Photos from Phones - December 2016 Round Up

December was a great month!  We crammed in a ton of holiday cheer (see previous posts if you don't believe me!) and there is still this whole ginormous post full of photos that didn't really fit anywhere else.  These monthly round-up posts have grown exponentially since I got my iphone a year and a half ago, and then again when we added Sammy photos to the mix.  I can't help it!  And I have a really hard time paring them down, so this is what we end up with.  But I take my job as memory keeper seriously around here.  And this is the result.  Anyway, without further ado, I give you our Blanchard Family December 2016 Round Up.

12.1.16
(it snowed!  and Sambo was NOT happy about it)

12.1.16

12.1.16
(the sled did not make things better, either)

12.1.16
(this little snowbunny loves to be outside, though)

12.1.16
(after all the sleeping in arms photos I took and
posted in the November round-up, I don't think
Sam slept in my arms a single time in December
(and if he did, I didn't take any photos of it). but
apparently I can't help but take a pic of him
sleeping wherever it happens to be)

12.2.16
(I captioned this one on insta with my favorite
page from Autum: An Alphabet Acrostic:
Stillness
Now
Over all the cold
White world)

12.2.16
(it was a chilly, frosty, gorgeous morning as we
left the house to drive to Big O Tires in Ogden
so we could get our leaky front tire fixed - which
we did. For free + an hour of waiting.  Hooray!)

12.3.16
(I was driving home from Logan where I had spent the day with my
family for my nephew Bradley's baby blessing and I came out of
Sardine Canyon to behold this magnificent sight.  I was solo and
took this while driving (ack!  I know!) because Cal was sick so
Gregg stayed home with both kiddos.)

12.5.16
(snack time. also note our attempt at keeping
Sam in the big room - the banana chair fence
worked for a little while at least)

12.6.16
(beater lickers are my most needed helpers)

12.6.16
(glazed orange cranberry bundt cake for the ward Christmas
party)

12.7.16
(finished up a little Christmas sewing - the blue one is for
niece Evelyn and the stripey one is for Sam)

12.11.16
(my friend Emily snapped this of Cal's first day
in Sunbeam practice - they had all the incoming
sumbeans join singing and sharing time for a few
weeks in December.  Cal was SO excited to
go to primary!)

12.12.16
(we do a LOT of coloring in our house these days)

12.12.16
(it's not always this peaceful - ha!)

12.14.16
(Grandma Elwood sent Callie some papers
folded and ready to make snowflakes.  Cal
wanted to color them and cut them, so that's what
we did.)

12.14.16
(and one more)

12.14.16
(Cal is really into "wrapping presents" - she even
went so far as to say that it really "got her in the holiday
spirit" (pretty sure she was quoting Corduroy's
Christmas Surprise there) - we find new treasures
wrapped in blankets and dish towels under the tree
daily)

12.16.06
(Ten  (10!!) years ago today I graduated from USU.  Crazier than
that? Ten years ago today my sisters were still babies!  (I, of course,
haven't changed a bit since I was 21. wink, wink)

12.16.06
(another throwback - I like this pic because I'm standing by the
building I spent quite a bit of time in, and as time and progress
on campus marches on, it is no longer standing)

12.19.16
(She's been 'writing' her name for a while now but
today we saw the most legible version yet.
All by herself. She lives and breathes coloring
and writing these days. "'Mom, I want
 to draw all the way till dinner!" (Said before lunch.))

12.19.16
(dinner before)

12.19.16
(dinner after. this sausage veggie sheet pan dinner was a
keeper for sure!)

bonus videos!

hide and seek with Sam

giggle goodness

12.20.16

(Gregg and Cal had a daddy-daughter

dinner and Christmas shopping date, which

left Sam and me home to have our own

"mom party")

12.22.16
(I think our "double stroller" days may be numbered.
But on the bright side, Cal and Sam stayed toasty
on our 25 degree daily strollin' this morn.)

12.23.16
(we went for a little Christmas Eve Eve
family "snow hike" at "our trailhead")

12.23.16
(Sam didn't want to hike on the snow)

12.23.16
(but dirt/cement was a-okay for him)

12.23.16

12.23.16
(first-try family selfie fail)

12.23.16
(there's a keeper)

12.23.16
(such a beautiful bluebird day)

12.23.16

12.23.16
(then we tried sledding in Middle Fork - this was
pre-first run, which also happened to be pre-
meltdown city.  so we left shortly after to feed
these hangry souls)

12.23.16
(I got this mug from my visiting teaching partner
Liz, but the handle had broken, so I wanted to show
her that I fixed it with a bit of super glue to the
rescue!)

circa sometime late 1986 I'm guessing?
(on Christmas Eve while the kids were napping or otherwise
entertained, I entertained myself with some family scrapbook
perusing.  I thought this was a fantastic Blanchard Family
photo, and I'm especially all heart-eyed for that cute little guy
in the center.  Isn't he the most darling little boy you've ever seen?!)

1984 or '85-ish??
(I can't get over how much Sam looks like Gregg
in this pic!!  Everyone always says Sam is an
Elwood, but I'm not so sure after seeing this
photo evidence suggesting otherwise!)

12.24.16
(we got home from the Blanchard Christmas
Eve bash and Cal immediately ran to her room
to set up her new gifts in their proper places.
Temple pic and sticker set from gma and gpa,
marker case from wihongis - all big hits for Miss
Callie June)

12.27.16
(Grandpa and Grandma Elwood and Ky and Meg came to visit
and play and Cal was just dying to try out her new science kit
with them)

12.27.16
(oh, how my scientist heart skips a beat when I
see this!)

12.27.16
(she even got a microscope!)

12.27.16
(Sam liked snacktime with Grandpa)

12.28.16
(he loves to brush his teeth and begs to do so
every morning by pushing on the bathroom
door (which is kept closed tight so he doesn't
get into things he shouldn't) and saying "deese!
deese!")

12.30.16
(today I'm thankful for blue skies and dry roads)

12.30.16
(we tried out Laurel's pro tip so we could keep
using our "double stroller" a little bit longer)

12.30.16
(notice Minnie stuffed in there, too? maybe it's
a triple!)

12.30.16

12.30.16

12.30.16
(oh how we all needed some daily strollin' this afternoon!
Outside does a body - and spirit - good. Even if it's below freezing.)

12.31.16
(Some days he wears his new apron to help me
in the kitchen. Other days it's a dino tail.  It's a little
tricky to maneuver, but he's getting the hang of it!)

Every other round up here:

2016: Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June