Happy Holidays!

The holidays of 2013 have now come and gone, and left us with some new fun memories and great goodies. Not a ton of pictures were taken this year, but I will give a bit of a recap anyway for memory sake.

 This year we did St Nicks the night before instead of the morning after due to crazy schedules.  I love passing this tradition on to Nate.  It will be fun to do it with wee ones one day. :)

{Our Tree...}

{The Nutcracker Ballet}

I have always secretly wanted to go the the ballet during Christmas season to see the Nutcracker.  Figured it would be a great way to bring in the holiday festivities.  This year my secret desire became reality.  We went with Brian and Kloe and had the best time being classy with them.  I think a redo will be in the works in the future. 

{Odds and Ends... }

A couple pictures taken for memory sake.  First... just your regular old puppy love with a dog that has recently taken making out to a whole new level of intensity (time to put the brakes on that habit).  Second... a winter LA afternoon.  It is kind of amazing how much weather plays a part in holiday spirit.  Third... poor Nate was so sick during Christmas.  This is him sniffling through Lauries amazing Christmas Cioppino dinner.  And lastly number Four... this just touched my heart.  Parker's sweet dog walker took him on a walk and later that day when I came home, he had made a doggy bed that Parker was tucked into on the sofa out of a blanket.  And Parker must have not moved for about 4 hours after being tucked in by his friend.  Such a cute duo that love each other so much.

{Christmas Day}

This year between Nate's work schedule and mine we ended up in Fresno for one night the weekend before Christmas, and spent Christmas together the two of us in our home.  It bummed me out that we didn't get to celebrate with family, but such is the life of those working hard in preparation for an exciting near future.  I will be so happy when we don't have to work holiday anymore though.  

Anyways... after all was said and done, it ended up being a sweet and relaxing Christmas as a newly married couple.  One of my favorite memories to remember, after all the presents were opened Nate pointed out there was still a Target bag under the tree.  I had seen there was a waffle maker in the bag but thought since it wasn't wrapped it was something Nate was planning on giving to someone else.  He told me to get the last gift, and I responded with a rude "no, its just a waffle maker".  The sweet man he is told me it was mine and to open it.  So I did and immediately swallowed my words.  It was a waffle maker that makes them in long skinny form... Just like the waffles I ate and fell in love with every morning on our honeymoon.  He was so excited he had found the same maker and said he wanted to make me our honeymoon breakfast on Christmas morning (which would explain why earlier in the day he insisted on getting fresh berries from the grocery store).  Nate is such a simple, sweet and thoughtful man, he made Christmas so special for me this year.