(Also, if you're not reading Alicia's blog, you should be. She's very funny. And I don't think she'd mind your creeping.)Like I said, I'm heading to Utah tomorrow to help celebrate the wedding of my sister-cousin Rachel. (Weddings, weddings, weddings! Welcome to my life.) Before another smorgashboard of photos begins, I must get CHristmas out of the way. (Of note, I still have Mexico City to post as well, but I must not get overwhelmed. Must. Not. Get. Over. Whelmed.)
Christmas! It was awesome. Two weeks out of Boston. One week in Portland (no photos), five days in Phoenix, three days in Mexico. And now the photos with minimal explanation. (This post is for all of you -- those who read every word, those who skim, and those who look for pictures. Every. One. Wins.)
And in no particular order:
Three of us flew into Arizona Christmas Eve morning. Sisters' Christmas Eve lunch at where else but COSTA VIDA! (Note to self: Costa Vida probably deserves its own label.) This should become an annual tradition BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ONE THING I LOVE MORE THAN MY SISTERS (and caps lock) AND IT'S COSTA VIDA.
We laugh that our family vacations are like the Family Channel: All Family, All the Time. We're lucky my G-parents have a spare few rooms for us to crash in.
Once we got to Mexico, I'm one of the very few people who don't love leaving the compound. This is the one day I left to hit "Rodeo Drive" to scout out the wares. Mallory and I bought the sweetest BFF rings.
Ope, back to Christmas. Look, we got aprons!
The G-parents hire cooks to come into the Mexican compound to cook (O.M.G. Best. Food. In. The. World.). Our last night in town however, we hit a local stand. This is one of my favorite photos from the holiday.
Please note my Gramp playing Rock Band.
This is what most nights in Mexico looked like -- our extended family sitting around chit chatting. We introduced two new boys to our family this holiday (Alaina and Rachel's betrothed) -- Brad and Chad. This of course led to many funny quotes and questions (from my cousin's daughter Ashlyn, "Why do they have the same name?") and our decision to title our generations NBR's (non-blood-relatives) "The Ad Boys." (Since they're mostly boys and apparently they mostly end in -ad.)
I basically lived in that chair. And got sunburned one day!
Who wouldn't want to go here? And guess who stares at this every day on their work desktop background? My immediate family stayed in the house whose porch this photo is taken from (we've outgrown the single compound!).
At night, we sat around drinking pure-cane-sugared soda (long live Vita!) and laughing. Or watching Kendall and Josh buffalo kiss, crazy synchronized ball-on-elastic dancing, reading, eating, and basically enjoying each other's company.
I've explained a million times before, but we're double cousins. Our dads are brothers and our moms are sisters. We look equally different and equally the same of each other.
And there's the happy August couple.
Mallory's coming to Boston in May to run the Half marathon with me. Wahooooooo!
And there we are.
Look! Now there are six of us! (Oh yah, my sister Alaina eloped three days after this trip. Huzzah!) I'm sure we'll take too many foursies photos, but these boys are starting to creep into our lives...
Yes, I already posted this photo, but I love it. And it's already hanging in my room.
Christmas Eve! Our family has the CRAZY FACTOR ability to never mismatch. It's virtually impossible. It's actually one of my favorite things to watch for. WE CAN'T MISMATCH.
Oh yah, and I have a niece. (Am I bad aunt for not posting a hundred thousand pictures of her? Umm. No. And? You're welcome.) This is Adrie, DRINKING FROM A CUP FROM COSTA VIDA. WE TRAIN THEM UP EARLY.
So there you have it! Christmas 2009! I hope everyone's was as grand as mine. How many days until Christmas 2010? (Lucky for me! My entire family is gathering again this weekend. We can only be apart 2 weeks apparently.)((ALso, of note: blogging during American Idol auditions is a brilliant double-duty activity. It's true, January is pretty lame -- but I have a special place in my heart for Idol. Don't hate.)))
6 comments:
I loved it. Thanks for the picture recap. I love family!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I feel sufficiently caught up with a very fulfilling Nat-recap.
Now, if you wouldn't mind planning to do something else, and then telling us all about that too, I'd appreciate it.
The end.
I give Adrie the award for best face in every picture she's in. Seriously, never seen a kid communicate that you're wasting their time as much as she does in these. :)
I, for one, have noticed your inability to mismatch, have been equally in awe and jealous of it, and want the talent.
Natalie, YOU have a great way with words and pictures. Loved reading and seeing your recap! XOX Aunt Cheri
Can we go back?
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