Merry Christmas!

As always, getting to spend time with our families during Christmas week was one of the very best parts of our year. We went to Weatherford, TX for the first half of the week to visit my parents & brothers, who had also come "home" for the holidays. We've gone to Texas almost every Christmas of my life to visit relatives, but this is the first time my parents have called Texas home in about 35 years! They seem to love it - especially because they're able to see their siblings much more often now. We got to visit their church and take a guided tour of their new town & surrounding area. We also had a delicious meal & fun get-together with my mom's side of the family - it seems like it gets harder & harder to get everyone together each year, but we love spending time with our extended family!

The second part of Christmas week was in Williamsburg, VA with the Jesters. We have three nephews on that side, and they are the life of the party! Our days revolved around playtime, good food, more playtime, naps (those were primarily for us!), more playtime...you get the picture. After the kids went to bed, the adults would break out the games and continue playtime late into the night. We got to attend Christmas Eve service and Sunday morning service at Dan's folks' church, and several family friends joined us for Christmas dinner. Dan's mom made filet mignon and salmon this year for Christmas instead of the traditional turkey dinner, and it was as delicious as any gourmet restaurant!

We wish that our holiday time was unlimited, but we loved every minute we had! We're so thankful for Jesus' birth, his perfect life, and his sacrificial death, through which we have the gift of salvation and adoption as God's sons & daughters! We're especially thankful this time of year for the blessings he's given us, like our wonderful families, good health, steady jobs, and a loving marriage. 2009 has been such a good year, and we're already looking forward to what 2010 will bring!

I forgot to take pictures during our visit to TX, but I did get this sweet photo from our extended family get-together. My great-aunt Merle turned 98 years old this December, so we celebrated her birthday. She's sitting in the rocking chair with her daughter, Berle Ann, on the left and my Uncle Brian and Aunt Margaret on the right.

Our incredibly cute 9-month-old nephew, Aaron

Our nephews Nathan (front) and Benjamin were so much fun to play with! This was their gingerbread house masterpiece.

The house was demolished as the days went by. We blame Bumblebee.

The Jester Family

Happy Birthday to Dan!

It's Dan's birthday today!! Although our trip to Canada and the hockey games were all one big birthday party as far as he was concerned, he still managed to do a lot of celebrating today. The staff at his school went all out with balloons, streamers, doughnuts, cake, Chinese food, more cake, a special song, cards, gift cards, etc. And of course the kids heard about it, too, so he got lots of "happy birthdays" and random offers of food from their lunch boxes. When we got home from work, he was on the phone for at least an hour talking to family members who wanted to wish him a happy birthday. And then I took him out to dinner at the only good BBQ restaurant we have in San Diego, and made his favorite chocolate cream pie for dessert. After all that food, he says so far he feels a little fatter this year than he did last year. I say he looks better than ever.

At the end of the day, there is no doubt how much he is loved. Especially by me. :)