A Wondeful Christmas Time

This is one of our favorite times of year.  We love being with family with our cozy homes all decorated, eating good food, giving gifts, and most of all, celebrating the real Reason for this Season! 

Christmas Eve was much busier for us this year than normal.  Usually we have a pretty relaxed day, then attend Christmas Eve service with the family, and drive through American River Canyon to see the luminaries and Christmas lights, then off to bed.  This year started with coffee and bagels and a time for us to just hang out. Afterward, Shani whisked off to visit one of her best friends who was in the hospital after having a baby girl on Christmas Eve morning (congrats Pilorin's). Then we headed to Kim and Josh's for a delicious meal with John's family (John's parents got in from Colorado late morning) and the Buhs' (Josh's family). We left the afternoon party for Valley Springs Church for service with John's family followed by Bayside for service with Shani's family. We enjoyed a crisp and clear drive through the luminaries and lights and wearily drove home to wrap presents (yes we waited until the last minute...again), and finally off to bed.

We woke up early Christmas morning to open presents to get ready.  Yes a pet peeve of John's.  He likes doing the gift giving first thing in the morning, in pajamas and messy hair.  Shani on the other hand likes showering, getting ready, eating breakfast, then opening presents (used to be different when she was a kid, but now older she wants "cute" pictures).  So we compromised.  We opened each others presents at our house in pajamas, then got ready and headed over to Shani's family to eat breakfast and do our slow normal Christmas morning routine.  We hung out at the Kelley's for the morning, then enjoyed the Mac side for the afternoon, then back to the Kelley's for the evening.  After the long day we got home and talked about how generous our families are and how we received some really fun things.  Although it's a little crazy going back and forth between places, we are truly blessed to be able to spend time with both our families during Christmas!

31 weeks (7 months)