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Happy Easter! The Northcutts celebrated another Easter in style this year, dressing to the 9′s and turning heads from RSM to posh Newport Beach.

Among our key accomplishments this year were getting the entire family dressed and ready for church in time for the 8 AM service. New records were set that may stand for a generation or more. Following a great service at Shepherd of the Hills UMC in Mission Viejo we headed to Newport Beach for a fantastic brunch at Roy’s.

Read more on It’s A Fancy Easter…

We had an unusually warm day in January so we took the opportunity to visit the beach!

We started with a visit to Gary’s Deli in Corona Del Mar. We’ve been coming here since just before Emma was born, though the time between visits has increased. It had been at least a year since we ate at Gary’s this trip but the owner behind the register still remembered us and had our usual order punched in without us even asking. That’s service!

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You’ve never seen happier children than Emma and Henry at Christmas this year. Emma, in particular, was thrilled as she received a new baby doll, replacing one that she’d inexplicably lost while playing in our yard.

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Marla used to have caroling parties when she was in high school so when we got an invite from a friend to go this year with the kids, she jumped at the chance to introduce Emma and Henry.

We stayed home this year for Thanksgiving. It was a bit smaller than I’m used to from childhood (no “kids table” filled with cousins) but it was nice not having to travel.
Our menu was excellent, as usual.

The weekend before Halloween I agreed to help Emma and Henry carve their pumpkins. Whatever face they drew on the pumpkin I would do my best to carve. Emma, as you might guess, drew a pug. I created a cute little smiley pumpkin face for Cora. Henry? Well, he scribbled all over the front of his pumpkin but I dutifully tried to carve it.

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Emma’s always looking for an excuse to “dress fancy,” so while Grandma and Grandpa Mandel were visiting us in October we had Cora’s baby naming. Emma and Henry were little angels and behaved the whole way through the service. (See photos from Henry’s naming here.)

Read more on That’s My Name…

Children pick up your bad habits quickly. I’m glad they also seem to pick up the good ones. Emma and Henry ran their first “race” this 4th of July after I finished the Freedom Run 10K in Ladera Ranch.

Emma is getting to the age where we just can’t hide Easter eggs well enough. She blazed through the yard intent on her mission of beating Henry and finding as many eggs as possible. Poor Henry was no match.

We tried hard this year to have a very small-scale Christmas. Henry and Emma, who have no shortage of “stuff” already, don’t necessarily need a whole bunch more so we limited our gift giving and tried to focus a bit more on the “spirit” than the “stuff.”