"2013 is going to be an amazing year, I can just feel it", were the words that Eric said to me about 10 times between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. And I couldn't agree with him more.
Of course, 2012 wasn't so bad itself! Mid December we drove home to Orange County, California battling some crazy winter weather. It was a white knuckle drive all the way to St. George, Utah where we were surprised by my sister, Carolyn, and her boyfriend who bought a dog there! They got a Puggle and her name is Maddie aaand she is adorable!
The next day Brody, Eric and I were able to surprise my sister Kristina and her husband, Aaron, at their annual Christmas Party! It was so fun to surprise her especially since she wasn't expecting it at all!
 |
| Kristina & Aaron's Christmas Party |
We basically spent our entire vacation hanging out with family, meeting up with friends and eating our way through Southern California- hitting up all the places we miss so much!
 |
| Enjoying a morning walk along the beach with amazing Nick's Coffee in hand after gorging on Nick's Burrito's! |
 |
| Margaritas at Fred's in Huntington Beach |
 |
| Roman Cucina in Sunset Beach! Our FAVORITE! |
 |
| Sushi Studio |
 |
| In-N-Out! |
Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. It never disappoints! And I love it even more now that it means I get to go home and see family and just be together.
 |
| Eric, Me, and Brody on Christmas Eve |
Christmas holds a lot of tradition in my family. One of my favorite traditions takes place on Christmas Eve when all of us eat clam chowder out of bowls that my late Grandma Hafner brought back from France when she studied there in college. These special bowls have either a boy or girl at the bottom. As kids, we had to eat all of our clam chowder and show everyone what was at the bottom of our bowl in order to open our Christmas Eve gifts. Of course, then we hated clam chowder and needed the encouragement! Now we all love clam chowder and savor every bite! And the gifts, well they're still fun too! After gifts, it's off to church!
 |
| Our Annual Christmas Eve Pajama Gift from my parents |
Christmas Morning is magical!
My parents Santa is amazing!
 |
| Christmas Morning! |
 |
| The Annual Christmas Morning Pajama Picture on the stairs |
 |
Merry Christmas, Brody!
Christmas Morning has to be my favorite morning of the year!! Hanging out in our pj's for half of the day just taking our time opening presents, laughing, and being together. Nowadays we take a breakfast and mimosa break about half way through and try to savor every last minute of Christmas. I never want it to end!
Like all good things in life, Christmas 2012 did have to end. Lucky for us, we still have the Oakes'/Gorsich Christmas Party on the 26th of every year to prolong the merriment just a little longer! And like every year, I enjoy it more and more. Family is what the season is all about!
We spent New Year's Eve snowboarding at Winter Park and Copper Mountain with friends and rang in the New Year in Frisco, Colorado. Frisco is a cute little mountain town with an adorable main street and is easily accessible to many of the Colorado Ski Resorts. It was a great way to send out 2012!
|
 |
| Frisco, Colorado NYE |
And here we are, almost one month into 2013 and already it is shaping up to be one amazing and crazy year for us! For starters, we are building a house!!!
 |
Our Land!
|
But more on all that later! Happy 2013, ya'll!
