The Holiday Wrap Up

Every year it seems as if November and December become more of a blur. As much as I love the holidays, I can never seem to check-off all the items on my to-do list or make my way around to visit as many people as I'd like. This year was no different.

We spent our Thanksgiving holiday with Jason's family out in California. It is always a pleasure spending time with my in-laws. We were there a week, and the week was filled with good company, food, and sleep! On the eve of our depature back to "real life" we made a pit stop through San Francisco. The only misfortunate event that happened on the trip was a flat tire...mere minutes before we were set out to leave for San Francisco. A quick visit to the shop and one patch job later, we were on our way to San Francisco. We were to meet Jason's sister and her beau the following morning for breakfast and a fun outing to the Academy of Arts and Sciences. We all ate at this fabulous little eatery called Mama's. It was soooo good. I think I may just have to make that a San Francisco tradition! The portions were way more than I could ever think about eating, but their coffee cake. It was to die for! Okay, maybe not that good, but I wish I had the recipe so that I didn't have to wait in between trips to have some. We made a quick stop through a very large Catholic chruch. I had never been inside a Catholic church. It was so beautiful. I wanted to see what it would be like to talk to a priest in one of the small boxes that they show on t.v., but all of the "boxes" were locked. There were a couple of people praying in the pews and a custodian cleaning other than that we were the only people there. After breakfast were headed to the museum. As we made our way through the museum we walked through a man-made rainforest and got to see some very personable penguins!

The day after we returned from our Thanksgiving break, we had to prepare for our church's Christmas program. It was a beautiful play.

Our Christmas break was spent with my family. We always have a blast visiting my family. It's sooo loud and chaotic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We left for the break Friday the 23rd after Jason got off of work. When we arrived my dad was in the process of making homemade sourdough bread. It. Was. Awesome!! I got the recipe for that one! I've already made two loaves. Success. :)
On the 24th we went to my home church's Christmas Eve service. I had the pleasure of singing with the very talented Rob Simpson. We sang a more upbeat version of "Mary, Did You Know". When we returned home, I started to cook my very first turkey! I cleaned it and took out the neck and gizzards, and even made a stuffing. It took so long to cook. After 12, I gave up on it ever getting done and went to bed. My dad took the night shift and took it out of the oven when it was finished cooking. On Christmas day, we all got up and opened our presents. I was stoked to get the KitchenAid standmixer that I had been eyeing for months. Jason and my mom tried to trick me into thinking that I wasn't going to get it! Jason had wrapped a similar sized box on Thursday night and had me believe that it was my mixer. When I unwrapped the box on Christmas Day, I was suprised to find an Adele CD and molds of feet Jason had made of his patients. Yes, I said feet! I didn't know what to think or do... I had to pretend that I was grateful for all of my other gifts while on the inside I was a little disappointed that I had not opened the box to a mixer. Well, I guess I didn't hide my disappointment so well, cuz everyone could tell that I really, really, really wanted that mixer. As luck would have it, Jason goes into my parents room and brings our another big box... wrapped in the same paper. He gave the box to me and told me to open it. I opened it and there it was! The most beautiful KitchenAid stand mixer I had ever seen, and it was all mine! Jason had ordered the mixer from Macy's and had it sent to my parents house before Christmas. As luck would have it, my mom ended up wrapping the mixer in the same exact paper Jason had used for the ploy. Jason had no clue! It was all great fun. After we opened presents, we readied ourselves for church. Bro. Fred spoke a great word. I always love going to my home church. After church we came home, took naps, and readied ourselves for the slew of people that would later be joining us. Around 4pm, people started arriving and wasted no time digging in to all of the great food. My turkey... it was good. :) We returned to Nashville Monday tired and not wanting to go to work the following day.

All this to say that we have enjoyed our holiday visits with our families, and as hectic as everything seems to get around Thanksgiving and Christmas, we can't wait to do it all again next year! Until then...

Signing off