Our Time Home

So, it's something to say every year but Christmas has already come and gone. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? I always have the hardest time when Christmas is over... I guess because there is so much anticipation and preparation and then in a couple of days the festivities are over. I am certainly feeling the pains of home sickness this morning. I think it is mostly to do with the fact that Wes has to work tonight and I know that all of my family and friends are doing something fun in Sacramento. I really don't mean for this to be a sob-story but as I sit here typing there is a little piece of something in the back of my mind that is keeping me from being normal. During the trip home someone asked me if I ever get homesick in Portland. I have surprisingly had a very smooth transition here and don't normally feel homesick at all. Though it makes sense that after a week of family, that homesickness may accompany my first night alone at home. Anyway, I will surely get by and will occupy my New Years Eve with some sort of yummy dinner and a movie. After all, we got tons and tons of good ones for Christmas!

So now for the good stuff... the Christmas memories made this year...

It was a busy busy week but so worth it. We loved every minute. Our first night in town was spent eating grilled cheese sandwiches and watching Julie & Julia. If you have not seen this movie you must. And if you have never seen Julia Child you should definitely youtube her before watching the movie so you can appreciate the brilliance that is Meryl Streep. We loved this movie. Our second day in town included sushi, and a gathering of friends and Streets of London, a bar downtown. My girlfriends and I have a Christmas tradition of going out to dinner and swapping gifts. We decided to do this at Mikuni and then meet up with the guys at the bar. Of most importance to mention is the fact that this was the first bar I have ever been able to sit in with these girls as they all just turned 21 this year. We stayed at this bar until midnight and Wes and I left feeling so full of joy.

Some of the friendships reach back deep into our childhoods, there is nothing better than sitting with friends and reminiscing on old times. This late night was not quite over for us yet as we quickly had to put on our "Santa's Helper hats" and work on a special project that needed some finishing. More on this later.... ;)

The next day was Christmas Eve..... On Christmas Eve family traditions begin... growing up Wes' family always opened gifts on this day while my family opened gifts on Christmas day. Lucky for us we can both continue to celebrate this way. So, we are with Wes' family on Christmas Eve and my family on Christmas day.

Christmas Eve starts with stockings and Greg's tradition of making creamed eggs on toast. mmm mmm.... Then we relax and the girls begin preparing appetizers and dinner for the evening while the boys go and pick up Grandma Fay. At 3pm the activities began and oh what a good time ensued with SO many friends and family. And talk about good food: Grandma Fays' zingers, brushetta, fried raviolli's with marinara sauce for dipping, veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, spinach and artichoke dip, cucumber & goat cheese, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, you just can't get any better! After church we have dinner and open presents. There were some good ones this year...

[These next couple are sort of backwards in order, sorry]

Greg with his girly drink wearing Sue's reading glasses:

Then on Christmas morning we wake up and go over to my parents house... I purposely go in my jammies as to recreate the olden days of crawling out of bed at 6 a.m. to open gifts.... no, we don't wake up that early any more but the jammies will always be here to stay. :) I unfortunately didn't get as many pictures of this day but there were equally many many great gifts, followed by stockings and breakfast.


In the afternoon my mom and I were determined to make some of my yummy bruschetta again to take over to my Aunt's house so we found the only grocery store open in town on Christmas day to buy the ingredients. Then we went to my aunts house for dinner which was such a nice relaxing time. And once Chris and Tiffany arrived it quickly becomes baby time! Why is it that babies are so entertaining? We absolutely love watching Peyton sleep, cry, smile, stare, wiggle, kick.... every bit of it is so much fun. You can tell it was the baby show as it was the one picture I took of the evening...



The rest of the trip consisted of Christmas time with extended family and puzzles with my Aunt Sue and Mckenna who flew in from out of town. The girl time was also another favorite on my list.... Seeing as how this blog is getting rather long I will refrain from more details. I will just simply say that this Christmas home was another memorable one. Thank you to our parents for opening up your homes, cooking us food, giving us gifts, and spending time with us. We love and cherish every minute of it. Thank you to family and friends for making time for us, it made it that much more special. The story of our trip home is worthy of its own blog so read on to the next for that one. Love to you all and have a Happy New Years!

Love,
Katie