December Daily - Day 26

Yesterday was such a full day of happiness that by the time I got to do my daily post I was beat! We started the day being sweetly serenaded by baby J from her crib. While she enjoyed her breakfast, B and I opened our stockings. He gave me something I've had my eye on for a long long time, a soft hand bound leather journal with handmade paper!!! Oh it is so beautiful :) I'm going to use it to write little notes to baby J about some of the funny things she does and says as she grows up. It should be a lot of fun once she starts talking, haha!

Then we all got prettied up and went to church for a lovely Christmas day service. It was special for Christmas to actually land on a Sunday this year, it meant we got two services full of wonderful hymns and songs that I love to sing. :)

After church we headed to my parents' for a day of too much good food, some tasty wine, gifts and fun times to add to the memory banks. We were able to get a few special pictures in front of the tree while it was still piled around with gifts. Little baby J has had an amazing first Christmas experience. It was sweet, during dinner she was staring down my food, I made a comment that last year we all found about her pending arrival, this year she was with us at the table, and next year she'll be eating with us. We wrapped up the fun day by watching "Tangled" together, so much fun. It was a beautiful day.

Today B's aunt and girlfriend came down from Santa Barbara to spent the afternoon with us. We had such a great time visiting with them both!! We are basically the same person which has always made it feel like I'm talking to an old friend and kindred spirit. For lunch we went to our favorite little Sushi restaurant. The food was amazingly delicious, as always. I tried a cold filtered sake that I had never had and it was really yummy, I'll have to try it again some time (soon). What could we do to follow up such an amazing lunch? Go to Stone Brewery, of course :) We enjoyed some great beers and the beautiful garden. While there though, we saw a little girl make a sliding tackle into a wooden stump stool. She got quite the shiner! Poor baby girl. The end of the day wrapped up with a little bit more visiting with the gals then B and I watched "The Help" snuggled up on the couch. What a wonderful way to conclude our four day Christmas celebration!

Just a few more days of December Daily but those will be filled with end of year contemplations and reflections. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!