Holiday Happy

We kicked off the holidays in Pennsylvania where six golden dogs trot across my parents yard each December.

We spent Thursday evening with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins — there are ten of us, and I’m the oldest (although the others are maturing faster than I can believe). We played ping-pong and billiards and ate lots of truffles.

On Christmas Eve, we were surprised to find new stockings lining the stairs. Snowman for me, nutcracker for Nick, Santa for Andrew, angel for Laura, reindeer for Stephen.

We gathered around the tree before driving down to Maryland to see more family. (Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any car trouble this year.)

We returned with bellies full of Grammy’s holiday hamburgers (cooked with tomatoes and onions), langostino dip, and apple pie. And then we raced upstairs to unwrap our elf gifts. Each year the “elves” bring new pajamas on Christmas Eve. I love this tradition and can’t wait to continue it with our own children some day.

We opened our stocking gifts before the Eve came to an end: Starbucks gift cards and Burt’s Bees chapsticks; a candy thermometer for me and a hydrometer for Nick. And then we tucked ourselves into our beds while visions of sugar plums (and California avocados) danced through our heads.

There’s something magical about Christmas morning, don’t you think? A crackling fire, hot cocoa, fuzzy slippers. Family seated around the tree and dogs tripping over ribbons. The sound of Christmas carols and the smell of apple cinnamon muffins in the oven.

Each year we look forward to adding to our Christmas collections: snowmen, angels, nutcrackers, and Santas. When we were younger, these were the gifts given by our parents, while the others came from Santa.

We exchanged a few other gifts, as well, and I must have been exceptionally good this year because I got two treasures: an external flash for my camera and a tagine. I can’t wait to break in both.

Santa treated Nick pretty well, too. He got hand stamped collar stays, a beer print, kitchen gadgets, and lots of tools.

Following the gift giving, we filled our plates with Mom’s egg casserole and apple cinnamon muffins.

And by 1:00 Nick, Laura, and I were off to catch our flight to California.

Nick’s parents and sister picked us up in Long Beach with Santa hats and warm hugs. And then we settled into their cozy San Marcos home to exchange gifts and eat cookies.

The following day, while snow fell across the country, we dipped our toes into the Pacific Ocean.

I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to palm trees and sunshine and sandals in December, but I’ll admit that it was nice to escape Pennsylvania’s harsh winter.

We spent the rest of the week sightseeing in San Diego, boating around the Bay, eating lemons and oranges, playing Yahtzee, and watching sunsets. (More details and photos to come.)

We’re so thankful that we were able to spend Christmas with both our east coast and west coast families. I hope your holidays were also filled with home cooked meals, board games, naps by the fire, and lots of love.

6 thoughts on “Holiday Happy

  1. What a busy, but fun Christmas! Looks like you both got some great gifts. I’m interested in an external flash. Let us know how you like it!

    Also…that’s a great picture of the two of you by the Pacific. Absolutely gorgeous!

  2. Happy New Year to you and Nick! The picture of you two on the beach is my FAVORITE. You both are just GLOWING 🙂 Browsing your archives right now as I meal plan for our week!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *