(1) President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama join Gold Star families, R2-D2 and two storm troopers from Star Wars for a group photo in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
(2) First Lady Michelle Obama gives a little girl a kiss after she finished decorating her cookie at the White House (Photo by Doug Mills)
(3) The President addresses the nation on the mass shootings in San Bernardino and defeating terrorism (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
(4) The President snuggles with his niece Savita Ng after his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her family dropped by the Oval Office (Photo by Pete Souza)
(5) Pete Souza: The President acquiesced to a selfie with 11-year-old Jacob Haynes and four-year-old James Haynes after taking a family photograph with departing White House staffer Heather Foster
(6) Pete Souza: “A rare moment of weekend laughter with the President’s key national security aides, from left, National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice, Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco, and Deputy National Security Avril Haines as they joke about a cartoon in the New Yorker that resembled the three women.”
(7) Pete Souza: “Comedian Jerry Seinfeld knocks on the Oval Office window to begin a segment for his series, ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.’”
(8) Members of Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Show Choir react as President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama join them in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, prior to a Christmas Holiday reception (Photo by Pete Souza)
(9) President Obama hugs Secret Service Agent Robert Buster after his last trip with the President on arrival from Paris at Andrews
(10) President Obama talks with Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry in the hallway outside the Oval Office prior to entering the Roosevelt Room to announce the administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline (Photo by Pete Souza)
(11) The First Family attend the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse south of the White House (Photo by Olivier Douliery/Getty)
(12) The audience reacts to Aretha Franklin’s performance at The Kennedy Center Honors (Photo by John P Filo/CBS)
(13) President Obama after hiking the Koko Head Crater Trail in Hawaii (Photo by Pete Souza)
****
The Obama Diary 
Ha! You cannot defeat me!
Vrooooooooom vroooooooom Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuudette!!!! 💋
Yeh baby! 😀
The Undefeatable Dudette!!! (Spellcheck does not like ‘undefeatable”. Tough luck, Spellcheck; language is a living thing!) Happy Tail End of the Old Year to You!
Thank you maryl1! Happy New Year! 🙂
hahahaha….
Who would try!!!!….
congratsssssssssss
Thank you, MiLady! 😀
Dudette! Happy 2016 to all of TOD! Just found out my new year will really get a roaring start with a trip to the White House on Tuesday for an event. I’m taking you all with me in spirit. Can’t say any more right now but will tell all on January 5th. Blessings for the new year.
Sounds wonderful! What a way to start the new year, Judith! Looking forward to a full report when the time comes! 😀
That’s great, Judith!
WOTTTTT????? Oh, Judith, my curiosity is PIQUED! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
This time I just closed my eyes and clicked, cuz I can’t, I just can’t pick one.
Am I correct in thinking some of these have shown up before? Or is it just that I spent all last night feasting my eyes on Pete Souza’s amazing work??
I had the same thought, maryl1 🙂
i meant to ask…Buster is not on the President’s detail any more?…i read that before but it just dawned on me that he is not on assignment with the President/…mercy…who will take his place in the last year?….
Not that I mind, you understand; I could look at any or all of those pictures over and over and over and over, well you get the idea! I think when his presidency is over ::sob:: I will spend the rest of my life just looking at all the pictures of his presidency. I know a lot of people want him on the Supreme Court and I know that would be a great thing, but I want him out in the world, so to speak, so I can keep hearing about him. And I should say ‘them’ because the are all water-walkers as far as I’m concerned.
Ha!….
I know what you mean….I am torn between 9 and 11….
whewwwwwwww…
Look at those girls, all grown up and gorgeous!
yesssssss….and of course my man Mr Buster…keeping an eye out to keep our President safe…
Oh gawd, the Irish deputy Prime Minister fell out of a canoe while visiting a flood site 😥
Oh good lawd! Thank goodness the water isn’t very deep
Well, no one can say she doesn’t have empathy with her constituents! Glad she’s okay. 🙂
Tippiecanoe and Burton too! Could be a campaign slogan…and echoing Dudette, I’m glad she’s okay.
🙂 The poor woman, she’s trying to joke about it:
It’s embarrassing but if she has a good spirit about it everyone will like her for it and it will soon be forgotten.
People are cruel, though 😥 Mind you, if it was Donald Trump I’d be going HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! 🙂
If it had be Donald Trump in the canoe, the WHOLE WORLD would be going HAHAHAHAHAHA! I see that Britain may ban him from their shores. Go Britain!
