the most wonderful time of the year

Now I know what they mean in that Christmas song when they say "It's the most wonderful time of the year". When you move away from everything you know...your family, friends, and work, things become a little more, ummmmmm, PRECIOUS! We haven't updated the blog in several weeks simply because we have been enjoying every sheer moment of our time here in Oregon. Here are a few of the highlights....


1. My traditional Christmas Eve-Eve lunch with my friend, Ronelle (a 14 year tradition that I forgot to take a picture of...FAIL!)


2. The Bryant kid traditional Festivus dinner (another picture fail on my part. Sarah, would you mind sending me a picture to post on the blog)


3. The traditional Christmas Eve pizza at Papa's (geesh, we have a lot of traditions. I LOVE them all!!!)

4. Christmas morning at my parents

traditional "in front of the tree" picture

sweet Peruvian-made puppets for my classroom

Check em out  http://perupuppets.com/

the traditional Christmas morning brunch

5. Christmas evening at The Bryants

we smuggled tequila & margarita glasses across the border

sweet home-made gifts from Wendy

5. Christmas Around the World
(My wonderful mother in law had the great idea to celebrate Christmas with the extended family by bringing a variety of dishes from around the world and discussing where we've all traveled. Wish I could've been able to name off a few more countries....maybe next time)

i set a 10 second timer and told everyone to hurry up. this is what resulted

the Schulenberg clan

7. Lunch Date with the ladies

my little BFF

Holy crap, I am so thankful to be "home for the holidays". Am I too mushy-gushy to say that my family and friends mean the world to me. We are so blessed!