This Christmas was one to remember. It all began with a trip to the outskirts of Issaquah to fetch our first Christmas Tree! We stopped by Target on the way home and got all the fixins to decorate our apartment festively. Once our place was all set up, the rest of the Christmas season was full of relaxation and time spent with family. With Kyle's dental offices closed and Kelly's school out for the holidays, we were able to visit both the Blairs and Ginneys.
We headed down to Kelly's parents' house in Rocklin, CA and spent the days leading up to Christmas relaxing and seeing friends, including a great lunch with Taylor and Brittney Lawrence. It's always fun catching up with them and as usual, we had lots of laughs. Then came Christmas Eve, which always means Cioppino night, a Ginney family tradition. Kyle learned a few tricks from Dave while he whipped up his seafood stew masterpiece. Then we opened presents:) Christmas day we went to see a movie and then headed over to the Rahimis for a nice Christmas dinner followed by a few games of XBox Kinect Adventures. After we were all tuckered out from jumping around all evening, it was back home to the Ginney's house to get some rest for a long drive up to Tahoe the next day. The Ginney family shares a cabin with all Kelly's uncles and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend two days and a night up in the mountains playing in the snow and relaxing in front of a roaring fire. Our second day in the mountains we wandered around Tahoe City before heading back down to Rocklin and spent our last night in California during the holidays.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed off to the airport where we got a nice little surprise. Our flight home was overbooked, so they were looking for volunteers to give up their seats. I walked up to the counter, asked what the deal was, and wouldn't you know it, we were offered $300 a piece in flight vouchers and were bumped up to First Class on a later flight to Seattle. The best part: all we had to do was wait 1 extra hour at the airport! We were pretty stoked.
After a couple days relaxing at our apartment in Kirkland, we drove over to Sun Cove to visit Kyle's parents in Orondo, WA for New Years. When we arrived, we ate dinner, opened presents, and visited with Scott, Leslie, and Kendall, who was home from medical school for the holidays. Our time was filled with nice walks, board games, and good meals. For New Years' Eve, Karen and Paul Dobrasz came over and we played games until midnight struck and we watched the Space Needle fireworks on TV. After a little more time with the family, we headed back to Kirkland to get ready to go back to school and work.
The holidays were wonderful. We love our family and friends and the holidays give us a lot of time to spend with both. Thanks to everyone for being so hospitable and making us feel at home. We love you guys!