This incident reminds me of a Kevin Hart joke that he tells about his not being able to swim, falls into the water and his dad says to him…”Stop Drowning and Stand Up”
😆 That’d teach ya to swim alright!!!!
😀 😀
Should we do that to you too? And we could videotape it to show others that it’s never too late to learn how to swim in 2 feet of water 😯
The deepest water I’m getting in to is the bath!
Splish Splash I was takin a bath
All about a Saturday night
Rub Dub just relaxin in the tub
Thinkin everything was alright
Well I stepped outa the tub
Put my feet on the floor
I wrapped the towel around me
And I opened the door
And then a splish splash
I jumped back in the bath
Well how was I to know there was a party goin on!
They was a splishin and a splashin
Reelin with the feelin
Movin and a groovin
Rockin and a rollin
Hey yeah!
Bing Bang I saw the whole gang
Dancin on my living room rug
Yeah, flip flop they was doin the Bop
All the teens had the dancin bug
There was Lolipop with Peggy Sue
By Golly Miss Molly was even there too
Well a splish splash I forgot about the bath
I went and put my dancin shoes on, yeah!
I was a rollin and a strollin
Reelin with the feelin
Movin and a groovin
Splishin and a splashin
Yeah!
Yeah, I was a splishin and a splashin
I was a rollin and a strollin
Yeah, I was a movin and a groovin
We was a reelin with the feelin
I was a rollin and a strollin
Movin with the groovin
Splish Splash, Yeah
Splishin and a splashin
One time, I was a splishin and a splashin
I was a movin and a groovin
Yeah, I was a splishin and a splashin
Thanks sooooo much, GGail. Still chuckling. Those were the days.
😀
I shouldn’t laugh. Should I?
Happy New Year’s Eve, Chips!
No you shouldn’t!1!1! 🙂 Happy New Year’s Eve to yerself, my beloved!
Congrats Dudette on First – again 🙂
I can’t decide between 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13, Arghhhhhh!
😆 Which means you’ll probably click 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 /runs
Oh, now I’ve got to go back and take a second look at 1 – 7. Damn you Chipppssss!!!!! (shaking fist)
Only one other person has voted for my pick. You are all evil – well, except that one person.
Ughhh, your choice is dorky! (no offence to the other person who voted with you)
Thanks GGail!
I can relate!
❤
Give Detroit some love! 😀
Oh maryl1 – congrats on FURST 😀
Thanks! (I wasn’t first today, but I was yesterday) 🙂
Well, that’s close enough for me ❤
Me too! 😀
If I knew how to do the ‘heart’ I’d give one back to you, but here’s a {{GGail}} instead.
{{{{maryl1}}}}
type the “less than” symbol and the digit 3
no space between them. Try it
❤ Thanks! ❤
Hey maryl1 – You Did It!!!!! YAY!!!! ❤
Thanks, GGail, it’s good to master a new skill 😉
How ’bout that 🙂
❤
New skill for me, too, G. Many thanks!
For me its a tie between #5 and #8.
4, 5, 8, 9 11????? The Secret Service agent because God bless him for protecting our president and such a show of affection between the two of them. The two little boys! Snuggling with his niece (children again!)! The whole First Family!!! I love it! That would probably be my first choice EXCEPT since I was born and bred in Detroit, I have to go with the Detroit Show Choir. I love all the pictures of the faces of children who see themselves in the President and First Lady. I know that electing a black man as president is not the be all and end all of racial problems in this country, but I believe; I know that this will mark a turning point and an inspiration to all those children. They’ve also seen the vile attitudes and behavior shown to him from all sides, but they’ve also seen and heard the way he has dealt with it all. He and Michelle are a shining example to them and to us all.
“I know that electing a black man as president is not the be all and end all of racial problems in this country, but I believe; I know that this will mark a turning point and an inspiration to all those children.”
For me his Presidency has always been about inspiring children to dream about becoming whatever they want to become. Gone are the days of our children dreaming of becoming entertainers and athletes, now they dream about becoming President.
Exactly, Don. I’m glad you think so too.
Now they dream of becoming President….
********************
It is greater than that….President Obama has widened the POSSIBILITIES for blk children…despite the ugliness,,,,i am so grateful for this…
in #6 i bet the president and his friends are reading the annie lowrey article in n.y.t. about how few women president obama has around him. annie and her husband ezra klein have made careers by acting as the “liberals” who like to tsk-tsk america’s first black president.
