December

Why is it so difficult for me to blog? I have some friends who blog on a daily basis. It would definitely make blogging a lot easier for you and for me, instead of throwing up a million pictures of what we’ve been up to the last month. Oh well, you get to enjoy our December throw up!

We started off December with my Mom’s birthday. Nathan was locked away studying for finals, so I drove to Santa Rosa to be with my parents. We celebrated Mom’s birthday with a fancy lunch at Red Lobster 😉 and that evening we headed to the Bennett Valley chapel to enjoy the Annual Nativity Festival. They had an amazing program about the birth of our Savior. My Dad sang in the choir and it was so beautiful. I had goosebumps through the entire thing. Amazing.

While I was up there, I helped decorate our family Christmas tree, with Josh Groban in the background and mulling spices on the stove. I love Christmas time.

And because I was the only child decorating the tree, I had to put all of the Rachel ornaments front and center.

Up next: The Annual Fernsten bake off. Look at all of these luscious treats!

The bakers themselves.Here is a quote from Donna’s facebook- “What started out as a baking whim back in Christmas 1972 with my then boyfriend, who eventually became my husband, has turned into a cookie fest of epic proportions as family and friends have grown! 20 lbs. of butter, 20 lbs. of various sugars, 15lbs. of flour, 6 dozen eggs, 15 lbs. of assorted nuts, 5lbs. of chocolate chips, 2 lbs. white chocolate, 8 cans almond filling, 10 jars of marshmallow creme, 3 lbs. dried apricots, 2 lbs. Hershey Kisses, 1 pint of pure vanilla extract, 1 pint of almond extract, and heaven knows what else….the Christmas baking is officially finished by 11:59pm on Dec. 21. The Cake Boss and D.C. Cupcakes have nothing on us and should take notice. :)”

Nathan and I at the Christmas party hosted by Aunt Debbie and Uncle Gary.

These next two pictures pretty much sum up our evening 🙂

On Christmas Eve Eve, we drove out to Occidental to go zip lining through the redwoods! This was all my mother’s idea, which we were all so surprised she was so excited to be so adventurous. And because both of my parents are afraid of heights. But they were pros! Fearless. Me on the hand . . . I was a baby.

It was freezing cold out there! But luckily the sun was out so we were able to thaw out a little bit. We had a blast. Thanks Mom and Dad!

We had to take 2 cars because our family has grown quite a bit, and as we were driving out from zip lining and onto the coast, my dad’s car broke down 🙁 It was so sad. So we called AAA and he was towed to Toyota to get it fixed. We all headed onto the coast to enjoy some lunch. 

This place was packed. Apparently it’s famous for their crab sandwiches and clam chowder.

Being the seafood lover that I am, I decided to go with this super healthy chili dog. (Note the sarcasm in that whole sentence)

That night, I got to spend some time with my favorite girls!! I love these guys so much. It’s so crazy to see where we all are in our lives now. We’re all grown ups… and no longer in middle school. It’s so weird!