And finally..

The last of our first Christmas.

Our picture from 2012

and 2013

It was our first Christmas together that we just had, away from the sunny state and without my family. On Christmas Eve, my first Christmas Eve non-danish style, Zach and I went to the Olive Garden. Pretty lame of us, but we were those Americans that went out that busy night. On Christmas Day we were surrounded by the Walton's this year, so that was a great relief. We were at my bro and sis-in-laws early in the morning to watch our neice open her presents. Her face was priceless! I hope we will continue going over there for that every year. I just loved it. Later that night Zach, his brother, his lady and myself went out for a movie to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

 Zach and I didn't get each other gifts this year since we are broke. But we still did little things for each other. I made the advent for him, and in fact one of the days was a dinner for two. It was fun to cook for him, we had Italian, and it was delicious. Definitely a gift since I don't cook that intensely very often.

Lasagna rolls, chicken pesto, chicken bites wrapped in bacon, and a pizookie for dessert..

 Zach had me wait in the room while he prepped everything that he had planned. He called me out to the living room, telling me to hurry up because he had put our little tree on the table and lit the candles. He was, of course, afraid of the tree catching fire along with our house. A lot of people are, and I understand, but every Christmas since forever we have lit our candles on the tree. Every member in our family does this. Don't worry, we don't leave the tree alone. We are pros. Anyways I was so surprised and thrilled that he did that for me. He asked if I wanted to sing a Christmas song, since that's something else my family does, but instead he sped sang a song solo and then we blew out the candles immediately after. I noticed some of my picture frames wrapped up around the living room..and that's what he did for me for Christmas. Zach filled up our empty frames with our loved ones. I was so excited to unwrap them and see what photo would be in the frame. He did so well. That was very special to me and all I needed.

And Lastly for the months fun.
During the time I had off from work we had invited our class over to make gingerbread houses. Sara and Abi showed up, and we had so many laughs together. I will say it over and over again but I love those kids. We had pizza, built our houses, and played a game. It was a ton of fun!

Now we welcome the new year!