A Rainy Christmas

Hailing from Oregon means I never dream of a white Christmas, I dream of a rainy Christmas. For two weeks at the end of December and beginning of January Nicholas and I went home to Oregon to visit both our families. We had a wonderful time, and miss being so close to family. Here are some pictures to show some of what we did.

This is my sweet niece Anna, my sister Jen's daughter. She is 17 months and is so much fun! This is what happens when you pull out a camera...
This is my niece Kaitlyn, my sister Cindy's daughter. I absolutely adore her! We're playing telephone, one of her favorite games. These two girls are 3 months apart and we have such a great time together.

Bouncing down the stairs is a lot of fun!

Kaitlyn and I were Santa's little helpers on Christmas Eve.

This was Kaitlyn's reaction to my mother's delicious fruit dip. Apparently she wasn't a big fan.

This is my sweet daddy enjoying Christmas Eve with the family!

A tradition for my family is we all get together and exchange family gifts on Christmas Eve and there is typically dinner involved.

This is my niece Abby and her reaction to my gift for her: Hannah Montana the movie soundtrack!! OH YEAH!

Abby and my sister Cindy (front) made the rest of my sisters and my mom scarves. We all loved the colors and fuzziness!

Cindy and youngest daughter Kaitlyn having fun playing together. So cute!

Abby gave her aunties a makeover, a tradition whenever I get to come and visit. Aunt Jen got an initial branded on her forehead and we both got our awesome lines detailed like explosions coming out of our eyes. Beautiful!!

Oh, but we got her back! She is such a sweet girl! We have a lot of fun together.

Another family tradition (we have a lot) is that we eat at a local restaurant near my parents' home every New Year's Eve. We have been doing this for as long as I can remember...the best Chinese food ever! Beef and Broccoli, Parchment Chicken, Won Ton Soup, Chicken Fried Rice are some of my favorites. Okay, maybe I generally just like the food!

My sister Jen and I decided to paint my parents' dining room for a Christmas gift. This is the mostly completed project.

After a traditional family dinner of spaghetti and meatballs we had to give Anna and Kaitlyn a bath. We must have took a few dozen pictures of them. Look at those big, beautiful, brown eyes.

Kaitlyn and her little cheesy smile is having a great time. She loved blowing bubbles in the water and inevitably would choke a little. So cute!

Nick got a wittle sweepy towards the end of the trip. In my family, we can't just let sleeping dogs lie...what fun is that?!

I realize that there aren't any pictures of Nick's family, and all I can say is sorry. However, our Thanksgiving trip provided a lot of Nick's family, so you can look at those if you want!