Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas this year was fantastic. On Christmas Eve, the whole family came over to the Rosens where Daniel and I are staying. Julie made her traditional Cuban meal of pork, yucca, black beans, and rice. Christmas Eve in Cuba is called Noche Buena. It was absolutely delicious! My whole family, Daniel's whole family, plus Evan's girlfriend Kristy and her mom, plus some Rosen family friends were here. We had 18 people in all. It was a blast. Nicole and I had to leave around 6:15 to go play bells at church. The service was lovely, though not as impressive as usual. I really enjoyed seeing some people I haven't seen in quite a while. After the service, we went to the Bamboo House for dinner with all the usual church people. This time, Sarah met us there and Evan and Kristy came too! I wasn't really interested in eating again, but it was fun to visit with our friends. I was already getting so tired. We left around 10pm and went back to my parents' house to open some gifts. My mom had to work at 5am the next morning, so we just opened a few presents. Daniel and I collapsed absolutely exhausted around midnight.

This morning, I was the first one up! The Rosens are late sleepers on Christmas. Everyone slowly gathered in the kitchen and we got some breakfast while we waited for Evan to drive up from Tempe. When he got here we opened presents! This was the first year I wasn't in my parents' house on Christmas morning. It was kind of weird, but fun too. I missed my family and the feeling of familiarity and predictability. But, as I told my sister, things will never be the same anymore. We're all adults and more and more we will have other obligations. Soon we'll all be married with kids. Daniel and I got so many nice gifts. As a Rosen tradition, we all went to the movies. We saw "It's Complicated." I thought it was really funny and cute, but most of the guys didn't like it. Julie and Daniel liked it though. After the movie we headed back to my parents' house. My mom got off work around 2 and we finished opening our presents. We got more very nice gifts. My brother in particular gave us very nice gifts. My dad made me book ends that are beautiful. He used glass cups and put a picture in one side and filled them with colored sand. Then he poured wax in the top to seal in the sand. They are so beautiful and will be perfect to hold up my textbooks above my desk. I think that's my favorite gift this year.

Around 3:30 we all drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we met George and Shirley. Daniel's parents also met us there. We opened presents and had an absolutely delicious meal of prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole! Yummy!! After 3 hours, we started talking politics so that's when we knew it was time to go :-) The Rosens have very different political views from my grandparents who also have different political views than my Aunt and Uncle. So... we try to stay away from that topic if we can help it. Anyways, Daniel and I spent this evening packing up all our gifts. We had to fit everything in two large suitcases.

Tomorrow my whole family including my parents, grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, Nicole and Mike, are driving to Hollywood. There we will meet my Uncle and Aunt, their two daughters and their husbands. So it will be quite the reunion! We're going to Disneyland, the Magic Castle, Santa Monica pier, the Reagan library, the Long Beach Aquarium, etc. Then on New Years Eve, my family is dropping off me and Daniel at the pier before they drive back to Phoenix. Daniel's parents will meet us there where we will board our cruise ship! We are going to Catalina Island and Ensenada in 4 days. We are going kayaking and maybe ATVing or horseback riding. I'm so excited! Both trips are going to be really fun. I'm a little nervous about California. Being around my family nonstop for 6 days will be a little difficult at times I'm sure. This whole holiday has made me really appreciate that Daniel and I have a wonderful house where we can have our own space and our own time together. I won't have a computer for the next 10 days so.. happy new year!