Christmas 2010 Part 1

Christmas decorations were slim this year since we are still under construction. Notice the plastic still hanging behind the rail? Yep. We only unpacked one box of decorations out of five. We even almost decided not to get a tree, but by December 15th, my heart was too sad to go without. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I just couldn't stand the thought of not having decorations, lights, presents and a Christmas Tree. So we went to Home Depot at 9:45 on a Wednesday night and picked out a tree in 15 minutes flat. It made us both happy and finally excited for Christmas.

Each year since we've lived in orange county, we've gone home for the full week between Christmas and New Years. This year was no exception. On December 23 I packed up the car, picked up Nic from work, and started the trek up to the Bay. When you leave southern California right in the middle of rush hour traffic, you know your evening is going to be a long one. And ours was. But so worth it! We arrived at my parents house and everyone was awake to greet us when we got there. Daniel and Rachel had arrived home a few days before, so Nic and I completed the intake of out-of-towners.

Danish tradition is to celebrate big on Christmas Eve, and that is how my family has done it every year of my life. We spend all day Christmas Eve cooking, eating and wrapping presents. Dinner always starts around 5:00 and always consists of pork roast, red cabbage, homemade rolls and caramelized potatoes.  

Natalie and Steve also celebrate Christmas Eve with Steve's family, so this year they ate dinner with Steve's family before joining us for games and dessert. Before they arrived, we got a little carried away with the camera and started taking sibling pictures. We promised we would remember to take more sibling pictures when Natalie arrived, especially since we never got a good one, but no one remembered! I'm still not over it.

  

We have a tradition with my family of my Dad reading 'Twas The Night Before Christmas and the story of Jesus' birth in the bible. Then after the seriousness, we play the Noun game. This literally might be the funnest part of Christmas Eve. We always play boys against girls and we always end up yelling and laughing so hard. Steve and Natalie usually leave before this part of the night, but I'm glad that this year they were able to join us. And just so we always remember, the girls won this year!

We ended the night with the finale of the danish Christmas meal: Ris ala mande. Tradition is to have one whole almond hiding in the dessert. Whoever gets the whole almond in their serving wins a special prize. This year, Steve won. We had so much fun, we didn't get into bed until after 1:00am. This was definitely a Christmas I'll always remember. Merry Christmas Eve!

Thanksgiving 2010 Catch-up

I just couldn't let 2010 pass by without journaling the rest of Thanksgiving, since a lot of our Thanksgiving fun happened after the actual holiday. Friday morning began with an early morning drive to the Long Beach airport to pick up the 'Reds'...aka toni and tutu...aka Nic's mom and grandma. They are the cutest ladies ever, and 'like mother like daughter' just barely touches on it. Their flight arrived at 7:15, which was perfect timing to get in some Black Friday shopping. Nic and I really like shopping on Black Friday because we really LOVE good deals. I'll be the first to admit, I'm a sucker for sales. Because who wants to pay full price for something that will inevitably go on sale? Not me, that's for sure. So we end up at Best Buy, being suckered into a great deal on a TV. It really was a good deal. And I'm sure I'll end up loving it. As soon as we set it up... :). We also hit up some stores searching for appliances. Still on the look-out for a great deal on a Fridge as we are using what may be considered the king of all hand-me-downs when it comes to fridges. And while we are SO thankful for it and not having to worry about buying one for the last 3 years, I think it might be killing our food at this point.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying each others company, waiting for the phone call that let us know the Ewers were here! Brian, Summer, Addi, Fletch and Gabby all made the haul down via car. We hadn't seen little Fletch since he was only two months, and in baby world, we knew that with 2 1/2 more months of growth, he would be near unrecognizable. We were so excited to have so much family down at one time. We spent Friday evening at our house, hanging out, eating pizza and just catching up. We all thought it best to not get to bed too late since Saturday was scheduled for Disneyland!! Bri and Summer had reservations at the Disneyland hotel, but tutu and toni were scheduled to stay with us. It was like a fun little sleepover :). We met at Disneyland Saturday morning and spent the day seeing the park through Addi's eyes, which is so much fun. We don't have many pictures from the day (we REALLY need to start taking our own pictures and stop relying on stealing pics from family members) but it was a great day. Except for the cold. and rain. and Nic and Bri making me ride grizzly peak in the cold and rain. and literally running out of the park with tutu and toni in tow as we got completely soaked. I'm totally serious. My feet were wrinkled by the time I took my shoes off. I'm still getting over that cold/flu/sinus infection. But really, other than that, it was a great day.

On Sunday we had the pleasure of being able to see little Fletch get dedicated in a church Bri and Summer really like down here in Costa Mesa. Their friends from home were also able to join us that morning to see the services. It was a beautiful day, with all remnants of bad weather washed away. Bri and Summer and their friends went back to the park, while we spent Sunday afternoon at home, napping and talking and eating. Three of my favorite things.

By Monday morning my cold had started to set in, so I became somewhat of a downer. We spent a good part of the day shopping, which could wear me out on a healthy day. Being a little sick and I became a big downer to the 'Reds', who I would dare call the shopping queens of the world. Sorry ladies! Monday night Nic joined us after work and we had an absolutely delicious meal at a nearby Italian restaurant. It was cozy and cute and quaint and delicious. I'm sure we will be going back soon.

Tuesday morning I had to go back to work, so I said my goodbyes early and Nic took them to the airport. I was very sad our little vacation had come to end and I can't wait to have family back down soon! We already miss you guys! Thank you all for such a great Thanksgiving vacation.

The Hardwood

It's time for another sneak peak...Honestly, nothing is complete and it would be rather anti-climatic to post pictures of incomplete stuff. But here is a picture of our absolutely luscious hardwood. I love it.