christmas! ah, christmas. it feels weird to recall it now, since it seems like it all happened months ago in a whirlwind of ribbon and wrapping paper. it always goes too fast, doesn’t it?

anyway.

the timing of our christmas celebrations has always worked out extremely well (thank goodness, as it’s favorable to avoid drama whenever possible). we spend christmas eve with ryan’s mom’s side of the family, christmas day with mine and the day after christmas with ryan’s dad. we even added a little something new to our holiday this year: christmas eve breakfast at the ginns <3

let me rewind a few weeks. the season got off to a jumpstart the weekend after thanksgiving when ryan strung icicle lights outside (so pretty) and we bought our christmas tree, the first in our new house.

during that same week, ellie and i gave ryan an evening to himself and went with my parents to the tilden park merry-go-round to see it all done up in lights for the holidays. it was beautiful! we braved the cold long enough to go for two rides, enjoyed some fresh popcorn and, most importantly, each other’s company. i think we’ll make it a tradition!

the rest of december flew by. we decorated cookies with friends, took pictures with santa at the mall and partook in other fun christmas-type activities. the next thing we knew, it was the morning of christmas eve and we were enjoying a delicious homemade breakfast with our favorite couple, matt and alyssa. it was cozy, relaxing and the perfect way to start the holiday. we were so happy to be invited.

after breakfast we went back home for a bit before heading over to ryan’s mom’s house in our pajamas (danielle’s idea, and one we all embraced). we enjoyed another delicious meal and then sat down to open the piles of presents that surrounded the tree. we all spoiled each other, as families often do, and ellie (the most spoiled of all because she is the baby) was in absolute heaven.

we arrived home late that night, but not too late to put out cookies, milk and carrots. ellie woke up bright and early the next morning, and ryan made sure to have his iphone ready to record her reaction to the sight that santa had come.

after presents, breakfast and a little play time, we headed over to my mom and dad’s for more family time and yes, more presents! the best part was when my dad opened his new computer from my mom. most expensive gift ever! well, except for that time she bought him the mercedes … just kidding. needless to say, he was happy.

from there we drove an hour and a half to my aunt and uncle’s house for christmas dinner. it was good to see both them and my cousins, since we hadn’t spent time together for a good six months. the company was good and the prime rib dinner was delicious.

as burnt out as we may have felt after the initial marathon of christmas eve and christmas day, we drove home and woke up refreshed the next morning, ready to make the three-hour drive to ryan’s dad’s house in the foothills. it’s always a special treat to spend time with geoff, rodi and the girls. it was really nice to see miss lily, too, who has gotten so much bigger since her birthday! we opened our third round of presents, enjoyed yet another feast and called it a night by the wood burning stove.

ryan really hit the nail on the head in his earlier post about being a parent at christmastime. i know i haven’t enjoyed christmas morning quite so much since i was little. the very best part of the holiday season, aside from all the time spent with loved ones, is the light in ellie’s eyes, watching her imagination work in overdrive when we talk about santa and his reindeer, snowmen, stockings and christmas morning. there really is no greater joy.

hope you all had a warm and cozy holiday season <3

that’s right … an entire season!

i have infinite good things to say about this past fall: the half moon bay pumpkin festival, all the halloween parties we attended in october (including our niece lily’s first birthday), trick-or-treating with our own little bumblebee, our newest mother/daughter hobby: messy art with the parks + rec department, our ride on the ferry to pier 39, our annual photoshoot with the amazing niki du, our three thanksgiving dinners (my first turkey!) and MORE, but that would take a solid few days of focus and, let’s face it, i’m just not motivated enough to commit to that.

*INHALE* so, let’s go the lazy route and look at a few photos.

the pumpkin festival was fantastic. we walked main street and took in the arts + crafts, ellie got her face painted for the first time, and she and pop danced in the streets. we left with a trunk full of pumpkins “because,” ryan insisted, “we have a HOUSE now.” gotta keep that front porch festive :)

trick-or-treating was wonderful. we opted to stick to our own neighborhood and get a feel for our new neighbors instead of meeting up with friends. ellie did great and was polite as ever with her pleases and thank yous before she ran home to check out her loot.

we took the ferry to san francisco with my mom a few weeks back. it was ellie’s first time on a boat and, while she wasn’t as impressed as i thought she might be, she really enjoyed herself at pier 39. she was fascinated by the sea lions, thrilled to ride the double-decker merry-go-round, and very pleased with her first churro.

a few days after our ferry boat experience, my lovely friend and former coworker niki came out to our house to take our annual family photos.

she did such an incredible job shooting ellie last year, i couldn’t wait for her to work her magic again! while ellie was a little more difficult this time around (much more independent, defiant and, you know, AGE 2), niki still managed to snap some real gems, photos ryan and i will cherish for a lifetime. thank you, niki!

thanksgiving wrapped up our cozy autumn with big family feasts at ryan’s dad’s house, ryan’s mom’s house, and my parents at our house. wine tasting in camino, seeing kyle, tai and danielle, and making my first thanksgiving turkey were some of the highlights.

i’m glad ryan posted a little something about christmas. i’ll go into more detail in a later post, but in the meantime …

happy new year!
from our family to yours <3

i posted this to facebook the day after christmas but since it was an ‘in the moment’ sentiment i wanted to capture it in some sort of formal way. so, i’m including it here.

merry christmas!

this was the first christmas we really were able to incorporate the concept of santa with ellie. she really got it and even spoke to him when she sat on his lap, explaining what she wanted for christmas (“a belle barbie”).

it has never felt so good to be a dad.

ellie’s wonderful grandma shirley recently had a birthday, so in honor of her special day, we had her and robert over for appetizers, dinner, drinks, presents, cake, music and fun.

i prepared some finger foods and a yummy salad, and ryan made his famous tangy glazed pork tenderloin (by request of the birthday girl herself), and then we brought out the cake. it wasn’t homemade this year, but it was a baskin-robbins ice cream cake, and a very cute one if you ask me :)

of course ellie helped with the make-a-wish-and-blow-out-the-candles part, and then they all had a good time playing the “you have frosting on your nose” game, which made for some very cute pictures.

happy birthday, grandma! we love you!

three friday sunsets ago, my dad and i left the bay area to spend the weekend in gold country. we checked into our sonora hotel late that first night and spent a few hours talking and listening to music before we hit the hay. we woke up leisurely the next morning and stopped at the local walmart (barf, but their stuff is cheap) for lawn chairs and a bag of trail mix before heading to the 29th annual fiddle & banjo contest in columbia.

i can’t tell you how great it was to simply sit there and enjoy the music without worrying about a 2-year-old (no offense, ells). in all honesty, i can’t even remember the last time i got out of bed when i wanted to and just went about my day casually without having to stick to a schedule. it was the best! so yeah, we spent most of saturday sitting in our lawn chairs people watching, eating chips and hot dogs and listening to contestants young and old put on their best fiddle and banjo performances.

it was also cool to kick down the dirt roads of columbia and take pictures of old buildings i haven’t seen since i was a kid.

later that afternoon we headed back to our hotel and hung out for awhile before walking down the street for dinner at outlaws bbq & steakhouse. it reminded me a little of good ol’ hickory pit in that it was more on the dive level than that of an upscale steakhouse, but MAN the food was tasty.

then we bought a deck of cards and spent the remainder of the evening drinking a little more than we should and playing gin rummy, just like the old days.

thanks for an awesome father-daughter weekend, dad. i look forward to many more before we’re through :) xoxo!