It's Hard to Recover from a Wild New Years

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Just ask Drew.

He pulled an all-nighter at Aunt Janet's house watching "Saved By The Bell: The College Years" (isn't there SOMETHING better on TV between 2-7am?!) and texting his friend Jack who made a pact to stay awake allll night.

My dad came down at 8am to make coffee and Drew was watching bowl games and said "Hey Uncle John! This team is killing 14 to 7!" Then he crashed at approx 9:00am when everyone was ready for John's famous breakfast and slept most of the day.

Oh Drew ;)

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT MIMI!!

The New Year's Eve Babies are 23

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Last night we threw Emmy and John's big 23rd birthday bash at Bistro Vida in Menlo. They were born on New Year's Eve 1986 and "the twins" have been so loved by all of us since then. We had a big dinner party with family style plates and great toasts to the twins. Everyone stayed over at Jannie's last night too. We love you Emmy and John!

the first guests to arrive

the tables at Vida decked out









Toasts to the twins!






then back to Jannie's to ring in the New Year!

The Jannie's (in not-planned matching outfits!!) Christian's Mom is a "Jan" too, and a big Emmy fan as we all are :) She and my mom have a lot in common and used to run into each other Saturdays at estate sales. Besides both being named Jan they: married Johns, had first daughters born on April 5th (Christian and I!), both are ex-flight attendents, collected the same random antique items. Plus their last name is Brennan and my sister's middle name is Brennan AND Heff and I were enaged on Jan's birthday and got married on Christian's dad's birthday- destined to be BFF's :)

Christian and I by the tree Jannie says I "tricked out" with pink sparkly streamers for the New Year festivities- she didn't like it as much as I did


Happy "DREW" Year! (taking over the bow tie wearing role for Mr Jerry Christmas :)





I think Heff looks cute with a beard! (My sister said she liked it to and asked "what did he just not shave for like 36 hours?"... pretty close- only about three days!)

I guess Maisie is not as much a fan of the beard... who you calling a Loser Maise?

The Craig Heff's came down to spend a couple night with us before making the trek back to LA... we love having them here!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMY AND JOHN!!!

The Rest of The Bluff

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We had a few more days to hang out in Red Bluff with the whole crowd before heading home for New Years Eve. We kept busy around the house and even ventured out! It was really a treat to have almost everyone there for so many days of family and fun.

Oma and her brood of 8 ("Wait I where's Thomas?"... uh, in your right arm :)

Nana and her 3

Heffernans in red, Cahills in green

Pops getting attacked by wild monkeys in striped PJs

Maisie loves the new train table

Uncle Mark reading stories

the parasols from Uncle John and Aunt Barbara were a big hit

It was "Take-Your-In-Laws-To-Work-Day" Wednesday and we ALL drove out to Cottonwood to the Auction Yard to see Uncle Donald in action.

and had another night at home with all 11 kids under one roof

and the kids did a Christmas Show for everyone from the balcony (can you tell which one of these sets of legs is the in-potty-training one? :)

River Hike

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"Christmas" morning after presents we all piled in the big rigs and drove down to the river for a hike. It was chilly and about to rain but made for fun in the mud for the kids and an adventure for everyone :)

The Jelly's Ferry Bridge

Setting out


Mark, Sarah and Clara Marie

Mary and Heff :)

Patrick Moby wrapped up on Maureen

Potty break (first time peeing outside- her Dad was so proud)

Big girls

Snuggled up

Thanks for suggesting the girls carry the giant stick the whole walk Uncle Mark

Oma and Isabel bringing up the rear

cousins on a log
add the babies with their Daddy's (the three brothers!)

Heff and his woodsman babies

Ellie and Maggie

Uncle Cake

Uncle Mark and Clara

Uncle Bri-nan

Almost the whole Famn Damily

Craid, Andrea and Thomas

Aunt Sarah

walking back


It took Isabel a few shots to warm up to a smily photo with her mom


I'm so lucky I married in to such a fun family :)

Time for Presents

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The next morning we let the kids loose to open presents from each other and their Oma and Opa. Oma found them all Monkees which were a huge hit. Then the wrapping paper started flying...

and Ellie, Kate and Maureen made these ADORABLE handmade dolls for each little girl and each one came with a cool cigar box home. Ellie handsewed the hair and they all painted the faces on and accessorized them. SO CUTE!

Uncle Mark put Clara's busy box on his head


and Band Hero arrived (thanks Amazon Prime) for the big kids

Christmas/Birthday Dinner Affair

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We made December 28 our official Heffernan Christmas Dinner which also falls on the birthday of the twins- Claire and Cathleen. Everyone pitched in for an International themed dinner and the house was filled with smells of curry, flour and Hungary :) We opened the adult presents that night and decided we have reached a new level of chaos with so many people and little kids in the house!






















and Patrick, well... Patrick NEEDED a bath. He loves tiolets. He found a toilet WITH a surprise in it. Stirred the pot (pun intended) and splashed it all over. He got a bath- but he pooped in the bath too. He got another bath. Now he's all clean :)

Francie was the last kid standing and pulled out the waffle iron when we weren't looking. Almost woke the whole house up dropping it on the floor and we had to convince her to wait for morning for Oma's famous waffles. The moms and dads did karaoke on the PS2 all night but I'll spare you those photos :)

Four Wheeling Babies

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Heff and his baby girls ready to play outside

I love these 4-wheeler pictures! Heff has a new profile pic...

like this old one from when Francie was a baby!

new pink jackets from Jannie

Teaching the tom-boys how to drive a 4-wheeler

Somebody loves the ride with Dad

make that TWO somebodies

can't even see the babies on the buggie

I ventured outside. Shoes off and time to go hibernate back inside

Christmas Continues in Red Bluff

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Christmas in Red Bluff starts December 26 and everyone piles in to the Heffernan's for lots of food, fun and cozying up inside. I didn't leave the house for the first two and a half days and when I did it was only to go down to the barn :) my favorite kind of relaxing. The cousins are having a ball- 11 kids under 7 this year! Pretty soon we may have to adopt some ideas from the Duggars with 19 Kids and Counting in one house.

