Dec 2011 - Garcia Family Photos

The Garcia Clan

 For Christmas 2011, every single one of the Garcia family was able to get together for the holidays (not an easy feat with five kids and their families, plus the fact that we're literally spread across the globe).  So we got to spend a week in College Station with all of Danny's family.  The first few days even several of his extended family from Oklahoma came down and visited too.  WIth dozens of people, it was barely managed chaos at times, but it was a lot of fun and great to be able to meet and greet and see everyone and get to know the Garcias better.  One thing that Danny's parents really wanted, since everyone was actually there, was to take professional family photos, and so (given the fact I didn't actually take any of my own pictures), these are the only pictures I have from Christmas at the moment.  But fortunately, they all turned out really great!  Each family had a different color, so we could tell us apart but still be sort of coordinated (though Silverio and Debbie didn't get the memo, oh well).  We took a few with everyone, then each family had time to take some individual family pictures.  Since Danny and I don't have kids, we went last so the families with kids could leave earlier. Lucky for us, the photographer really enjoyed taking pictures of us and since she had more time, she took lots and many actually came out well!  It's nice to finally have some pictures of Danny and I that aren't just wedding photos.  So, enjoy!

The Garcia Kids (l-r) David, Nick, Elena, Tommy, and Danny

... add the parents

... and the goofing off, lol.

Elena's family in navy

(l-r) Dash, Brent, Race, Elena, and Wynn

David's family in blue (l-r) David, Grayson and Genevieve (they kept having to change their color because Grayson kept growing out of his outfits, lol)

Tommy's family in gray and purple (l-r) Josh, Emily, Jennifer, Abby and Tommy

Nick and Kay in maroon

... it was super freezing cold that day. they had lots of blankets and coats and handwarmers for in between shots.

and last but not least, Danny and me in green (and my sweater was *not* warm enough for the weather... definitely kept my coat on as often as I could).  I really enjoyed how they turned out.

one of my favorites

... having a bit of fun.

I don't usually care for black and white photos (she gave us copies of all the pictures in both), but I loved these ones in black and white better than color.  I just really liked the moment they captured.

for this shot, she told me to get comfortable, so I did just that  :)

another one of my favorites

Dec 18 - Christmas party w/ friends

(l-r) Phillip, Sonia and Ritchie, Chow and Russ, Hilary and Clayton, Danny and Me, Jeff and Brittany, and Michelle (not pictured: Heidi and Brad, they had to leave early)

This is the only picture I have of any of the events we went to, but it was definitely one of the fun ones.  Chow and Russ tend to be the big party throwers amongst our friends (they hosted the Halloween party, amongst many others), but Phillip claimed the right to the Christmas party and it was a lot of fun.  He made it Mexican-themed, so we had a potluck with enchiladas, mexican rice, chips and salsa and queso, etc. and he even had a Christmas-themed pinata  ... that he asked Danny and me to bring ... the day before the party.  -_-  remember all of my overcommiting? ... anyway, finding a pinata in the middle of December wasn't exactly going very well, so we decided to make one instead, but since we only had a day (plus I was pretty busy with all my other diy projects too), so paper mache was out.  I found an idea online of making one out of a cereal box, since the cardboard was sturdy enough to hold candy but thin enough to break.  So Danny helped me piece together two cereal boxes and then gift wrap with a giant bow to make it look like a present.  I wish I'd taken a picture before we busted it open, it turned out a lot nicer than I thought it would, given our time and material contraints.  And, it actually worked!  We had it hanging on a tree and probably a good six or seven people got several good swings at it before it finally fell apart.  (Chow is actually holding a piece of it in here hand in the photo ... not sure why though, lol).

The rest of the party we got to chat and hang out, and we also had a white elephant gift exchange.  That was a lot of fun seeing what people brought and what people fought over.  Some of the funny moments, when someone opened the gift that Heidi and Brad brought - a baseball glove - to which Brad looks at Heidi and says, "hey, that's mine!"  she just said he had tons of them, but he ended up trading later in the game to get it back, haha.  Heavily fought over prizes were some lotions, a tin of cookies, a back massager, some superhero magnets, a monkey snuggie, and a waffle iron (... some people have a different perspective on the whole white elephant concept, I guess).  Other more random items people brought were an old physics textbook, a wine-bottle sweater (Chow took it for her garden gnome), a clown sculpture, a photo frame of Russ, and a CD of singing cats (I ended up winning that one; Danny won the snuggie and was super excited about that one, lol).

All in all, it was a lot of fun though.  It nice to have so many friends who like to get together.  ... too bad half of them have since moved.  ...oh, one other kinda funny story about this, you'll notice in the picture Chow and Hilary are quite pregnant, both were due the following January.  Chow actually went into labor that night and had her baby the next morning!  She was over four weeks early, definitely a surprise (though they had to spend the week in nicu, baby and family are doing great now).  But kinda random to think that this party was her last day pregnant, lol.  Crazy how things turn out sometimes.