“Donald Trump could be refused entry to the UK after the Home Secretary Theresa May said she will ban people that are ‘non-conducive to the public good.’ The petition to ban him has over half million signatures.”
http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/30/government-responds-to-petition-to-ban-donald-trump-from-uk-5592437/
My New Years resolution is to do something every day to help make the last year of the Obama Presidency as epic as possible.
Aw! I love that! Happy New Year {{{ Judith }}} 😀
🙂
Beautiful. Well said Judith.
Is there a way to post pictures without tweeting them first? I think twitter is broken.
Hi Mary, Am not having any trouble with Twitter. As to posting a photo other than via posting a tweet, just select the URL of the photos location on the web and be sure it ends in either .jpg or .png and enter that URL on a single line in either a ‘comment’ or ‘reply’ text box and be sure to hit ‘return’ before posting it. You can have text in the same comment or reply, but be sure you only enter the URL.jpg or URL.png on a single line with no other characters.
Happy New Year
bbl ………..
Thank you, Bobr. I kept getting a ‘We’re having problems!” message.
Yes!
And, congrats on 1st, Dudette! 🙂
Thanks Bob! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you, Dudette, and to all your loved ones!!
“By Nadiya Savchenko, on a Rado Javor postcard posted by her sister Vira Savchenko
12.30.2015
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine
Ukrainians,
The holidays were difficult, but there was also joy in the bitterness!
We never lose spirit and laugh at death.
Freedom is more precious than life!
Ukraine is more important than anything in the world [to us]!
We, Ukrainians, are worthy of the best!
We deserve a decent and peaceful life. And everything in our country will undoubtedly get better than it is now!
With faith in my heart!
With greetings for the winter holidays!
Nadiya Savchenko”
http://maidantranslations.com/2015/12/31/nadiya-savchenkos-2015-year-end-postcard-to-all-ukrainians-freesavchenko/
#Hope4ALL
bbl ….
Choosing one out of December’s pictures was really hard. Thank you so much for doing this Chips.
I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year to all of you and your families. Healing prayers for all of you that need them.
Thank you {{sjterrid}}, wishing you and your loved ones good health and endless happiness in 2016!
A Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year to you and your family, sjterrid!
Thanks, the same to you.
I just got back from our vacation to DisneyLand around midnight EST. We had a great time. What was funny was that it was warmer on Christmas here than it was in California.
Oh, that’s funny. Glad you had a great time, though!
CAMPAIGN NEWS ALERT
Ben Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett and communications director Doug Watts have resigned.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has struggled in the polls since October when he was rivaling Donald Trump for the lead in the Republican presidential race.
“Barry Bennett and I have resigned from the Carson campaign effective immediately,” Watts said in a statement. “We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status.”
Watts added: “We are proud of our efforts for Dr Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck.”
Carson’s campaign has raised more than $23 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, his campaign said Wednesday, although it would not say how much cash it has on hand.
The resignations were first reported by the Des Moines Register.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/31/politics/ben-carson-campaign-manager-quits/index.html
from the body of the article:
Millennial-focused outlets’ interviews with President Barack Obama this year both failed to distinguish them from old media and highlighted shortcomings of their current offerings. Vox’s exchange had little edge to it; Vice’s showed that it’s more establishment-leaning than it lets on; Mic’s aggregated half its questions from the audience; and BuzzFeed’s was paired with a viral video of Obama making funny faces in a mirror, an advertisement for the president’s signature healthcare law. Of course, the presidential interview is an unforgiving format. But these discussions didn’t challenge Millennials’ worldviews in any meaningful way. And that is a concern: Media’s role is not only to mirror the community it aims to represent, but also provoke that community with new ideas.
and from the responses of his intended target…the President chose wisely
Bravo pf! Excellent tweetage! I’ll retweeted happily!
ty … 😀
“Carson’s campaign has raised more than $23 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, his campaign said Wednesday, although it would not say how much cash it has on hand.”
How is that even possible, $23million for spewing some of the dumbest shit this side of Uranus.
Perhaps they are using the term “raised” rather loosely, like maybe the money is coming from his book sales?
Ha! has he even raised money from his books beyond Fox News or some other Conservative front company buying up his books?
Don, you mean…you…didn’t buy one?????
Sadly no, I mean I wanted to, but it was either spend money on Carson’s book or invest some money with my brother-in-law in one of his get quick rich schemes.
