Merry Christmas

Michael and I didn't go to Utah for Christmas because of his work.  Instead we got to go to Los Angeles and spend the holiday with other family.  It was so fun to wake up on Christmas morning with little kids again.  They are so excited about santa coming and it makes the whole holiday that much more fun.  

We were a little sad about not going to Utah so we wanted to try extra hard to make it feel festive here.  We had a bit of a challenge on our hands, making it feel like Christmas, when the weather is still like warm enough for short sleeves and snow hasn't failed in over 10 years. So we went a little over board in decorating our apartment.  Here are some of the things we did

You can't really see in the picture but there are little wrapped up boxes in the red bowl.   Plus my tiny tree I bought at Trader Joe's

Happy Holidays

We painted our own ornaments, that is a mustache, Michael and I still don't understand what so great about them but we figured we would jump on the wagon

We wrapped our pictures hanging on our wall, cheapest decorating trick

It was fun decorating our apartment and even though it wasn't the same as going home we both still had a great time staying here.  

Christmas Spirit

Michael and I live in California.  He works all the time as a Marine and because of his crazy work schedule we don't get to travel (travel to Utah especially) as much as we would like to.  This year is no exception.  We were hoping that we would be able to come to Utah for the Christmas holiday but we had no such luck.  He was denied liberty and that means we are grounded here in California.  There are worse places to be stuck obviously.

This news was especially hard because there is a new little baby that I desperately need to go see.  My amazing sister just had her first baby and all I want to do is give him a big hug and a kiss.  We both wanted to go and see our family and friends,  tell them how much we love them and miss them, but it will all be ok because I think they already know those things. 

Michael and I are going to have our own little Christmas here.  We bought a Christmas tree, went shopping yesterday for each others gifts and are making traditions of our own.  We will also go see other family in Los Angeles.  

It was initially hard to hear that we weren't able to go to Utah for the holiday but, we have both accepted it.  Even though there isn't snow or cold weather, fireplaces or hot chocolate, it still feels a lot like Christmas.

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving was a fun holiday here in San Diego.  Michael and I didn't go to Utah for the holiday but Michael's family came here!  They were all really excited about the warm weather, apparently blizzards aren't as fun as the beach...?
I cooked Thanksgiving for 10 people.  Michael and I, his family (3), my favorite neighbor, and four Marines that showed up last minute.  Thank goodness I bought a lot of extra food.  I have come to find that jello served on Thanksgiving is a total Mormon tradition.  A lot of people were confused by this side dish but they all loved it, thanks Mama Mara for the recipe!
On Friday we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo!

 We spent the whole day there, we saw birds, gorillas, lions, reptiles, polar bears, and of course the pandas.  San Diego Zoo is the only zoo in the world that had a complete family of panda bears.  The new baby just got here a few weeks ago.  There were tons of people waiting to see the panda family so the only pictures we got were photo bombed by people with poor style, bad haircuts and a lot of satchels .  Enjoy!

We also saw this handsome creature.  Still not quite sure what it is, but I do know that he moved super slow and when he finally stopped his feet were in his water supply.  A worthy goal.

We ended the day with some much needed soft serve.  And yes documentation is also needed because I haven't had a good twist cone in years.  

It was a really fun weekend and even though it was hard to say bye to Michael's family we were still so grateful that they were able to come visit us.  Who's next?