December 2011

(okay, so I've been putting this off long enough, mostly because I have very few pictures to post, and it just feels weird writing a post without any pictures, especially since I can ramble on and on for forever and a page... unfortunately, I'm not very good at actually taking my own photos, but I usually just get copies from family so it's not so bad ... unless, however, the one of the family's unofficial photographers loses all said photos in a hard-drive crash.  ...so, until I can scrounge up some pictures elsewhere, for now, what I have will have to make do, even if that means not a single picture from Christmas. *sigh*. really bummed about that, but I guess it just goes to show I really ought to take my own photos and shouldn't just depend on everyone else's photos. sorry.)

Just like the rest of our fall, December was really busy for us.  Between parties and dinners and holiday events (the creche exhibit our stake held was quite beautiful and we were able to take some of Danny's school friends with us too), Danny was studying for finals and I was trying to finish up the millions of projects I'd commited myself to during the few days I was healthy (feels like it's becoming a trend of mine, but I seemed to catch every cold and flu there was that fall, and spent a good portion of the last few months of the year sick and hopped up on cold medicine... really fun).  Somehow I was still able to finish most of what I wanted to get done (though it never seems enough), namely Christmas gifts galore.  ... I can't seem to do things small, can I?

Anyway, I thought I'd show off some of the things that took all my time and energy, and that I'm proud to say I made and actually liked (which doesn't happen too often):

This year on Danny's side we had Elena's family for the Christmas gift exchange.  We decided it'd be nice to give the parents a restaurant gift card for a date night, and for the kids, I thought it'd be fun to make them a set of hand puppets like the ones I had made for Amanda's kids a couple years back.  But this time, I decided to make just five people for each of the members of their family (l-r, Brent, Elena, Race, Dash, and Wynn).

... and I decided to try making some zoo animals since their kids love animals.  It ended up being a lot of fun to plan and make, definitely time consuming, but I was really glad with how they turned out.  Plus, it's so fun to use the patterend felt from hobby lobby (for the leopard and the zebra and the dinosaur outfit).  There were a lot of other ideas I had, and perhaps a few of them I might have done a little differently to make it a little easier, if I did it again.  Another time.  maybe for next Christmas, lol.

... the backs of the animals -- the people I usually leave plain on the back but some of the animals just wouldn't have been so cool without doing the back too, like the parrot's tail feathers or the zebra's mane.  I think the puppets went over well, but seriously, it seemed like Elena enjoyed them way more than the kids, lol.  I'm glad they enjoyed them.

 For my side of the family, I went with treat boxes again, since I think everyone liked them the year before.  This time I made chocolate caramel popcorn and oreo truffles -- definitely a hit.  ... pretty simple to make, though I think I'll use the food processor next time, it'll be a lot faster than crushing the oreos by hand.  For the nephews, I made some dress-up clothes to go along with dress-up hats they got for Christmas too.  I ended up making them: two super hero capes (one was green/blue, the other red/gold); a cowboy vest with a red bandana; a white chef's hat and apron; a lab coat; and a pink tutu (it was specifically requested).  It was fun to design and make, though I was surprised to find the ones I thought would be really hard and take forever ended up coming together really easily, and the ones I thought would be a cinch turned out to be a lot harder than I had anticipated.  Oh well, live and learn, right?  I think they all turned out pretty nicely in the end.  I forgot to take pictures of them before wrapping them, and then the boys were a bit reluctant to show them off for me during Christmas, but Amanda got some pictures of them after the holidays, so here's a few of them.  ... and the boys definitely enjoy mixing them up, haha.

Seth is wearing one of the capes ... with a cowboy hat, and Andrew is wearing the cowboy vest ... with a cop hat.

Seth showing off the chef's hat and apron -- they actually matched a set, lol.

... while Andrew wears the tutu, the lab coat, and a pirate hat.  very, um, unique combination, haha.

And last but not least ... the cupcakes. -_-  ok, it started off a simple enough idea.  I generally make plates of cookies for friends at the holidays, and goodness knows we have a lot of traditional and very labor-intensive Christmas cookies I like to make.  But I knew that would be trying to do way too much, there wasn't enough time and too many friends, but I still wanted to do something, and baking is what I'm known for.  So why not cupcakes?  those are nice and easy, just make some boxed cupcakes with my really good chocolate frosting with red and green sprinkles and Santa plates, it couldn't be easier, right?

... hmm.  well. let's just say that by the end of December I never wanted to see another cupcake again.  yeah, they turned out nice, and everyone loved them, but by the time we made enough plates and delivered them to everyone we planned on... I had baked and frosted over 135 cupcakes... in the course of maybe a week and a half?  oh, and I also had the bright idea that while doing that, I was still going to make one or maybe two of my favorite Christmas cookies I'd mentioned earlier, just for the family, because it's just not the same without them ... and that turned into making four different cookies ... while finishing up half the dress-up clothes ... and a few last puppets ... five days before we were leaving to see family.  oh, and toss in a couple Christmas parties at church and with friends that same week, all of which also required another baked good to bring.  ... and the fact that I still had one of my lingering colds.  (...oh, and did I mention that one of the batches of cupcakes had to be gluten-free too?) ... needless to say, I tend to overdo things, even when I try so hard not to... or at least I think I try hard not to... maybe next year I'll learn to simplify...

