Back Home At Last!

I know it's been forever since my last post, so I have tons to catch up on. Christmas and New Year's may be old news now, but I'm still going to do a series of posts about our Christmas and New Year's spent with my family in San Diego. Here goes the first one....

Getting Ready for Christmas!

We arrived in San Diego on December 21'st, so luckily we had a few days to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, wrap presents, and make Christmas treats. The weather was really warm down there, so Kirsten got to wear some of her short-sleeved outfits for the first time in months! She was so happy to see her Grandma and Grandpa again, and have more people to play with.

While we made food in the kitchen, Kirsten had a fun time in the "non-Pediatrician-approved" walker that I used when I was a baby. I don't own one of these, but we kept an eye on her the whole time she was in it and she had a great time!

She moved around the kitchen by scooting backwards, and she especially loved throwing toys off the tray and waiting for someone to pick them up for her.

While she scooted around the kitchen, we made some of my favorite Christmas treats like chocolate mint brownies and Santa cookies. I used to make the Santa cookies with my grandma when I was a little kid. Yum!!!

Christmas Eve dinner was awesome, with prime rib and (the best thing in the entire world...) orange rolls! They're not the sticky sweet orange rolls like the Pillsbury ones out of the can. They're light, fluffy, and perfect with a small amount of sugary orange filling. I've had these every Christmas of my entire life, and I always look forward to them. Stephen thinks they're great too. Since I didn't get them for Thanksgiving this year, I was SO excited for them and they certainly didn't disappoint!

After dinner we put Kirsten to bed, filled each other's stockings, and then watched the Muppet Christmas Carol and Small One. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve!