Tag: New Years

Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year from the Whartons! Wow, I cannot believe its 2014 already. Where has the time gone? Soon Ellie will be 4 and … *gulp*… Abby will be 6. Abby will start Kindergarten in the Fall and I will be an emotional mess. Just kidding. I’m sure I will be fine but dealing with the change can be hard sometimes. So much in store for the new year. 
This year we decided to celebrate the way we did the first time we lived in Seattle, food and then Alki Beach to watch the fireworks over the city. We stopped at one of our favorite burger places, Teddy’s for some yummy treats then afterward we headed on our way to ring in the New Year.
All would have been perfect for us, but unfortunately at around 11pm a heavy fog started to roll in. By the time it hit midnight, all we could see were dull flashes of light across the sound from what we assumed were the fireworks. Oh well, we still had fun and the girls had a blast. Plenty of people were setting off their own smaller displays along the beach and that was the world to the two of them.
Enjoying some Teddy’s. By the look of it, these two might not make it to midnight.
The huge fog bank that rolled in at about 11pm. Hmmm….
Space Needle… What Space Needle? All I can see is fog and the lights along the water.
Waiting so patiently for the fireworks.
Happy New Year!!! The fog was so thick that my camera continued to focus on the spots of moisture in the air and not my kids!
This is what we should have seen from Alki Beach!

We spent the rest of the New Year hanging out at home, watching movies and then taking a drive. We drove to Edmonds to our favorite beach and watched the ferries arrive and depart. It was so relaxing and well deserved. The girls played in the sand, threw rocks into the water and just played. While it was still a somewhat cloudy day, the rain stayed away and gave everyone the chance to get out. Its a great start to the new year!

Ferry Lights
Watching the ferries roll in.

Celebrating the New Year

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New Years Eve
New Years Eve was another quiet and relaxing day. Shaun and I slept in as best we could, although the girls pretty much keep to a schedule which means being up by 7 (even in another time zone). We did some more shopping and outings around town. In the evening we picked up our traditional Chinese food dinner and enjoyed every bite of it. After dinner we played games with the girls, had long conversations and passed the time until we rang in the New Year. Almost all of us made it to midnight, except Ellie. She was the smart one and passed out cold on cozy blankets in front of the fire.
We hope that everyone had a safe and fun New Year. We hope that 2013 brings happiness, prosperity and wonderful things for you and your family. Enjoy the year and don’t let it slip by too fast! I know we plan to try and make it last for as long as we can.
Happy New Year from dream land!
Happy New Year from Abby! Dont worry, its only Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider in her cup
Auntie Jillian enjoys a bit of the bubbly to ring in the New Year.

New Years Day

New Years Day was once again full of tradition. We slept in a bit and then headed back over to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for our traditional Eggs Benedict brunch. We were lucky the weather was beautiful too. This allowed for Aunt Diane, Uncle Barry and Grandma Prueter to come over and join us for brunch. As always, brunch was wonderful and I was amazed to watch Ellie, my picky eater, shovel down nearly two helpings of poached eggs, ham, olives and English muffin. Kudos to you Grandpa Jerry!

After brunch we sat down for another belated Christmas and opened presents from Grandpa Prueter and the gang. The girls loved their presents! They each received a tie-dyed stuffed moose and new pillow cases and a doll that keeps the monsters out from under the bed. However, in true child fashion, the hit of the day were their cards from Diane and Barry. Nothing beats a card that sings and dances! I think those will be hidden in a box on the way home.

A little snuggle time before having some yummy food.
Opening presents with Great Grandma Laura. Sorry about the game on TV Shaun.  Just pretend the score isn’t visible.
Great Grandma Laura opening up her present from the girls.
Ellie really loves her moose!
Their Christmas cards were the hit of the day… As you can tell.
Opening presents with Auntie Diane.
When all was said and done, Abby was back to her “Reader Book”

The remainder of the day was occupied with family and football. We enjoyed one anothers company and spent time catching up. Once again it was a simple day but it was nice to do simple things with family. I know we were sad to see Barry, Diane and Grandma leave but the good news is that we will be having dinner with them in just a few days! Better yet, my awesome cousin Mike and his fiance’ will be there too! So much to look forward to.

Christmas Vacation in Montana…. Happy New Year and Happy 18 Months to Ellie!

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Happy New Year! Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012! The girls both made it to midnight and rang in the New Year with all of us. I cant believe it, but then again these girls would stay up all night if they could. They are experts at the “do anything you can to stay awake” tactic. Also, not only is it the start to a new year but a milestone for Ellie. Once we hit midnight Ellie turns 18 months! She is now only six months away from turning two! Like I have said before, where does all the time go? Happy 18 months to you Ellie!