😀 😀
I know what you mean, I had my eye on this bridge in San Francisco
Don’t do it, I lost a ton of dough on that one, its a scam.
Whew! thanks bro for the heads-up
Speaking of Uranus…here’s a real circle jerk for you:)
DF!!!!!
Too much? It’s true:) Are you at work??
Yes, don’t make me cry (I hear you laughing DF!)
In his mind this is a good thing, all publicity is good publicity doesn’t matter if its good or bad.
KKK makes DT honorary Klansman…..DT thanks them for this ‘amazing honor’…….
Carson spends as much money ‘raising’ cash than he does using it on his campaign. I think when people found out what he does with the money they send him, they will stop sending him money. With his poll numbers dropping I believe in the first qtr of 2016 his money will also start drying up.
JoJo, did you see upthread where I reported that Carson’s campaign manager and communications director have quit
No! Holy Honorary Degrees! I guess they wised up, saw the (BC & Christ Painting) handwriting on the wall and hot tailed it out of there. BC was certainly loosing it and I believe will be gone or so low in the polls before IA casts a vote.
Good God. She couldn’t stop for a moment to see what was going on?? And a law enforcement person living there so one would think gun safety would be involved. Wait, never mind.
http://news.yahoo.com/police-mother-mistakes-daughter-intruder-shoots-her-171950544.html
For anyone who hasn’t voted on the the picture yet, may I suggest #8?
Maryl1, are you running for Mayor of Detroit now? 🙂
Haha! No, just being a booster. I grew up there and it hurts to see all it’s going through. There are some amazing things happening though. My son has lived in the downtown area for a few years and through him I’ve found many exciting stores, restaurants, and cultural activities. There are many young people who live there and I know of others who would love to move into Detroit if they could find jobs.
Well, let’s hope the civic leaders look to the future
Good on you, maryl1, Nicole Curtis has been bringing your city to all of us with her ‘Addicted to Rehab’ series.
I have not seen that. When is it on? Although I don’t have cable TV so I miss a lot of stuff.
Because we in Michigan have to deal with stuff like this (see below) and we could use a little love. Especially those darling, talented children!
Truthfully Maryl1, #8 was my original choice
how could this happen…
Blame the campaign manger
Yeh, that’s just straight up incompetence. They submitted almost 1200 signatures (my high school had more students) and almost a third of them were deemed invalid? What the ever-loving-hell?
Are you serious, how does this even happen? Dude, you are running for President and you failed to qualify to get on the ballot in Ohio of all places?
I know right? I was pulling for him to maybe get tagged for VP slot. This makes me re-think even that.
This reminds me of what Reggie Love said that candidate Obama said to him about job responsibility “Reggie, if I have to do your job, what do I need you for?”
Reggie, being the smart young man that he is, quickly tightened up his act and became indispensable to the candidate than later the President
True. Although it’s freaking OHIO! He’s been running for President for how many months now and this is the result? Did they not have anybody on the ground there? Somebody should’ve been asking some questions.
Campaign manager should have pinpointed the key states such as Ohio, Iowa, NH, Fla, from the first day he/she was hired. If the candidate has to do all of the planning and campaigning, what does he need staff for?
The candidate should be talking to the campaign manager on the regular and asking basic questions like — how are we doing in (pivot states) like FREAKING OHIO?!!
Good gawd, why bother even running for President if you can’t get the equivalent of a high school auditorium’s worth of people in the key statues to sign a damn petition saying you MIGHT be a viable candidate? Ugh!
key states not statues. Ugh! 🙄
“it’s freaking OHIO”
LOLOL!!!!
I can’t recall a candidate who seemed to have such a head start and so much promise screw up so bad on all fronts. From his launch of ill-fated attacks on PBO to a simple failure to gather the signatures to qualify for a ballot, he’s really blowing it. Bad instincts.
but it is not like he has not run for public office before…..sheesh
A massive fire has engulfed a 63-storey luxury hotel near Dubai’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
@NYDailyNews
Oh my Lord JER!
They don’t need any fireworks
I hope there are no injuries or loss of life
Gasp! Oh my goodness!
This is horrific! Oh my goodness….
Interesting information Dudette, thanks 🙂
You could be celebrating all year long, with a brief hiatus for summer vacation!
LOL! For real! I bet some have tried! 😀
I’ve just been given a very good idea – thanks ladies 😀 😀
🙂
People in short-sleeves & shorts…where did my weather go???!!!!!!!
Vote!
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/31/photo-of-the-year-wildcards-part-1/