Christmas in California!

this year we spent Christmas in California. it was such a nice vacation from school and work! we were lucky enough to have everyone home for at least a couple of days! while we were all together i couldn't stop thinking about how this would be our last time we would all be together for awhile since little logey will be leaving for his mission in a few months! ...but let's not talk about that. i dont want my mom (the only one who actually reads my blog) to start crying while she reads this. and plus i am not ready for that. at all. 

my mom and dad had so many fun things planned for this break. when we first got there, some of us were able to go to Kobe's jersey retirement game. it was such a blast! they had a "KobeLand" carnival set up outside the Staples Center with a ferris wheel, games, etc. we walked around for a bit before heading inside. throughout the whole game they were playing little tribute clips for Kobe and then the jersey retirement happened during half time of the game. the whole night was amazing, we were so lucky to be there. thank you mom and dad!

i always love christmas break, it is always filled with so much to do while being surrounded by the ones you love! if i talked about everything we did this break this post would be sooo long, so instead i will just post tons of pictures and give a brief recap. some of the highlights from this break were going to shogun for christmas eve dinner where rylee and tanner told us they were pregnant(!!!), seeing The Greatest Showman, Hamilton, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings game, going to the beach house, In-N-Out, and spending every day surrounded by family.

one of my favorite things this trip was going to see Hamilton! Opa and Oma gave us all tickets to go to the show together for Christmas. Hamilton was AMAZING! it definitely lived up to all the hype everyone, especially my mom(ha!), made it out to be. i am so glad we were able to go with Oma, it is definitely an experience i wont forget. Thank you so much Opa & Oma!! 

we were so sad when it came time to leave to come back to charleston... we loved being with family and not having any responsibilities! thank you mom and dad for another unforgettable break!!

 

Christmas in California

This year was our families year to have everyone home for Christmas, which worked out great since everyone was already home for our wedding!After our honeymoon we came back to my parents house on December 23rd. I was so excited to share how my family spends the holidays with Brayden! I love Christmas time in my home. My mom does an amazing job decorating and making it as festive as she possibly can, it is the absolute greatest. This year did not disappoint! To add to the mix of Christmas decorations, there were still pictures of Brayden and I up everywhere, so I  didn't mind that too much either :)

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love that during this time we are constantly surrounded by family. 

I love that we still have the little kids around when we wake up on Christmas morning. Seeing their faces as they walk down the hall is priceless. When it comes to Christmas I am still a little kid at heart, I get just as excited and anxious as the rest of my nieces and nephews! This Christmas was no different, everyone woke up, then the kids woke up "Pa". Of course he did his same old trick of taking his sweet time in the morning by taking a shower and taking FOREVER to get ready, I was dying... (see I told you I am still a kid at heart). Once he was finally ready we all lined up youngest to oldest and marched right down the hallway. All of our stuff Santa presents were neatly in piles and we all ran to see what we got. We had such a fun time opening all of our gifts and showing everyone what we got. One of my favorite things is that our family picks names for who we have to buy for. It is easier that way because than we don't have to buy for every single person in our huge family! I love being able to see the thought that goes into what my siblings get everyone! After we were done opening our gifts, it was time to clean up for my mom's side of the family to come over. It was so fun to be able to see everyone from my mom's side. We played games, watched tv, and just chatted with everyone. 

During the break after Christmas, we went to dinner with the Horines, Northups, Gelalichs, and Miers for our annual New Year's Eve dinner. Then the next day we went to Pasadena to walk around and look at all of the Rose Parade floats. 

I love being around the people I love during the holidays. This was the perfect Christmas with my family!