After we celebrated the passing of the old and bringing in the new, we packed up the girls into the car and headed back to the condo. We ended up taking a drive around town in order to get them to fall asleep and that was quite the adventure. Main Street and the Downtown area of Bozeman was crawling with party-goers and plenty of guys and girls who needed a few extra hands to help them home. Oh how I do not miss those days…then again, I don’t think I ever celebrated like that on New Year’s Eve.





In the morning we gathered together with Great Aunt Diane, Uncle Barry and Great Grandma Prueter for our traditional Eggs Benedict Brunch. We were missing two other important people from this lovely tradition, one we have done since I was old enough to remember it, but I ate some Eggs Benedict in their honor. Missed you David and Mike!




The remainder of the day we visited with family, watched some hockey and football and relaxed (something that vacation is all about). The girls have grown a lot since our last visit, so we decided to take another picture with the four generations of Prueter family girls. Its amazing to have these photos. I feel blessed that my girls have had the chance to meet and get to know their Great Grandmas.

Shaun and I left that evening and the girls stayed behind with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Jillian. We had decided that during our time in Montana we would take a few days for the two us and give the girls some one on one time with their Aunt and Grandparents. We didnt know exactly what we wanted to do but we were excited to have some time alone.

Christmas In Montana Part Four

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Happy New Year Everyone!

Well the New Year began yesterday, but I still had to say it! For the New Year my Aunt Diane, Uncle Barry and Grandma Prueter (Great Grandma Prueter to the girls) came over from Anaconda to enjoy a family tradition, Eggs Benedict. Eggs Benedict on New Years Day has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. Its been a few years since I have had the chance to be a part of this tradition, so I enjoyed it immensely and probably had more then I should have.

The rest of our day was spent visiting with family and enjoying each others company. I was so excited that we were there and my Grandma Prueter had the chance to meet her second great grandchild. Something I hope my Grandma Taylor will get the chance to do as well before she is in college. 🙂 At this point I knew our time in Montana was ticking away quickly, but I was trying very hard not to think about it. Instead my plan was to suck up every moment I possibly could.






Grandma Prueter, Aunt Diane and Uncle Barry had to leave in the early afternoon to ensure they would be home in good weather conditions. Abby was happy to spend time upstairs with her Auntie Jillian, watching movies and napping on the big air mattress Auntie had put up. Abby loves the air mattress. When Jillian came out to California with my parents to help me out just after Ellie’s birth, she stayed in our office on an air mattress. Abby loved playing on that mattress so Jillian, being the cool Aunt that she is, put their mattress up for Abby to play and nap on. At this point I am thinking that packing the toys that I did was a complete waste of time and space. Between the air mattress and Grandma’s holiday place mats, Abby was happy and content.

Today was our last full day in Bozeman. Even though I tried not to think about it, I did. Leaving my parents and sister is always a hard thing to do and sometimes putting it out of my head just isn’t possible. I did, however, enjoy the time we did have. After spending some time over at the house we all decided to take a drive. I wanted to enjoy one last treat before heading home; a cinnamon roll from Wheat Montana. The best ever! We decided to take a longer drive to get their, following my parents. We took frontage roads, driving along the Gallatin River. We stopped at one point to that the frigid weather had created an ice jam where the river had become frozen over. It was pretty impressive to see, especially since the water had backed up and flooded quite a bit only to freeze over on its own. The other nice thing about stopping to see this jam was the sunset. It was spectacular that night. Very appropriate for our last night in Montana.



After our lovely drive, we finally came to Wheat Montana where we enjoyed a very yummy snack. I was good though and shared the cinnamon roll with my mom. Abby was completely taken by all of the honey containers being sold in their gift shop. They were the typical homey containers shaped like bears. She was very sad that mommy and daddy wouldn’t buy one, even though we already have one at home.

After our stop, we hit the road and headed back to my parents house. After what was a lovely dinner and a movie we packed up and headed to the hotel. We will head back in the morning to get all of our items that we left at the house and say goodbye before hitting the road. Abby will also have the chance to play in the snow like she has wanted to do since we arrived. Tomorrow should be a great deal warmer and much more conducive for playing in the snow.

Christmas In Montana Part Three

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After what was an extremely restful night of sleep, we woke up to frigid temperatures but very blue skies. It was one of those mornings that was just a tad deceiving. The clear blue sky and sun shining down made it look like it was warm, but when we stepped out of the hotel room… it was far from it. The temperature in Gardiner that morning was around -3 degrees and we knew that climbing into the park it wouldn’t be any warmer.

