Merry Christmas!

Well, as usual it has been a crazy December! As soon as soccer finished, I flew out to Arizona to spend a night at my parents, then we spent 3 days at Disneyland... heading back up to the Bay Area the Monday before Christmas. Zac and I worked Tuesday morning, then drove down to San Luis Obispo Tuesday afternoon. We stopped at Eagle Castle Winery in Paso Robles on our way to his parent's house in Los Osos. [I think we've made our decision to have our wedding here, by the way.]

Christmas in SLO was fun. Zac and I were able to meet up with a few of his friends from high school and college, as well as spend time with his siblings, Marcus and Marissa and his parents! We visited wineries [Wolff Vineyards and Claiborne and Churchill Vintners] where we are members at to pick up wine shipments, and have a glass of wine. On Christmas Eve, Zac's Grandpa and his friend Fey came to visit and have the family's big Christmas Eve crab dinner with us. What a fun evening! We all gathered around the dinner table for a great meal, spent time together opening Christmas presents, and finished off the night with some excellent pies for dessert!

Rise and shine! Early Christmas morning, Zac and I hit the road with our dog, Parker. I am so lucky that Zac is willing to wake up early so we can drive home to the Bay Area so that I am able to help cook with holiday meals.. what a treat! We were a bit concerned about finding food since it was Christmas day, but were lucky to find a drive through coffee shop open just before we got onto Highway 101 to head north. Two breakfast burritos and two large cups of coffee.. and we were off! We got home to San Carlos, and spent time with my parents and brother opening Christmas presents and enjoying lunch. After that, it was time to get all the cooking done and preparation for Christmas dinner. My grandmother, Auntie Sha and cousin Rachel arrived in the late afternoon with presents, some food, and champange in hand! Everyone got settled as my Dad finished up the cooking for Christmas dinner, I poured glasses of champagne, and everyone spent some time together talking about their Christmas mornings. We were treated with a big rib roast and all the fixings for dinner, along with wines and sparkling cider.. YUM. Then time to open Christmas presents.. followed by what amounted to 5 or 6 pies for dessert! And of course, I brewed up an extra special pot of coffee for Christmas dessert.

Stay tuned... More to come on our day after Christmas and Orange County trip!

Merry Christmas 2009 everyone!