Thanksgiving was a quiet one this year so I didn't document it too much. We spent the morning trying to watch the Macy's day parade and the Purina Dog Show (We don't have cable so we tried the internet. Wasn't too successful.), spent the afternoon baking the pies and cooking the bird, and then after everything was prepared, we joked and laughed over a hot meal while we reflected over all the things we were thankful for. And there's a lot of things we are thankful for.
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| Murphy's share. |
A few days later, we found out the Festival of Lights was happening in Niagara Falls. It was going to be chilly but I really wanted to go so we packed on the layers, grabbed some hot cocoa and donut holes at the North Eastern favorite- Tim Hortons, and drove an hour and a half to the Falls.
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| Niagara Falls Squirrel and Peter stare off. |
It was freezing. But the Falls were beautiful. I think next year we'll go to the Canadian side. While the American side has an awesome view, we hear that there is more to do in Canada. We've been to Niagara twice now and I can't wait to go again!
We then took the long, frustrating flight to Utah to spend Christmas with the Visser family (The story is a bit long and I don't feel like going into detail about how Delta Airlines has given us yet another headache. Just know we still dislike Delta and probably will for a very long time.)
This was my first Christmas I've had with my niece Lucy in a long time (you can tell because of all the pictures I have taken of her.). I was excited to interact with her and watch how much she's grown since I've last seen her. But it was great seeing as many of the siblings I could (we missed you Daniel and Cassie!) and doing all of the fun Visser traditions I missed doing. We loved catching up with Bobby, his wife Lisa, their dog Remi, and the whole Blind family. We were blessed to be able to spend the whole day with them before Christmas and miss them so much!
We love being with our friends and our family. It's as simple as that.
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| When that little voice wants Aunt Jill to make her a fort so JuJu can read her a story in it. Aunt Jill makes that little voice a fort. |
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| JuJu and Lucy's relationship is so sweet. |
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| We had our Christmas eve dinner at Michael and Cambri's place. It's no secret that Cambri is a natural when it comes to decorating her place. She is such a good designer and her Parmesan Chicken was perfect. |
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| Lucy sure loves her Daddy! |
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| The look a two year old makes when you tell her there's a dragon coming. |
She just loves Momma!
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| Don't worry. We don't practice our throwing skills on toddlers. We just couldn't help but laugh at her reaction of having the ball tossed to her. Though I'm sure the way Grandpa was tossing it wasn't helping. |
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| Lucy's point of view. |
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| Multiple takes of our Visser Family Christmas Picture. |
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| This was taken earlier that week. I sure miss these mountains! |
At the Christmas Carol play (A Visser family tradition), and the Barnes Family Christmas day with our stash!
The time came, like it always does, for us to get back to our home. I was ready to be back in our own place, but that doesn't mean I was just as sad to say goodbye to my family.
Before we left, we had breakfast/early lunch at Market Street Grill in Salt Lake City. Lucy was doing a good job at keeping my spirits up by her silly faces.
We made it to our apartment tired and homesick. When we got the mail, we saw all our Christmas cards that were sent to us while we were gone. We loved it and it helped the homesickness a bit. We are so grateful for such wonderful people in our lives.
Every Christmas I have with my family and with my husband is a great Christmas. And this one was just as great. I can't wait to see what this New Year brings to the Barnes family and I can't wait until next Christmas!
