December- Christmas Festivities Galore

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is one of my favorites! It is so cozy and everything is decorated so festively! Here is what our December looked like:

Bella went on a daddy date with Jose to get doughnuts! They had a great time hanging out. I can't believe how old she looks in this picture.

 

 We spent some time hanging out watching movies.

 I also took the girls to the annual Springfield Christmas parade. I hadn't been in over ten years. The girls had a fantastic time and got a ridiculous amount of candy. And candy canes. So many candy canes!

Santa! I know him!

We also attended the annual Advent festival at our church. Decorating the graham cracker house is always the best!

Family picture time!

After several years of opting out of Christmas lights (I am looking at you, Jose the Grinch) we put up lights. By we I mean Jose. This was the first year decorating our new house, so next year I will be buying lights for the yard. It looks dark and creepy, but it was very pretty!

Also after several years of not going, Jose and I went to the anesthesiologists Christmas party. It was at the Country Club this year, and was lots of fun. Free drinks and a yummy dinner are always fun!

Look at these cute lumberjacks waiting for their lunch!

My mom celebrated her 60th birthday in December with a pre-birthday church party. There was lots of cake. Three of these huge ones to be exact!

I really enjoyed our first holiday season in our new house! It was fun having so much extra room to decorate. Our Christmas tree had its own place that wasn't in the middle of the tv room!

I am not sure what this picture is of (the downside of posting 4 months later), but I am thinking this was our annual Family Christmas. The girls and I celebrate with just us on Christmas Eve Eve with spaghetti dinner and presents. Also, we put our cards up in a new spot on the wall by the table, so each night at dinner we could look at them and talk about the new ones. Also, also, our beautiful candles were made at the Advent festival.

Christmas Eve service at church with my family. Afterwards, we went to have tamale dinner with the Marquez family and open presents. I somehow did not take any pictures of any of this. Probably because I was having too much fun.

Fortunately, my mom takes lots of pictures so we have some from Christmas morning with the Scotts.Here is the girl picture.

Wait, I lied. I only have one picture of Christmas day. Rest assured, it was fun, too! The next night we celebrated my mom's real 60th birthday with a family party.

Jill and Josh stayed in town for a few days after, and I got to go to an Oregon basketball game with them. We saw the tallest guy in the NCAA, and the game was surprisingly good. Since the students were on break, we even got to sit in the Pit.

Finally, I ended the month outside in the freezing cold when an HVAC system in one of our hospitals started to smoke and we had to evacuate. It was minor, but quite exciting!