new years 2016 | PintSizedLiving

I’ve been on a five month hiatus from blogging because, well, I’ve been enjoying life instead of documenting it (mostly by eating cheese and bread). However, one of my goals of 2016 is to keep up to date with my blog so we don’t forget any details of this amazing adventure that we are on (or lose any photos). So, what better way to start the new year by posting about our incredible New Years celebration.

The view from our living room.

Taking a stroll through Les Houches

What do 6 kids, 5 Americans, 2 Swiss, 1 Finish and 1 Irish person have in common? A ski chalet in the French Alps at the base of the Mont Blanc Massif of course! For five days and four nights we focused on the FOUR F’s: Food, Fun, Fromage and Friends.

A typical fromagerie

Lincoln and Louie

It’s amazing to think that in just one short year we have made so many wonderful friends here to celebrate with, and celebrate we did. We arrived on Wednesday night and did not stop eating and drinking until we left Sunday afternoon. It was a whirlwind of children, cooking, drinking, sledding and a lot of broken glasses.

The mornings started off slow with lots of coffee and a huge breakfast, as the day progressed we divided into groups that went hiking, skiing, snowshoeing or walking through town.

Typical mornings being lazy

5 out of the 6 kids!

Nothing starts your day like acrobatics

Louie and Lincoln

James loved the camera.

By the early evening we would regroup, put the kids to bed and begin our nightly ritual. Every night a gourmet meal was prepared, the fire lit and the adults would sit around and have some sort of incredible Apero (gingerbread cookies and blue cheese – who would have guessed that works?), then we would proceed to stuff our faces with Risotto, Raclette, or Chinese Hot Pot all while drinking beer, wine, champagne and Gluwein.

The raging fire, perfect for roasting marshmallows!

The Raclette cheese

The table before the consumption

Dirk, the eating machine

Andre came in a close second to cheese consumption

Bacon and Onions

The complete Raclette Plate, Cornishon, Balsamic Onions, Curried Pickles, Raclette cheese over potatoes topped with onions, bacon and curried ketchup

Homemade Lebane topped with salmon, capers and Zatar

A Finnish culinary delight!

The Chalet had a huge yard, perfect for sledding. with unobstructed views of Mont Blanc. It was a quick walk into the town of Les Houche, or a quick drive to Chamonix. Both of which had quick access to the pistes, restaurants, great shopping and incredible scenery. The French don’t mess around when it comes to food and our trips to the local patisserie and fromagerie proved this to be so. We sampled every pastry, bread and cheese we could get our hands on. Sausage, smoked salmon and smoked duck were not forgotten either!

We rang in the new year by lighting sparklers, popping bottles of Veuve and setting off amazing hot air balloon lanterns into the night sky.

Lilybelle in her New Years Gear

Lincoln and his sparklers

Lilybelle and her sparklers

When all the glasses are broken, nothing to do but drink bubbly straight from the bottle.

Andre preparing the balloon

Andre and Lincoln setting off the balloon

Ken getting ready to light his balloon

Up up and away.

There is little justice my words can do to the photos that I took (all 785 of them), so without any further delay, I’ll stop talking and let you all enjoy some of them!