My Dad, Mom, and Sister came down to stay with us for Christmas this year! It was a real treat to be the one to get the tree, decorate, and do all the cooking and baking. Our place is small, but it was full of cheer. I made my first-ever turkey which was quite an adventure. I was glad to have my mom there to help. Jonathan started a new tradition of making a chocolate cream pie, hopefully it continues because it was good. In addition to our normal traditions, we also went to Comedy Sportz, strolled around Stanford, played games, and enjoyed the sunshine. We felt so blessed to have them with us.

I went to the San Francisco Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker this weekend with Stacey and Charissa. It was so beautiful. The whole time I was grinning because everything was just lovely. The War Memorial Opera House is gorgeous inside and out, too. What a treat! I learned that the first performance of the Nutcracker in the United States was in 1944 by the San Francisco Ballet at the same Opera House, so I felt so blessed to have the opportunity to see something like that.

My cookie party was a lot of fun and a great group of ladies showed up. I was amazed by the abundance of cookies that were contributed. We filled 15 gift boxes plus some gallon freezer bags and still managed to sample a few and take some home. These are the recipes I made and they tasted fantastic: 
Raspberry Pinwheels
Sugar Cookies
Mulled Cider

And here are some photos:

Our friend Jeff is coming to visit this weekend and then my family is coming down Wednesday to begin our Christmas celebration!

It has been cold and a little bit frosty even down here. Time to bundle up in puffy coats and scarves and enjoy hot drinks while strolling through twinkle light decorated streets. Ahhh...

Downtown Mountain View has a tree lighting festival each year that we went to with our friends Josh and Kate.  

We got our Christmas tree and decorated it as well as the apartment. We have some stockings and Christmas cards up and everything is looking festive. This weekend I will be baking dozens of cookies. I am hosting a Cookie Exchange Party on Sunday, only the purpose is to make treat boxes filled with goodies for a local Pregnancy Center affiliated with our church. I'm sure we will eat a few as well, of course. Such a fun time of year!