Christmas Card

A first for us, we have a Christmas Card.  Merry Christmas and Happy 2013!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

After enjoying the Christmas festivities in NYC with the Todds, J was inspired to add more Christmas spirit in our house.

D wanted to surprise J before she returned, so he bought some lights and 

decorated our balcony.  Isn't that sweet?  It's hard to tell, but the lights are along the railings. :)

Before and After pictures of our Christmas Miracle 'Grow'.  It's nothing like the 

Todds, but it's a start.  We'll just have to start a little sooner next year.

 It's a Dernick family tradition to see the christmas lights in River Oaks every year.  

The people in River Oaks take their christmas decorations very seriously!  

We also ventured out to the Tanglewood area one evening to see some 'interesting' decor. 

Girls Trip to NYC

Lilian and J have visited the Todds in NYC every year since they moved up there in 2006.  This year was no different.  We took another Kong girls trip to NYC to experience another cold Christmas in NYC. Unfortunately, D couldn't join us because he had to work.  We had no plans to do anything touristy, just to hang out with the Todds.  It was so fun to catch up with good friends and spend time with their beautiful children.

First stop, the 9/11 memorial.  We grew up in Flushing, Queens and used to visit the twin towers all the time.  It was always part of our NYC tour when we had visitors.  So, this memorial was something we really wanted to see.  It's amazing how much things have changed, and how peaceful that area is.

After our one sightseeing trip for the day, we're off to buy a real christmas tree in NYC!  It's definitely a an interesting activity to buy a real live tree in the city with a push cart as our only mode of transportation.  Luckily, the tree farm was just two blocks away.  

The next day, we all helped decorate the tree.  It was fun to see all the fun ornaments they've collected via their international trips and from Ryan's childhood.

We didn't get enough Christmas tree action at the Todds and decided to go see the real big tree at Rockefeller.  It probably wasn't the smartest idea to visit such a popular tourist attraction on the weekend, especially 3 weeks before Christmas.  There were too many people and too many ways to get separated from our group.  Nonetheless, we survived and won't make the same mistake again.

Funny story:  Lynda really wanted to take a group picture of everyone in front of Radio City.  Unfortunately, the kids were tired and not in the mood for pictures anymore.  After a few attempts, the best picture we got was of Brandon and Ryan looking at the camera, but the rest of us looking elsewhere.  Oh well, it just wasn't meant to be.

 A few pictures of us hanging out with the kiddos on Sunday.  Seriously, they are the cutest children!

 Strolling in Central Park, Seeing the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and Playing with the kids.

 Last night with the Todds.  Lilian is a pro at bedtime stories!

Andrea Bocelli Groupies

We couldn't miss the opportunity to hear Andrea Bocelli live in concert.  Although we had nosebleed seats, we still had a great time at this amazing concert.

Turkey Day

We spent Thanksgiving with the Dernick Family this year.  The Hardys were in town too, so there wasn't a dull moment with three kiddos around.

While everyone is busy preparing for our Thanksgiving feast, D and Grandma helped watch the kids.  The boys enjoyed some time outside racing remote controlled cars, while Elle enjoyed snuggling with GiGi. 

Rawson found lots of acorns and decided to help open some for the squirrels.  He also found flowers for the ladies... what a gentleman!

Grandma D is a big NFL fan.  We found her catching up on the game before dinner.  She's a true fan!

We also had our annual family photo shoot for the Dernick Family Christmas cards. 

F1 Austin Weekend

This weekend was a long awaited weekend for the Dernick household - Formula 1 finally returning to the US after a 5 year hiatus.  Dan worked really hard to organize this weekend for his family, starting from the day the Austin race dates were announced, literally!  It was all worth it, as we were able to enjoy the first Austin F1 race with his whole family and cousins.

First view of the race, from our amazing seats at turn 12.  

We then ventured off to explore the rest of the race track after Practice 1.  The view from turn 1 was pretty amazing too!

Impressive turnout on Day 1.

 The fun and always entertaining S's.  These were the historic grand prix cars - notice the six-wheeled car. 

 A few more close ups of the cars as we wondered the track.  

GT3's for the Porsche Cup series.

A few candid pictures as we wait for the race to start! 

 Of course, it's impossible to attend a major Texas event without finding smoked Turkey Legs.  

 Red Bull vs Ferrari... may the best team win! 

 And, the race begins... Go Red Bull!

Though our favorite driver (Sebastian Vettel) didn't win and clinch the driver's championship in Austin (he won it in Brazil afterwards), the Red Bull team did win the constructor's championship.  We just happened to be there when they were celebrating their win.  

Babysitting Fun

Although we're not big fans of babysitting children, we've actually enjoyed spending time with the Parkers' boys.  They are some of the most behaved and fun kids.  So, when Whitni needed a favor to babysit her two boys while she's out of town and Brent is at work, Joy took the day off to spend a few fun hours with them.

2nd Annual Inner Loop Group Reunion

We had such a successful turnout at our first Inner Loop Group Reunion last year, we decided to make it an annual event.  We met at Memorial Park for our second reunion this year and got to catch up with friends some of us haven't seen in years!  It was so exciting to see how big all the kids have grown and to see families growing.  Congrats to the Broadbents, Smiths, and Schmutz-Parentes on the upcoming births of their baby girls!  Soon, the children will outnumber the adults!  

Bendixen Farewell

The Bendixens were there when our small dinner group first started, and now they'll be the 2nd family to leave!  We're so sad to see them leave, but excited for them to be closer to their families.  To help them leave Texas with fond (food) memories, we had their farewell dinner at Rudy's BBQ.  

 

Reunited

For the last 2 1/2 years, Joy and her piano have been apart because the apartment we moved into was too small.  Lilian has been very kind to keep the piano at her house temporarily.  Alas, the time finally came for Joy and her piano to be reunited.  It was no small feat to move a heavy upright piano from the 2nd floor of Lilian's house to the 2nd floor of our new house.  It took four men, a big truck, and a lot of sweat.  After all that work, it so nice to have a piano in the house again!