Our Holiday Season

We've been so busy this holiday season that I've fallen behind with my posts... Sorry! I'll start with Dec. 18. It was an important day for our family as it was the first year anniversary of Jason's dad's passing. It's hard to believe that it's been a year already. If you didn't get a chance last year to hear about his life, here's a link to our tribute to him: Tribute to an Amazing Man. Jason's mom wanted all of us to do something together as a family- we went bowling! It was Gracie's first time. Of course we had to put up the gutter bumpers, but still, the kids had a lot of fun. Gracie's first bowling score: 58.
A few days later, we headed up to the family's Shaver Lake cabin to celebrate Christmas. I got to have my White Christmas after all! The ground was snow covered, perfect for playing outside in. We went sledding, made snow angels, and even "snowtwins."
Even before we had kids, Jason and I have made Christmas Eve "our family" time. This past Christmas Eve, Jason made a fantastic meal that has become our family tradtion- Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Shallots. It was sooo good! Jason and Grace spent time putting together a gingerbread house. Afterwards, our family went to our church's Christmas Eve service. This particular one will be memorable because Jason, Jeremy, and I got dressed up to play Joseph, Baby Jesus, and Mary for one of the songs. It was Jeremy's second time- a few Sundays ago, he played Baby Jesus for our church's choir's program. He slept through both times! After the service, we went home to open presents. Gracie enjoyed that, also because she got to open up Jeremy's presents, too, so it seemed like she got to open up everything! It was such an enjoyable evening. In the morning, we opened our stockings and had a wonderful breakfast before heading up to Jason's mom's house for the day.
On Wednesday, Jason and I decided to do an overnight trip to Sacramento. I'm taking my 5th grade class on a field trip in May, and I wanted to explore a little bit for myself. We decided to make an overnight trip of it. Both Gracie and Jeremy stayed overnight with Jason's mom and then his sister watched them all day Thursday. In Sacramento, we were able to go out for a nice dinner and relax at the hotel (actually, I watched about 3 hours of the "Flip That House Marathon" on HGTV... we only get a few T.V. stations at home, so Jason and I love being able to watch stations like that when we're able to). On Thursday, we slept in (yeah!). We found a little bistro for breakfast in Midtown. We explored both the Discovery Museum (Gold Rush Center), and the California State Railroad Museum. Of the two, we both really enjoyed the Railroad Museum. Next, we walked to the State Capitol, and got stuck for about a half hour on the grounds because there was a funeral procession for a fallen sheriff happening all around the Capitol. It was a non-stop procession of motorcycles and police cars from all over the state. With the constant flow of the procession, there was no way for us to cross the streets, so we just stood and watched. Of course we couldn't leave the area knowing there was an IKEA nearby!! This was my first time away since having Jeremy... We're told that both kids did great! I was emotional leaving them and was so happy when we returned, but I also knew that it was important for Jason and I to spend some quality time together without them. The trip brought back memories of a time when Jason and I would spontaneously take trips somewhere just because we wanted to. We can't be as spontaneous as we used to be, but it's nice to know that we can still do getaways. We're so thankful to his family for watching our kiddos so we could take this trip.
Anyway, that just about sums up our holiday season... Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! Make sure to check out our photo album for pictures!