Holidays 2014

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2014 was different for us as I was working.  Usually, we have a late-afternoon meal on Thursday at a restaurant offering traditional Thanksgiving fare, and we enjoy the rest of the day by tucking into one of our favorite bars/pubs.  Then, we are usually off the next day for our annual Thanksgiving trip - at least that part was the same as we left for our London/Lisbon trip the Friday after Thanksgiving.  However, for actual Thanksgiving day I was working (as mentioned), and I enjoyed a potluck Thanksgiving feast with my co-workers.  Also, my hospital provided everyone working on Thanksgiving with take-home Thanksgiving meal boxes, which Matt and I took advantage of the next day before heading off for our trip.  AND, finally for actual Thanksgiving dinner with my husband, Matt prepared a yummy meal for us - with the help of Whole Foods and the mashed sweet potatoes I made for my hospital potluck :)

Fun Potluck at Work

Thanksgiving Dinner at Home

Christmas

Christmas 2014 was a wonderful holiday with us back in Texas enjoying time with family and friends.  We partook in all of the usual traditions - cookie baking with the Burketts, family dinners with the Pharrs, Christmas day split between both families and some quality time with friends.  We are very lucky that our family and friends are in close proximity to each other in Texas so that we get to see all, or most, of them when we go home :)

Cookie Time with the Burketts

Grandma and Brandon mixing the dough

Proud Cookie Makers

Keagan

Nykkolaas and Alekzandr

Jacob and Me - aka The Aggies - WHOOP! :)

My beautiful mother :)

Dad and his masterpiece

Every year, he comes up with the coolest cookie design

Christmas Eve Date Night

Every year, Matt and I attend the Christmas Eve service at the church in which we were married, the Church of the Incarnation, and enjoy a steak dinner out before the service.

Christmas Morning

We usually spend our Christmas morning at the Burketts, where we start by reading the Christmas story as a family and then dig into the presents.

Christmas Lunch

Now that the presents are opened, it's time for lunch!

Christmas with Friends

Every year at Christmas-time, we get together with our friends, and we almost never get pics. This year, we managed to get two! Thanks to my dear friend, Stacey, I have them to share with you guys :)

Started with brunch

A little bit of bar hopping after brunch :)

New Year's Eve

Last New Year's Eve was our first time to stay in and pop our own champagne while watching the ball drop on the tube - which, to us, illustrated how old we are getting.  For 2014, I was working New Year's Eve day, so we decided to stay home again.  The plan was to have a fun dinner of fish and chips, drink champagne and watch the ball drop.  I did make the fish and chips, which were yummy, but sadly, we fell asleep before the ball dropped, and never even popped the champagne!  The champagne made for good mimosas the next day with breakfast, though ;)  Oh well... there is always next year... errr, this year ;)