ANYway. yes. I somehow managed to get it all done, even if it meant practically living in the kitchen all month, and everyone loved the cookies and the baked goods at the parties and the cupcakes.  but no. never again. ever.  next year everyone's getting cards. or at least something that can be made weeks in advance (see, that's the biggest kicker with giving food -- you have to give it while it's still fresh).  Though, it's still always nice to see the biggest smiles when people enjoy the food I've made and give me the biggest compliments on them... it's one thing I know I can do that will make people happy.

one of the dozens of plates of cupcakes... at least they looked good and tasted great, right?

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we prepared a huge breakfast/brunch with muffins and eggs and fruit for the whole family.  Michael and Meghan joined us again around nine (they acted surprised when I suggested 9 am, thinking I'd suggest something way earlier like 7 or something ... am I really that bad? lol.  I know in the past I'd get overly excited about the holidays, but I've definitely learned to appreciate sleeping in.) They got to spend the whole day with us as we opened gifts, played board games, watched movies, and made a big traditional Christmas dinner with ham and rolls and even a jell-o mold! yum!  We also all had stockings to open.  Danny's mom makes stocking for everyone in her family, all the kids, spouses, and grandkids.  Once we got married, she had already asked what I'd like, knitted it, and mailed it to me by October! amazing! (... too bad I forgot a picture, it's pretty with an angel on it).  Unfortunately, Danny doesn't know where his is, haha.  I had a generic red one that he used, but we'll have to find his for next Christmas.

I must say, Christmas is so much more fun with lots of people and especially with kids.  It just seems more magically, I guess, when you see how excited they get, or even just funnier with some of their sayings and reactions (like how upset Seth would get when Andrew got a gift that Seth liked but it was Andrew's).  I'm so glad that I got to spend this Christmas with all of my family since who knows when we'll be able to all get together like this again as we start finishing up school and getting jobs that move us farther apart.  ... and, since pictures tell a thousand words, here's a few snapshots from the day (thanks Amanda and Meghan for the pics!  ... I've really got to get a better camera of my own one of these days, lol).

... is it bad that sometimes I envy the toys the boys got? lol.  One really cool toy that got this year was a huge wooden train set.  It was so fun and adorable and had lots of different parts that you could put together so many ways, and I liked that it wasn't sponsered by some cartoon character like Thomas or Disney or something.  I really like the classic toys better.

Danny got so excited with his new Tom Clancy books, all military related.

I got lots of books and movies too.

... what could Michael be opening?

Yard-O-Beef! haha, he'd been talking about this all week, such excitement! :)

though Meghan was probably equally excited for her Eclipse DVD from the Twilight series.

... what to do when one kid likes the other kid's toys too?  Being a toddler is so tough, lol.

... quickly distract him with his other toys and books.

more games to add to the family collection

We also got some new games, Stratego and Risk ... can you sense a theme in Danny's gifts? haha.

This year for gifts amongst siblings, we decided to go with just small a/o homemade things as gifts, so I made some homemade "gourmet" popcorn (one was red and green, the other was chocolate peanut butter) and some mint chocolate pretzels.

We also got the boys some little board books of trucks and cars that had wheels on them, and they seemed like a hit.  Seth would point to each one and shout "truck!!" for every one.  so cute!

The kids also got a flannel board from my parents with lots of pictures from the scriptures.  I was surprised at how much Andrew enjoyed it, of course he'd stuff as many pieces on the board as he could and then drag it around to show everyone, but it's a start.

Christmas Eve

Danny and I spent nearly two weeks with my family in Allen for the Christmas break.  It was so fun and such a nice break from College Station and the stresses of moving and such.  We're so glad we got to see everyone.  My sister and her family visited for the whole time too, so it was lots of time with them and playing with the nephews.  We even got to celebrate Meghan's birthday (12/23) and Katsu's birthday (12/29) while there.

For Christmas Eve, Michael and Meghan came by and we had a dinner of all sorts of appetizers that you never really get to eat during the year but always sounded fun to eat.  We had bagel bites, mini quiches, mini pigs-in-a-blanket, boneless buffalo wings, and cheese and crackers trays.  For dessert, we had a cookie / dessert bar with all the standards like candy cane cookies, frosted sugar cookies, and nut cups, plus others we'd gotten from coworkers, neighbors and family.

Cookie time! :D

 

... notice the trend? without even realizing it, Amanda, Katsu and Mom all wore argyle sweaters, haha!

Andrew playing with grandpa before going to bed

Once the nephews were told they needed to go to bed so Santa could come, they went around giving everyone kisses (which meant sloppy wet licks on our knees since they couldn't reach any higher) and kept goofing off by "dancing", aka running around in circles, holding hands, as fast as they could.

... finally after one last dance carting the extremely excited boys to bed.

... and while it may have been Christmas Eve, Amanda did in fact finish Seth's cross-stitch stocking before Christmas this year.  I helped her sew a backing on the finished piece earlier that day.  It turned out really pretty, I wish I had her patience for such a meticulous craft.