Just The Two Of Us: Holiday Getaway to California

After working long hours, sending out presents, and packing, we were ready to fly to California to see our families. We hadn't been in the Sacramento area since March so it had been a long time since we have seen our loved ones.

We got to spend about 2 weeks celebrating the holidays with our families. We made so many fun memories. My brother-in-law Jordan picked us up from the airport. We met with my mom, my sister Kelsey, and adorable niece Abbey at an Asian restaurant called Kobe. It was a small, but great homecoming party. They cooked your food in front of you. The best part was seeing the show they put on using fire and juggling.

Our highlights of our vacation were playing games, baking a lot of Holiday goodies, looking at beautiful Christmas lights in Rocklin, seeing the new Star Wars Rogue One movie with my dad, making gingerbread houses, going shooting with my dad and siblings, having nice meals with immediate and extended families, going to the Sacramento Temple, and getting to see loved ones that we haven't seen in a long time. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve were the most memorable moments of our vacation.

On Christmas Eve, one thing that I will never forget is lighting up luminarias with Collin's family. I had never done that before on Christmas, so to me is was so beautiful and special. Another thing his family does that is special is spaghetti dinner on Christmas Eve. I can never pass up a spaghetti dinner. :) Afterwords, we read scriptures on the Savior's birth and went caroling.

We got up on Christmas morning and got ready for church. We went to Collin's parents' ward and got to see their Christmas program. At noon, we opened presents with his parents, brother, and sister-in-law. From there, we went to my dad's and enjoyed pizza for lunch. We opened presents, played games, and got some good laughs. When it was nighttime, we came back to my mom's to eat a delicious cioppino dinner. We opened more presents and ended the night by watching Home Alone 2. It was so nice to have a full day spent with each of our immediate families.

We got ready for a fun filled New Years Eve. I still cannot believe we were getting ready to welcome 2017! We started off by spending time with Collin's side of the family. We got together with a few of the Wheelers aunts and uncles to play board games. When it got darker, we went to Kelsey and Jordan's place along with lots of good food. (Thanks to my fabulous mom.) We played party games and danced the night away. We counted down to the new year while using silly string. It was fun and so messy! I think I got the most silly string out of everyone. I couldn't believe in less than 24 hours, we would be flying back to Austin.

During the holiday break, I was doing some self-reflecting and realized I have a lot to work on with myself. 2016 was a year full of ups and downs and I want to work to make a better 2017. I knew that as soon as we got back to Texas, I would start off by focusing more time on the Lord and less time on social media. As silly as it sounds, I knew it would help me realize what I need to work on with myself. I don't know what this new year holds for us, but I am so grateful to have my husband and family along for the ride.