Christmas!

Josh and I had a great Christmas together! I had about a week and ½ off from work – the beauty of working in higher education! Surprisingly, I was ready to come back to work this week and get back into a routine. Sadly, we did not take ANY pictures over the holidays. I am a bit upset about that, but I am going to try to steal some from my mom & dad like the one above. We began Christmas with a drive to Canyon, where we spent the 23rd and morning of the 24th with the Reid family. We had a great gift exchange and super yummy brunch on Christmas Eve. Josh and I enjoyed playing with the little ones, Wyatt & Emme (Josh's 2nd cousins).

We set out on the afternoon of Christmas for Santa Fe, New Mexico, where we were to meet my parents that night for a walk down Canyon Road. The Canyon Road walk is a tradition for Santa Fe, and we were glad to experience it! All the art galleries are open on Canyon Road, and it is a good opportunity to see the Christmas lights, decorations, and warm up by a bonfire. We stayed in Cathy’s new house up the hill with my parents and brothers. On Christmas morning we ventured down to the main house to open gifts and had a nice breakfast. That night we helped Cathy (my cousin) prepare for a big Christmas meal she was hosting for about 40 people. The dishwasher was broken so that made for a fun night of hand washing TONS of dishes. We started a nice little poker game that night which continued until the next night. My brother Keegan won, but I just say he was “lucky”. No skill, no strategy, all luck.

On the 26th, Josh and I got up early to run together. Running at altitude is NO FUN and so much harder, but it was kind of fun to run together in the snow. We got some starbucks after that, and came back to the house to pick up my brothers for a day of shopping. We spent the day shopping and came home to help with dinner we were hosting for some extended family. It was fun!

Josh had to leave the 27th to go back to work and I was sad to see him go, but it was fun spending time with my brothers and parents who I rarely get to see. We spent time shopping, driving the scenic road to Taos, went shopping, went to the movies, went to the casino, and ate really good food! Cathy had a holiday open house while I was there which was also fun to be apart of.

I left Santa Fe on the 31st to fly back home to Lubbock. Josh picked me up and we went over to our friends’ house to ring in the new year!! I spent the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trying to get the house back in order from the holidays and working at some basketball games. Josh started the Lubbock Police Academy on the 4th and he really seems to be doing great so far. It’s hard, military style, and like an extra tough boot camp with college coursework, but he expected that so he went in prepared. These next 6 months are going to be rough but I know he will make it through! I am so excited to see where this career takes him. There have been talks of K-9, and now FBI and Secret Service (my cousin Cathy who we always stay with in Santa Fe has some connections to those agencies and is pretty well known in Washington). Who knows what will happen – I just hope he enjoys it and has finally found a career he loves!

We had such a blessed Christmas season and I hope you did too! God is good.