the man in red. No tears, just generally curious about the whole thing.

At her preschool class Christmas program, Miss A was front and center. Without hesitation she belted out her rehearsed songs... maybe she really is destined for the big stage!

There was also more time for simply being together, enjoying time with family. Gigi and Jimster (newly nicknamed "The Candyman") stopped in for a day and what a joy it was to share a sunny afternoon with them.

There's something truly magical about the tree all lit up at night. We had a hard time getting Avery to keep any houselights on at all!

Because we had travel plans for Christmas, we opened all the big family gifts a few days early. The Raiders backpack and remote control airplane were big hits!

Skiing for Christmas is a Coe family tradition. After a 3 year hiatus, our 4-some joined my family in Park City, Utah for what was supposed to be a wonderful winter vacation.

Except, the very first night Avery came down with a wicked fever, deep cough, vomiting and severe congestion. At least it looked beautiful outside!

 

They did bring their stockings, which Santa filled to the brim with wonderful things to open Christmas morning.

In short order, Lear caught his sister's crud. So the adults all took turns skiing half-days. We got just the right mix of gorgeous sun and clouds dumping new powder.

 

But sharing air for 7 days with sick kids resulted in us all getting horrifically ill. It will be a trip of legend, but not the good kind. Needless to say, few pictures were taken. But if that first pic was the "nice" group shot... this is how we all really felt. Grateful for the time spent together nonetheless.

Fortunately, on the very last day Avery was well enough to spend a couple hours on a bunny hill. She had been begging us all week to let her ski and finally got her shot.

I was so proud of her! But after about 5 runs she was totally over it.

Nothing that a little time on the tubing hill didn't fix! 

TwentyTwelve certainly won't go down in the books as the best year on record. But we move into 2013 grateful for all the blessings we do have and confident in God's desire and ability to shape the direction of our new adventures!

Elves Among Us

The other night we told Avery that there had been elf sightings in the neighborhood. There was even a chance that they'd been in our house too! Our suspicions were confirmed when, after dinner, we headed upstairs to find neatly folded Christmas jammies laid out upon Avery's bed.

Atop each set was a ticket inviting them to board the family sleigh for a night of Christmas light viewing!

With everyone buckled and tucked 'neath their blankets, Avery traded her ticket in for a travel cup full of hot chocolate (with marshmallows!) and we drove off to "Christmas Card Lane" - one of the neighborhoods in San Diego famous for their decorations.

These 5+ blocks of residential homes did not disappoint. Every single home was decorated to the max, each with a theme, people out in their driveways enjoying crackling firepits and handing out freshly baked cookies. There were even two horse-drawn carriages providing lookers an al fresco experience. Magical!

2011 McNeil Family Video

Wait, what?

I know, I know... slightly tardy with the world premiere of LAST year's family video. All my production energies were spent birthing/feeding/raising a second munchkin.

Hey, no excuses. Without further delay, I give you our life, circa 2011:

Our life story continues... memories of 2011.
Runtime: 20 min

November-ness

Is it really mid-December already? Really?!

Dang.

Well, there were a few notable happenings around here last month that deserve a post.

My 31st birthday was celebrated with the traditional hunt for a new lobster bisque to try out. Matt found the quaint San Diego Soup Company and I'm pleased to say this little hole in the wall joint with a great deck served up a very good contender. It was nice to be able and enjoy a piping hot bowl of soup outdoors in the sunshine as a family. Thus far we've sampled lobster bisque at: The Hotel Del, Island Prime, Pizza Nova, and Peohoes. It's tough to say which is actually the best without tasting them all at the same time!

This little dude is growing some serious chompers. He's up to 4 teeth up top and 2 on the bottom!

Avery's becoming quite the art-eest. This work she's entitled Daddy with Balloons.

Lear's first Thanksgiving was a success, mostly due to the phenomenal spread the Pettits always serve up. Jerry was sure to give Lear first crack at the turkey leg. Good thing he's pretty much eating all "man food" these days and loved it, of course.

The day after Thanksgiving it's our family tradition to put up Christmas decorations. Lear taste-tested the majority of our bulbs. Quality control at it's finest!

Avery enjoyed hanging ornaments and reprized her role as keeper of the star this year. Better get in all the star toppings you can before your brother vies for that job!

Baby's First Christmas...

 

... and the reason we have no ornaments on the bottom 2 feet of our tree!

Last, but certainly not least, on the 29th Matt and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! 10 years ago my best friend promised me his life. I couldn't ask for a bigger fan, more steadfast provider, or passionate protector. Through lush times and lean, it's been a crazy amazing adventure so far. Love is a choice and I'm so glad he chose me.

 

Avery's Antics 4.0

Matt: "Hey Avery, wanna give Daddy a foot massage?"
"No! Your feet have too many chemicals on them!"
(We think she meant callouses.) 

"Avery, go tell Daddy that he lost the bet, so he should be up here putting Lear to bed."
She runs downstairs...
"Daddy! Mommy says you lost the bet. You need to go find it!"
  
"How do you stop the car?"
"There's two pedals I push with my feet, the brake makes us stop and the gas makes us go."
"Is there a princess pedal that you push and a magical umbrella pops out?!"
"Nope. No princess pedal."
(Very disappointed)  "Oh."

 History, according to Avery:
"There were these bad guys that didn't like Jesus. And they were in America before Daddy killed them. They put Jesus on an "X." But then Daddy got them out of America and saved Jesus."   

Matt: "Avery, when you do things like that (disobeying) Mommy and I get frustrated with you."
"When I do that, I get frustrated with MYSELF!"

Ride On

This morning, at age 4, Avery decided that she wanted to take off her training wheels.
So this afternoon we did...
Big Bike from The McNeils on Vimeo.

Avery, never lose that belief in yourself and determination to succeed at whatever you put your mind to!

Spooktacular

Halloween festivities were in full swing this week. First stop, pumpkin carving! It began like this... Avery hates the smell and God-forbid she be forced to touch the guts!

But after some not-so-subtle coaxing she did eventually help pick out the seeds for roasting.

 

As a kid, Matt spent many an October carving lots of pumpkins for his Aunt & Uncle's annual Halloween Pumpkin House. He basically describes it as child labor. 

So clearly he was elected to do the knife-wielding.

Avery decided her best role in this whole situation would be Pumpkin-Carver-Cheerleader. Naturally.

After Miss A firmly decided on being a ladybug, we ran with the bug theme. A little felt, hot glue and time at my sewing machine later...

Lears outfit was a leeeetle tight. Ok, who am I kidding. It was a full on MMA-style wrestling match to get him in it and I actually anticipated having to cut it off when we were done. Poor kid even had to take his second nap in it. Trust me, this was a much more humane option than a re-dress.

Our neighborhood is THE PLACE for trick or treating. As is tradition, the Goodnight gals joined us for the evening. Cheyenne was Pirate Izzy and Josie was the Parrot Skully from the Disney Show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates."

Crazy that these two have already done 4 Halloweens together!

 

Let's do this!

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!