We had an enjoyable holiday season! We kicked off after Ryan's return home from his last work trip for a few months! We enjoyed time as a family and time with friends.
Cannon was super excited about my birthday this year. Ryan surprised me by booking an appointment for me to get a 90 minute massage! He planned it for the beginning of January when he could take a day off and stay with Cannon. I have to say that 90 minutes went by too fast and I could have stayed for another hour! But it was wonderful nonetheless.
The day after my birthday Ryan and I went to the Orlando Temple together. It was a very spiritual and insightful time for me. Afterwards we ate a nice lunch at Seasons 52 and halfway through we remembered that there is a Chuys just up the freeway a bit! Duh! Cannon stayed at the Patrick's house and he was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave.
It was fun to pick our Christmas tree and decorate the house. Cannon loves Christmas music and much of our days were spent listening to the same songs over and over again. He fell in love with Frank Sinatra's CD, particularly the Jingle Bells song. Each night we read scriptures by candlelight, something that Cannon looked forward to. And we looked at Christmas lights and drank hot cocoa and watched a few Christmas movies throughout the month. On Christmas Eve night we set out cookies for Santa and I transcribed a note from Cannon to Santa. He was thrilled with the thought that Santa would come into our house and eat the cookies!
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| Even Cannon appreciated the beauty in Kylene's gift wrapping! |
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| Singing at the ward Christmas party |
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| And there was even a special visitor that night! |
Christmas day was wonderful! Cannon peeked downstairs and started laughing. He said, "Mom, there's something funny downstairs!" He was referring to the model skeleton Santa left for him. It was a slow relaxing morning and we all enjoyed watching each other open our gifts. We ate crepes, our any-holiday traditional breakfast, and the dogs enjoyed their Christmas treats. We talked to all of our family by phone or FaceTime. Later in the afternoon we spent Christmas dinner with our dear friends, the Kanooths, and our new friends, the Rigby's (who just moved here from Australia). And I got to hold baby Eli who was just a month old.
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| Noah, Cannon, Savannah, and Micah |
For the next couple of weeks Ryan had various days off. We thoroughly enjoyed each minute with him! We didn't do anything special for New Years. Cannon went to bed at his regular time and Ryan and I stayed up and played games. Kylene and Jeff got us Austinopoly and Ryan beat me miserably!
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| His new favorite game, Enchanted Forest, courtesy of Grandma and Papa |
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| He LOVES his new bike basket from Kylene and Jeff and the green bike light from Santa |
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| Ryan got a new chess set, so he handed down his old one to Cannon |
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| He learned to climb the palm tree in a Batman suit |
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| He spent one hour putting together this 100 piece puzzle by himself! |
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| We took Cannon and Brenna to Phillipe Park in Safety Harbor. The kids didn't mind the rain, but Ryan wore that poncho |
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| We found this little beachy area |
We also celebrated our eight year wedding anniversary on January 7! Cannon and I picked up Ryan from work and had a lunch date at Jimmy Johns. I got Ryan and I each a special chocolate from William Dean that we ate after dinner. We didn't have a special date that night, but Ryan was able to get the first episode of this season's Sherlock!
It was great having Ryan home for so many days. I think at one point he was home during the day for five days in a row, which never happens! We didn't want him to go back to work! But we had fun creating new memories.
2 comments:
How fun to have Christmas with your cute family. You captured some great pictures. I feel you on having your spouse home! It's hard to send them back to work. I am glad Ryan spoiled you.
I loved all the pictures and how relaxing your christmas was. Cannon is so cute and smart. I can't believe how tan he is. My brother mentioned if Ryan's hair was turning brown and I told him that it's still blonde, just not summer. :) That's so cool he stays so tan and beachy all year long. I also love the picture of him climbing the palm tree. That looks so fun!
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