They put on a show singing a few songs as the self proclaimed "Bunkhouse Club"

and did lots and lots of "projects"

in matching striped pants thanks to the Target clearance rack

Oma's house looks very festive and the dinners are soo tasty

The bathtub gets a little tighter every year...

Maisie even joined in... but wasn't all that happy about it

ice cream for dessert after the bath (parents weren't thinking on that one)

cozyed up in PJ's after their bath for a slumber party

Merry Christmas Eve!

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Christmas Eve is the big night in our family to celebrate Christmas with aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings. We went to the 4:00pm children's mass at Nativity with a cute little pageant then picked up our presents at home and headed to Jannie and Grampa's house for cracked crab dinner, swaps and lots of Christmas merriment.

Faces of Family... say it all this year :)

















Francie did a few "shows" for whoever would listen

the "kids" ran upstairs to hide when Santa came after dinner while he left the presents

Maisie's face gives away her feelings about getting carseat for Christmas

Jannie pulled through and gave her an Elmo too

We had three swaps this year- Go Green for adults, Board Games for kids and Kaky's Favorite were the themes this year

Emmy brought back James's swap entry for "memorable" from a few years ago- Mary's 5th grade birthday party, still made fun of to this day... The Frontier Pioneer Party in a Box!

thanks guys

For "Go Green" Mimi picked dry-fit underwear you can wear for two weeks straight :)

and my Dad got a carbon credit... "what the hell is this bull***t?"

Kaky's Favorite gifts from everyone who loved her to each other

Night at the St. Francis

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December 23 we met everybody at the St Francis hotel on Union Square in SF for our annual overnight with my moms siblings and all the cousins. We really missed Kaky this year- last year at this same dinner/overnight was the last night she was so much herself- laughing and taosting and asking us all what was new in our life. The next day she fell and ended up in the hospital- none of us would have guessed her lively, beautiful spirit that night last year would be gone three short months later. We miss you Kaky but we know you were there watching over us all!

ABA and Maisie- we wish ABA lived here! It's so much fun when she is home, but we know she loves Nashville and Pat (who is from Nashville) so we'll just settle for visits home and hopefully a visit out to Nashville sometime soon. Pat came to SF this year to celebrate Christmas with us too!

The Heff's ready to head out for drinks and dinner with the crowd

getting crowded

Uncle Jerry hosted us all in his room for cocktail hour

Uncle Jerry's bar- complete with champagne bottles chilling in the garbage and recycle bins

Cousins

Jannie didn't get the memo it was supposed to be a cousin-generation only picture :)

Ella and Francie

funny face

The College Age Cousins (minus Johners) Emmy~ SJSU, Connor- got in early to Georgetown and BC! and Claire~ soph at Boston College

The OUT-laws!

James, Ann and Em

Francie, Claire and Connor

more cousin love

Connor, John, Baby Ann and Allison

Then we all walk a few blocks for dinner at Sam's... table for 25

piled in the big booth

Ann and Awoo

Claire and Emmy

Maisie chewed on broccoli all night and got passed around

James and Em

godparents (who take their role very seriously :)

Johnners with Maisie

boys

bundled up walking back

Em and Maisie

Girls shopping at Macy's after dinner- open til midnight!

Connor with the girls

and throw Drew in there

Christmas in The City

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December 22 we packed up to head to San Francisco to indulge a little in our little family tradition (followed by our BIG extended family tradition the second night). Heff and I have been going for a pre-christmas overnight at the Ritz-Carlton since we first met. We stay in, eat, drink and relax. Used to be a tad more relaxing playing scrabble and drinking champagne as newly engaged couple- but the girls make it fun and we even got them both down in time to watch a MOVIE (Heff and I have seen 2 other movies together in 4+ years... Juno, Knocked Up and this time The Hangover- hilar :) It was a fun night in the city!

despite Maisie being mauled by her sister :)

fun in a box- somehow we got upgraded to a suite and Francie was thrilled with her own "bed" (ok, it was a couch but don't tell her) AND her own bathroom! Perfect for our half-hearted attempt at potty training the last month or so (see diaper below) She is good at home but I'm a little too lazy to venture out and have to rush to find bathrooms just yet.

We took the girls swimming and hot tubbing in the basement (well- Dad swam, I hot tubbed)

Maisie is always watching her big sister

one of many sets of matching Christmas PJ's... gotta get the wears in now!

Daddy and Maisie snacking

Mom and the girls

"warm chocolate" and marshmallows for Francie

running BACK to the pool (tires them out for a good long nap :)

"Stop Mom! I have some pride unlike my sister!"

Heading out for some Christmas shopping!

and off to the next spot in our 10 days of Christmas craziness...