Crescent City.

Home sweet home.

We spent Christmas weekend at my parents house. Though it was a short trip, we enjoyed it just the same. Surprisingly we had some good weather and were able to hit up the beach. Wind free. I'm not saying it was swimming weather (never really is that far north), but it was nice.

Papa J and I were in town doing a little shopping when I noticed the sun was setting. We quickly headed over for a photo op. Papa J is quite the photographer and I never knew it. I believe he took the picture below - we were trading off between cameras. I've been borrowing a friends film SLR camera and am having fun.

Our Christmas was simple and just the way we like it. My brother came up and spent the weekend with us as well. I wish more of my family could have been there, but circumstances didn't allow. We did sorta spend the day with my sister and her family via Skype. My dad didn't have a microphone for his computer, but we saw and heard everything my niece and nephew were doing. My niece was mesmerized by her new doll house that Santa brought and it was cute watching her.

Z didn't completely understand the whole Santa thing, but loved opening her presents. We had an early Christmas at Papa J's parents' and there she received her main present - a wooden stove/oven. She hasn't stopped making cupcakes and special milk (that's what we call chocolate milk) since. It's cute. Every morning we get asked, "You wanna make something with me?" It makes us smile. The best gift she received was from my brother. He gave her a giant stuffed teddy bear. He's bigger than Z and we had to squish him between the car seats on the way home. He helped hold our apples and drinks for us.

I'm always sad when the Christmas season comes to an end. I wish everyone had the spirit of Christmas all year long. Maybe we'd be able to catch a few more smiles out of people when walking down the street. However, we cleaned up our decorations early and are looking forward to a new year. This year will be busy (as each year tends to get busier and busier) as Papa J will finish up his 3rd year of school and start his 4th and final year. I'm jumping for joy already!.