Nipped!

Our Milo loves his catnip, this is hours of fun for all ; ) 

 

 

 

 

 

Chillin' Tahoe Style

warm drinks, warm hearts

Majestic mountains of Tahoe

 Ba and Jay

 Chillaxin' at the Village

 Chris enjoying his Bloody Mary Meal;
with shrimp, olives, horseradish, green bean, celery, and it did not scrimp on spice either

While we were in Tahoe we were lucky enough to meet up with Jayden's friends; Stella and Alaya & their families.  It was nice to catch up for both kids and adults alike.  The kids were giddy to be with one another - there were lots of stories, jokes, and laughter (I guess the same as the adults, except we did less crawling around on our hands and knees - chasing one another).  It was so nice to see J.J. with his ol'buddies.  We miss everyone at YCIS (Jayden's former school).  It is endearing to know that he has made friends for life : )

 Alaya, Jayden, Adrien, and Stella:

Merry Christmas from the top of the World...

Feliz navidad from the slopes of Tahoe!

For the holidays our family decided to go to snow and so to Lake Tahoe we go!  

Well, no one told us that Jack Frost had apparently gone on vacation - there was no snow to be found in Lake Tahoe (unheard of - especially for late December).  At least the spring-like conditions made the usually treacherous drive very safe and enjoyable but grew our skepticism about our skiing holiday.  Plan B - a hiking Christmas holiday?  

Luckily, Northstar ski resort had heard our cries for a white Christmas and made enough man-made snow to fulfill our holiday plans.  It was great, normally Christmas gets very busy at Northstar but I guess the "no-snow" was a deterrent for many as we felt like we had the hill to ourselves.

 

Proof that my husband only has eyes (in this case - goggles) for me!

(This also highlights the shenanigans I have to pull to get myself in our "family pictures" - sad but true.  Being the photographer of the family seems to showcase Chris as "father of the year" and then myself as the "absentee mother".  Every once in a while I have to remind everyone of the woman behind the camera and the blog - "here I am!".)

My Stylish lil'Snow-Bunny:

Mental preparation for skiing a difficult run

On Christmas Day, J.J. was in ski school, so I had a date with my sweetie-pie husband.  It was great day, we spent a lot of quality time exploring the slopes together and even more quality time experiencing drinks at Zephyr Lodge ; ) 

I had a wonderful ski-date with my husby and Jayden had a fantastic time with his ski group.  How do we know that J.J. had a fun time?  Besides Jayden debriefing us at pickup - talking a mile a minute about his "totally awesome day", Chris and I took some time to spy on him and snap some pics and vids.  Click on the picture below to watch some video of J-Surveillance:

Hoping your Christmas was as fun as ours!

Dear Jayden...

Look what came in the post!

 A reply letter from Santa

 Post marked from the North Pole!

Signed by Mr.S himself

This letter was in response to Jayden's letter to Santa:

Holiday Greetings

Should I feel guilty that I've spent more time on working on our family holiday card than working on...well, work?  [Oh, I've used the word, "work" way too many times, it has lost all meaning to me now.]  Anyways, the answer is "no", I'm quite proud of how it turned out.  I had cut my cousin out of the picture (sorry cuzzy, didn't think you wanted to be included in the Marriott family holiday card) and I had to give Chris an arm.

 Here is the original pic...Jeff, it's a good pic, maybe I'll crop Angel in and you guys can send it out as your Christmas card ; )

Originally, we were going with something like this...true Marriott style but thought we should class it up a little more "cuz' we's classy like that!"

Anyways, wishing you all a hap, hap, happy holidays!  Love ya - peace out!

Dear Santa...

Happy December!  The countdown to Christmas has begun.  

Day one:  Open the first day of Jayden's Lego Advent Calender and perform the first Advent Activity (or Secret Santa Mission as we like to call it).

Today's mission  - Write a letter to Santa Claus:

Some great questions posed to Santa - wonder what he will answer?!

Jeff and Angel's Day

The day is finally here.   Today, my beloved cousin Jeff married his Angel.  

It was a joyous and momentous day.  

Arriving at the beautiful hotel Amankila Bali where the wedding was to be held, we were greeted by views of the mountains and infinity pools that flowed seamlessly into the ocean backdrop.  Yes, this is where I took our infamous family Christmas card picture - where I Photoshopped my dear cuzzy out.

From our vantage point, we spied the beautiful venue in the valley below and also the hundreds of steps that led to it, my stiletto-wearing self decided to opt for the glorified golf cart transport instead.  The road down was long, narrow, and winding - reminiscent of Lombard Street in San Francisco.  Just as we were rounding the last corner, the beautifully orchestrated grounds were revealed to us.  It was a sea of white - white canopies surrounding the pool, white linen draped tables, white patio lanterns suspended by tall rods of bamboo, crisp white fabric slung between the palm trees in the wedding area - adorned by white flower petals.  It was absolutely magical.  What a perfect setting for a perfect day.       

 

 

Jeff and Angels' Picture Tree:

 (Picture of the boys at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics)

 

   

As you can see, the Breathtaking views and gorgeous backdrop was rivaled only by the beautiful bride and her handsome groom. 

At sunset, the entire lawn and hillside was illuminated by the soft glow of lanterns - so romantic.

We walked down to the beach and watched a tribal dance.  There was a lot of chanting and trance; it was a very powerful performance.

Now to what we were all looking forward to (besides the beautiful exchange of nuptials...) - dinner!

Ooooh, la la

 Food was absolutely delicious and accented perfectly by the wine and champagne (and so it begins...)

Speeches and toasts:

 

Great heartfelt speech - I'll drink to that (again and again...)

Cake cutting after much toasting...

This is Angel trying to get a sentimental word edgewise, while my cuzzy steals the spotlight bringing his  best "Blue Steel" (a pose from the movie, "Zoolander", where you have to pucker your lips, suck in your cheeks, and squint your eyes as if a strong wind or sand is blowing at you).

Nailed it!

(Angel is such a good sport)

First dance as husband and wife:

Gettin' the party started...

Girls were coming up left and right to take pics with Jayden.  

Lucky boy, this girl asked for a kiss 

(and her boyfriend followed with high-fives and to asked him to share his secret with the ladies) 

 Johnny Magic doing his thing...

The rest of the night was a crazy fun blur.  Judging by the condition I was in the next day, I had a blast at Angel and Jeff's wedding.  Unfortunately, all that fun the night before made me miss the "farewell brunch" and saying good bye to my family : (  Shame, shame, shame.  Jeff - I hope you know that I did it for you!  The rest family may have turned in early but I was representin' for us all!  I know, I know,  you must be thinking, "oh, you shouldn't have" - you're welcome : )  

Special shout out to my home girl, Carmen - thanks for taking care of this ol' gal and making sure I got home safely.  You rock!

Here are some random pictures of the family:

My wonderful family

 My Auntie Grace, Auntie Ruth, and Uncle Peter

Me and Uncle Jerry and Auntie Lanna

Just wanted to thank Jeff and Angel for sharing their special day with us.  We love you guys so much - the wedding was beautiful and we had so much fun (maybe too much for some of us - but no regrets)!