Riding to work last week I saw carols at Grace Cathedral advertised on the side of a bus, so I bought some tickets for Greg, Lisa, Lilia and me to attend the carols service on Saturday. None of us had ever been inside the beautiful cathedral sitting atop Nob Hill, it was magically decorated and packed for the occasion. Lilia only lasted a few songs – definitely wasn’t geared to young children – before I took her out for a walk around the cathedral grounds, but it was a fun experience and definitely made us feel like Christmas was on its way.
On Christmas Eve we ventured down to Walnut Street in Santa Rosa to view the lights for which the street is famous. We arrived a little too early this year but still caught a few houses with their lights turned on as the sun was setting. For dinner we were joined at Lisa’s parents house by Graham, Nikki, Suzanne, Luke, Katrina, Owen, Gail and Randy, lots of fun to have the family and friends together to welcome Christmas!
Lilia was up at 5:15AM on Christmas morning, asking to play with the new kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa she spotted under the tree way before the sun was up. She was so engrossed with opening presents this year, much more in tune to the idea of Christmas than she was in 2012. It wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without Grandpa Greg’s homemade cinnamon rolls – he didn’t disappoint – and brandy milk punches were flowing by mid-morning. Luke, Katrina and Owen joined us after Owen was up from his morning nap, Lilia directed present giving and unwrapping until everything under the tree was spoken for. Lots of beautiful and thoughtful gifts, another year gone by, they are going way too quickly…
Thank you Sammy – makes us here in Oz feel closer to you all Stateside. Great photos once again
Love the hand holding shot…too cute
How good is all that? Love the vid. Stronger by the day is your Max. And Lilia leading the present giving, love it.xxoo