Christmas Time in the Bay

Playing catch up again....
In December we were very diligent in our Christmas season celebrations.

One Friday night a group of us went ice skating in Union Square in San Francisco. 
                 

It was expensive and the rink was small but we had a good time. The size of the rink didn’t matter too much because the Californian’s didn’t really skate as much as cling to the side railings. 

 Though I can't knock the Californians too much because we too spent a lot of time on the side rails taking pictures of ourselves.

  It was a new experience to skate next to palm trees and when it’s not freezing outside.

The next day included a ward Christmas brunch in a beautiful home in Palo Alto. It was decorated for Christmas and everyone commented on  how nice it was to be in a “real home” again.  Later that day we decided to put Christmas lights on our roof. 

Luckily Alex helped us, and with 4 people on the roof we got it done in no time. We don’t own a ladder, so we had to go out of Caroline’s window and climb onto the roof. 

The next weekend we threw the Christmas party of the year at our house. 

We dressed up accordingly, had delicious food, played Christmas trivia (with prizes and all), and had an abundance of mistletoe-one hanging in the doorway, and two floating around the room with the help of some balloons. It was a hit.

We even had a Santa Clause appearance. 

The next day we went classy and went to the EY company Christmas party. With all of the ward members who work at EY and their “plus one’s” we were able to get a fun group together. The theme was Casino Royale and I unsuccessfully tried playing the casino games. Still confused on the rules of black jack. There was a dance floor and we were much more successful doing that.

There is one street in San Carlos that goes all out when it comes to Christmas lights, so we went to have a Sunday stroll admiring them. 

It was seriously crazy and there were hundreds of people also there looking at the lights. I feel bad for anyone who buys a house on that street without knowing what goes down on the holidays.

One FHE we made ginger bread houses.

They really weren't that impressive. 

My company had a Christmas party, and let me tell you without really telling you, the preparation/execution was all sorts of dramatic and crazy. But in the end there was a somewhat ill planned party, but a party none the less. I won a Fitbit and got a free meal, so I was happy enough. 

Then I went home for Christmas, I was home for 10 days which was great. 
On Christmas Eve we had our annual nativity. 

It included a very stylin wise man, and a busy business man-one of the more unappreciated and unknown roles.

After Christmas we spent some time in Salt Lake. 

Which included swimming at the hotel, walking around temple square, and watching water fountain shows-multiple times. 

It's always fun to be home and with family. 

Overall, it was a very festive holiday season.