Another year whizzed by ….

All 8 of us were all together for only 2 days this year – and that happened to be the day we said farewell to 92 year old Bob Bertelson; Dad to Nils, Father-in-Law to me and Grandpa to our 4 children. The background of the photo was taken by me 2 days before the service when Nils & I went to the Florida Veterans National Cemetery to see where Bob’s resting place would be. To us both it was a sign of approval from God as well as Bob (and Joanie who left us 9 years ago in 2014) so I knew I had to use it in this years photo.

We also got a puppy in October this year; another Norwich Terrier from the same breeder in Tennessee. A little sister for Dunkin (who is now 2.5 yrs old) and her name is Donut – they have their own instagram too (Dunkin.Donut.Norwich) They became fast friends but she will be the one in charge once she gets bigger!!

Loads of other photos and updates can be seen through the year on my instagram (AlicetheBrit) and my Facebook (Alice Sillavan Bertelson)

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

2 years since I posted here
(but I did add our 2021 family photo to the gallery – link below)

The ONE day that all but the NC couple were together this year was Christmas Eve.

Loads of other photos and updates can be seen through the year are on my instagram (AlicetheBrit) and my Facebook (Alice Sillavan Bertelson)

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

Another year gone by!
Mind you this last one seemed to be 5 years long !!!

The ONE day that ALL of us were together this year was Nils’ birthday in October.

Bullet points ….
* Twix went over the rainbow at age 16.5) in Jan 2020
* Matthew married Angela on 02/29/20
* Kenzie moved back down here in July after 5 yrs in Gainesville
* Mel & Jonny moved AWAY in Nov 2020 up to New Bern, NC
* Nils officially retired from Palm Bch Co Fire Dept in Nov 2020
(after 30 years of service as a Firefighter / Paramedic)

Loads of other photos and updates can be seen through the year are on my instagram (AlicetheBrit) and my Facebook (Alice Sillavan Bertelson)

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

Another year gone by!
We only had ONE day this year that ALL of us were together
…… Christmas Day

Bullet points ….
* Matthew is engaged to Angela – we love her
Their wedding is in February 2020, Date TBD
* Twix still with us (16.5) but aging fast, very deaf & blind now
* Grandpa well and feisty as ever, Snow still his faithful sidekick!
* Nils retiring from the Fire Department in 2020

Loads of other photos and updates can be seen through the year are on my instagram (AlicetheBrit) and my Facebook (Alice Sillavan Bertelson)

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

Once again I got this accomplished BEFORE the beginning of December!!

YAY for Walgreens and the awesome 50% off coupon!!

2017 provided us the perfect opportunity to get not only all 6 of the Bertelson Bunch together in the same place at the same time, but also our newly acquired son-in-law Jonny who married our oldest daughter Melanie.

It truly was an amazing, magical wedding that took place on Veterans Day (11/11) at “Hidden Beach” in Key Largo, Florida.

Sadly our 2 pups were not allowed at the wedding venue with us … so though they are absent in this year’s photo, they are both still with us …. elderly ladies!!  Twix was 14 in August and Twizzler will be 13 in January 2018. Twix is finally starting to show some signs of aging with her vision and hearing failing. Twizzler is still agile & fine … but food still makes them both happy !!

We wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and that 2018 will be a BRILLIANT year!!!

Also here is the link showing ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

I am feeling SO proud of myself that I actually got this accomplished BEFORE the beginning of December even!!

I mailed out the 70+  cards we are sending on Nov 30th!!  I like to wait until those have been delivered (well at least the majority of US bound ones, I know the UK, Japan, Canada & Mexico ones will take longer) before I post the online version (you can click on the photo for a larger version.)

2016 prooved impossible to actually get all 6 of the Bertelson Bunch actually in the same place at the same time! Having adult children (7 more months and ALL 4 of the M&M’s will be in their 20’s !!!) means that work & college schedules don’t play nice.

So we decided to stick with the Modern Technology theme again this year. Last year we “tried” to do a #SelfieStick shot but ended up using a lovely photo taken by our oldest daughter’s fiance Jonny.  So this year (since let’s be honest we all spend a large chunk of our daily lives looking at our cell phones) we decided to do a screenshot of our phone with a recent photo of ourselves as the background.

Question: Anyone figured out the significance of the times on each screenshot?

That way everyone could email me the screenshot and I could whip up the 5×7 photo card design … AND I got to use the AWESOME Walgreens 50% off (LIVEITUP50) coupon!!

Matt managed to get his pup Maitei in his screenshot and I added in recent photos of our 2 pups.

So as this crazy year ends, we wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and may 2017 be AMAZING!!!

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

The original plan for our Annual Family Photo this year was to do a Selfie Shot of the family.

Since 2015 is the year of the #SelfieStick – combined with that I wanted to do it in a HIGH location (knowing that we would all be up in the Appalachia Mountains for Christmas at our Bertsnest Cabin)

So I took LOTS of selfie shots – and as you can imagine with 6 people plus furkids, there was someone either cut out of the frame or with closed eyes or looking the wrong way in every one !! (I will pick out the best and upload them as a “blooper album” HaHa

Meanwhile Jonny (our oldest daughter Melanie’s FIANCE – he proposed to her on Christmas Eve) was snapping shots of us with his camera phone … and HE is the one that got the winning shot.

So ironically my #SelfieStick is lying in my lap – HaHa

All 3 dogs looked perfect too, because a dog barked in the distance and so all 3 of them perked up their ears just as Jonny took the photo!

What a magical time we all had up in Blowing Rock/Boone.

Here’s wishing ALL of you reading this a Happy New Year – may 2016 be AMAZING!!!

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos

In fact MORE than a year – this year’s photo is officially a….

HAPPY NEW YEAR photo !!!

Our INITIAL idea for the 2014 photo was something completely different and we WERE going to try and accomplish it at Thanksgiving …. the first time that all 6 family members would be in Palm Beach County at the same time as Maddie would be home from College for 4 days …. BUT it didn’t happen!!

So we said, OK, no need to stress, we’ll try again when she comes back for winter break …. trouble was Maddie arrived from College on Dec 18th … but Nils LEFT on Dec 13th on a cruise with his Dad for a week. So they didn’t return until the 20th. Nils did TWO 48 hr shifts within the next week … AND the weather was NOT cooperating !!!! So I gave up in the end and came up with this idea (which didn’t need everyone in the same place at the same time!!!) which I actually really like!!

We will attempt to accomplish our original idea in the SUMMER of 2015 when it’s warmer and the weather won’t be an issue and it will be ready in PLENTY of time for Christmas 2015 🙂

Hope you all had a good Holiday Season and that 2015 is a SPLENDIFEROUS year!!

Alice, Nils, the 4 M&Ms and the furkids, Twix, Twizzler and new addition (Matt’s dog) Maitei

OK, so it’s that time again 🙂

Below is this years edition of our family photo (click on it to see larger version)

We did have some great photos from Bali (Summer vacation) but only the 3 girls went with us so they were missing Matt – so we decided to create a different one 🙂

Plus getting all 6 of us with different school & work schedule together at once is next to impossible – so I photographed each person individually, and then I photo-shopped us all into the one shot and added the Gotham City Batman background 🙂

The 2 dogs were added at the last minute because the girls said they had to be in it too!

Enjoy – here is the link to ALL the past Annual Christmas Photos