After packing up the car and having a lovely breakfast, we decided to take one last drive through the park before heading back to my parents house. I was sad to go but very excited to see the girls again. The morning was perfect and as we made the turn back towards the gate a large group of cow bison and their yearlings started to make their way from a small field outside of the gate through the historical arch. I think the only thing that defines Yellowstone more then this, is a bison standing in front of Old Faithful as it erupts. Needless to say, it was picture perfect.


On the drive up to Mammoth it was apparent that it had snowed again the night before. The roads were snow packed but it didn’t seem as icy as it had been the day before. Mammoth looked gorgeous in the morning sun. The steam from the thermal areas could be seen from Gardiner. After stopping a brief moment for some pictures we continued on back out to Lamar Valley in search of wolves and to enjoy Yellowstone in Winter.


The drive to Lamar was quiet in regards to animals, mostly bison off in the distance and people stopped along the roadsides waiting for the wolves to appear. Aside from the crazy drivers rushing to and from Cook City, the roads were deserted which allowed us to stop and casually take pictures. Sometimes this meant stopping in the middle of the road, which generally is frowned upon during the peak season in the park.


As we turned off at the junction and headed out to Lamar we noticed a large group of people stopped at the Slough Creek campground entrance. Now, generally you see people stopped like this all of the time and they have spotting scopes set up but nothing is going on. This time people were intently watching something off in the distance along one of the many open areas of the mountain sides. One of the men offered us a look through the spotting scope he had set up. We could see a pack of about six to seven wolves playing and casually eying a small heard of bull elk. While it didnt look like it the pack was on the hunt and playing it cool, trying to lull the bull elk into a sense of false comfort. Because someone was so kind to let us watch through his scope we had to step away and move on.

We drove out to Lamar but once again did not see anything aside from your usual bison, elk and deer. We turned around at our usual spot and headed back to Mammoth. On the way back we were greeted with a large bull bison once again using the road to travel to his next location. This guy let us pass by slowly without a care in the world. As we passed by the Slough Creek area again, people still had their eyes trained on the mountainside. We did not stop but we could see things from where we were. It looked as though the wolf pack was now chasing and attempting to disrupt the bull elk. From what we could tell, the elk were able to seek refuge amoungst the lodge pole pine. I have seen a lot is Yellowstone and been only a few 100 yards from my favorite animal in the world, so the next thing I would love to see is a wolf pack take down their intended prey. I know to many that sounds odd and maybe a little demented to some, but the pack mentality and the ability to watch several wolves who are only about 180 pounds each take down a bison or bull elk who are 3 times their weight or more, fascinates me. I felt like we were close to seeing that, but unfortunately that was not the case.



Our drive back to Mammoth was once again a quiet one but I enjoyed it immensely. The sun was shining and even though the high for the day was -11 degrees, it was a gorgeous day. One last stop in Mammoth near the terraces had me intrigued by an elk cow who was busy eating. It was so cold that you could see her breath everytime she exhaled. The sun behind her lit everything up… the perfect photo opportunity.


After that last moment it was time to leave. Shaun and I hit the road and headed back to Bozeman. I hated to leave but I know I will be back to Yellowstone soon. Now we had the chance to get back to my parents house and see the girls who I missed dearly. It was also New Years Eve, so I wanted to be home in time to enjoy the evening and ring in the New Year with family as well.

When we got back to the house, Abby and Ellie were very happy to see us. That feeling was extremely mutual. Nothing beats seeing that little face of Abby’s light up as we walk through the door and then of course our hearts melt as she screams “Mommy! Daddy!”. Ellie was also very happy; bouncing around in Grandpa Taylor’s arms when she saw us. It melts my heart to know that she recognizes us.

To celebrate the New Year, we had our usual Chinese Food and then hung around talking, playing games and watching movies that Abby picked out. Surprisingly, the girls stayed up long enough to ring in the New Year. It wasn’t pretty though. The picture to prove it is posted below.



Despite the near meltdown that occurred when mommy asked for a family picture, the night was great. Yet another wonderful memory for the books. Happy New Year everyone! Here is to a great 2011!

Happy New Year!!

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Happy New Year Everyone!! Welcome to 2009! I hope that this year brings love, prosperity and good health. I know I havent posted in a while, but life has been super busy, especially over the holidays. I promise to update you shortly about everything that has happened since our last post! More pictures and updates to come your way very soon! Take care everyone and HELLO 2009!