Christmas 2013 (better late than never!)

**WARNING: Pic Heavy!

Well, I'm a bit late on this...but thought I would share anyway!

We had a great Christmas :) I took vacation time - took the entire week off, which made the whole holiday so much better and relaxing! I haven't had time off since last summer, so I was due for a break to recharge.

On Dec 23rd, my parents and sister came to our house to celebrate. We had a nice dinner and Allison (who works at a bakery) brought a gorgeous Yule Log cake that her friend had made. I had to snap a few pictures before we devoured it!

I also snapped a few pictures of some of our decorations around the house...

My favorite nativity (gift from Allison last year!

 

On the morning of Dec 24th...we opened gifts like it was Christmas, and then decorated our traditional family cookies. I LOVE them...they are my grandma's recipe and we have been making them since I can remember.

My dad getting the icing on Santa - there is a specific way we decorate him and I can never remember...and I wanted them to be perfect :)

The final result...wintergreen trees with red hots and peppermint Santas!

Later in the day, Aaron and I found a home for the awesome artwork my sister got us. She is an art history major, who knows so many interesting local artists...and there is nothing I love more than having interesting, one-of-a-kind pieces! I was SOO excited about this gift! It's done on a piece of real wood and we hung it in the living room.

One of Aaron's favorite gifts...a print I got him of all the types of beer and some specialty beers sent from his friends in California...what a dork.

And I wanted to share this too...Aaron and I have a tradition where I get him goofy socks every Christmas. His feet are always really cold, so I started buying him big chunky knit, character socks. But they are SO hard to find for men! 

So, I took my search to Etsy this year and found a girl that makes hilarious baby booties. Naturally, I had to ask her if she would make a men's size 12 (bahahaha) for an extra fee. She agreed, and I was so excited about them! And Aaron absolutely loves them :)

 I didn't get a picture of him wearing them yet, but here is a shot from her Etsy page.

(She makes adorable stuff - go check her page out!)

Now picture a grown man wearing these ;)

My parents left the evening of Dec 24th and Aaron's family came over on Dec 25th.

We started by decorating some more cookies...

And then opening gifts in the evening (in our pjs of course), and Aubrey and I got the obligatory picture in front of the tree, American Girl doll included ;)

I loved reading all of your Christmas recaps and seeing your family photos - sorry I was so late on getting mine posted!

xx