December catch up

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December has been full of good stuff. Last night at the family party we got a great picture of Winter with her auntie Becca.... Becca always gets red-eye in her photo's I need to figure out how to fix this. 

The weather here in Sacramento has been crazy cold at least for this born and bred southern California girl. It seems like we went from 80's to 40's over night. I don't remember a change this drastic in the past 7 years we have been here. Of course I think I say that every year! Because it' so cold I frequently find Jack & Blue dog snuggled together on Becca's bed. They know they aren't supposed to be there but seem to just blow me off these days, when I tell them to get down. Normally these two are mortal enemies with Jack being the grumpy old dog he is..... but with Shelby passing a year ago Jack seems to tolerate Blue much better these days. I think he will be doggie lonely when Becca moves out this weekend and takes Blue with her!

In early December Oscar surprised me with a weekend away in Napa. Between the holidays and career changes for both of us and the fact that our house has tons of people in it.... we needed a little time away. We stumbled upon the 15th Annual Lighted tractor parade in Calistoga and it was so much fun! It got cold once the sun went down but totally worth the freezing bums! I think this will become an annual tradition for us, we had such  a good time. We stayed at a lovely little B&B that Oscar found. Our room had a huge tub (room for 3) and we took total advantage with 2 baths in 12 hours... it was heaven to relax! We did a round of cheese tastings and found that brie is lovely with a light crisp toast and fresh honeycomb.... YUM

Winter had her first illness the first week of December we are thinking it was roseola given her 103 to 104 temp for 3 days and then a  fun rash. She spent days just laying around looking sad, many of these hours on Grandpa's chest while he watched TV and cuddled with her. We figured out what a happy baby she normally is when her smile disappeared for 3 days, it was wonderful to have it back! She also managed to get a regular cold which she has passed on to every member of the household.... little carrier monkey that she is! She is back to her normal smiling self despite the lingering nose and chest congestion.....

Our life group pictured above had  a fun time on Thursday with our Christmas party and gift exchange. The most traded item of the evening was the Jesus action figure, finally secured by the van Riessen's for Molly...or so Amy's says... I think she secretly wanted it for herself!....lol The event had somewhat of a bitter sweet feeling as this was our last official gathering as the van Riessen Life Group. Pregnant with twins Garrett & Paige,  Steve and Amy have decided to take a break from leading life group to focus on their rapidly expanding family. We are very supportive of this decision as a group but individually we all will miss their leadership every Thursday night along with the yummy dinner Amy provided for us. WE all shared what we learned in life group the past several years and there was a common thread among the shares.... that was the feelings of family, closeness and love that our life group felt with each other. That speaks volumes about the leadership Amy & Steve provided. 

At evenings end, Jesus was left paired up with Cinderella as we all departed. 

Final notes without pictures....

Jonathan came home a day early for leave and we are so glad he was able to be here. I've yet to have a Christmas without my children, I know now that they are all adults, some in the military and others with children of their own these holidays will change in the years to come but for now I'm thankful to get at least one more year together!

Thanks to the little carrier monkey, everyone in the household is fighting a cold but we are winning the battle with lots of Theraflu and Vicks vapor rub.... amazing stuff really.

Just 5 more days until Santa comes....... and I only need two more presents! Then I'm hoping the wrapping fairy will come...man I hate wrapping gifts!