Home for the Holidays!

Oh, where do I even begin? Our trip home for the holidays was absolutely wonderful!!! Every waking moment was spoken for, but it was totally worth it to have such quality time with our families and close friends. I can’t remember a Christmas I’ve enjoyed more!

We arrived in Portland around 7:00pm on December 21st and rushed straight over to Isaac’s sister’s house for their second baby’s gender reveal party. We were so honored (and thrilled) that they waited the extra week to find out what they were having so that we could be a part of the experience!

Looks like we’re having another NIECE! YAY!!! We can’t wait to meet her this summer!

The cats were thrilled to have us home- both for snuggling and for the fact that our suitcases, boxes, and bags provided them with endless hiding places!

 

Mom’s house looked like a winter wonderland!

We spent Christmas Eve down in Salem with the Marshalls. Leah joined us for a leisurely afternoon of shopping. That evening we attended a Christmas Eve service, complete with glow sticks. Talk about your modern twist on the candlelight service! We then ordered Chinese food and brought it back to the house. After changing into our jammies we chowed down and watched Elf. It was the perfect evening!

After a scrumptious Christmas brunch, we surrounded Rich and Sandy’s gorgeous Christmas tree and opened presents! This has become one of our favorite Christmas traditions, as each member of the family opens one gift at a time, with everyone else eagerly watching. It’s such a nice way to savor every minute of our time together and honor each thoughtful gift.

Rich and Sandy gave each of us themed gift boxes this year- SO awesome! Our rustic crate was filled with all sorts of darling driftwood details, aqua accents, and a blu-ray DVD player for Wayfarer Cottage. It was such a thoughtful gesture and we LOVED everything!

VB’s got a movie date night box.

C & C got a Blazer themed date night box.

Leah got a shopping themed box.

Morgan and her new globe. Now that she’s getting older, we thought we’d try and help her gain a better understanding of where China is located. Yeah, the concept is still a bit abstract for a 3 year old, but it never hurts to introduce new ideas=). We taught her that when the sun goes down in Oregon it goes to China. I cannot tell you how darling it sounds when she says that!!!

Chris and Cheryl got us these awesome custom beer glasses from the Pelican. They bought Pelican beers, enjoyed them, and then had a friend cut the bottles down into glasses. How cool are these?! We LOVE them!

Isaac’s fake market finds- yep, the Blazers are all the way over in China!

I ordered this darling “Cereal Killer” spoon from Lisa. She’s the creative talent who made our Wayfarer Cottage key chains, and she was SO wonderful to work with again! If you need anything engraved, I highly recommend Lisa.

Morgan looked so cute in the Panda hat Isaac got her during his trip to Chengdu.

Oh, I LOVE this girl!!!

In the afternoon we hopped onto I-5 North and drove to the McDaniel’s house. There we opened presents and partook in a mouth-watering Christmas feast! We enjoyed chatting with everyone (and nibbling on Christmas cookies!) until the wee hours of the morning.

My aunt and uncle made us this fabulous driftwood Christmas tree for the cottage, using driftwood they found in Winema. LOVE it!

I know, come warmer weather, T is going to be rocking his Masai tire shoes around Bellingham!

One of the most heart-warming, memorable, and hilarious points of the evening was our late night caroling session. I will never forget Tristan’s falsetto during the hymn, Come and Worship. Priceless!

In the days following Christmas, we were able to spend some wonderful quality time with some of our besties!