It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I love the holidays so much and we've been trying to do as much as we can while we are in D.C. (and there are LOTS of holiday activities going on). After a Christmas lunch in Georgetown, I went window shopping and saw one of my favorites, the giant nutcracker, outside Clyde’s. 

They had also put up the beautiful snowflake Christmas tree by the Key Bridge. 

Keeping Kyle entertained during one of his night classes. 

They had advertised a Christmas light drive through in Maryland and I made Kyle go with me. It was actually pretty fun in the end even though it was rainy. 

A tradition I’ve wanted to start is going to The Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend in Alexandria. We went last year but not for the parade and catching it this time turned out to be so fun! With our last name and Kyle playing the bagpipes, we can’t get enough of Scotland pride. We went for a walk to one of my favorite stores, the Christmas attic and picked out our ornament for the year, a decorative egg with Washington D.C. on it. And just for good measure, I grabbed a shot of some of my favorite row houses near King Street. 

Our clan! (or so Kyle says) 

My work threw an amazing Christmas party complete with food, entertainment and pictures. 

Kyle and I got our picture taken for our Christmas card and had Livi photo shop Boo in. These are some of our favorites. 

Original: Here is our final Christmas card. 

We made sugar cookies for our ward party and as always, it was hard not to just eat the entire cookie dough. I told Kyle he could make a special shaped cookie and he choose to make dice. 

The only thing I wanted for Christmas was a DSLR to start taking pictures with. We got it a little early to begin taking pictures and checking it out. We drove up to see the lights at the Washington D.C. Temple and tried it out for the first time. Up until we left to spend the holidays with family, we got off to a good start of feeling the spirit of Christmas.

Night at The Nutcracker

Last night, Kyle came over, handed me a folded up note and said, "Here's your agenda tomorrow! Don't you want to read it?" As I made my way down the list, nothing looked too different until I realized he said to 'wear something nice', to 'meet downtown for dinner' and then....'arrive at Warner Theater for The Nutcracker!!!' I hadn't been to The Nutcracker or even a ballet in far too long. At first I was in shock but then, as it sank in, I realized we would actually be going and that I would be in heaven the whole time. I grew up dancing and was able to be in several versions of The Nutcracker including Ballet West's production. Tchaikovsky's music is ingrained in me, as is the choreography to this amazing performance. All I could think was, "Kyle knows me....and he is the best husband ever!"

The agenda with Kyle's architecture lettering that I love so much. 

After a delicious dinner at Chef Geoff's,we ran across the street to get ready to see the show. 

The Warner Theatre's ceiling reminded me of Phantom of the Opera.

I loved the set including the panels off to the side. What was unique about this production, is that it is set in 1882 Georgetown, with ties to Washington D.C. including cherry blossoms and George Washington as the nutcracker. 

Had to get a picture with the over sized nutcracker. 

Obligatory program on lap picture. 

Inside the theatre. 

Another gem by the nutcracker and we are Christmas colored through and through. Thank you Kyle for a wonderful evening and amazing early Christmas present! 

National Harbor Ice

I love doing fun activities around this time of year! I actually made a Christmas bucket list and we were able to cross one off last night. I had heard about a fun event at the National Harbor where they bring in big blocks of ice and carve them to tell a holiday story. I signed up early in the year for 2 adult tickets (probably the only adults without children) and we went last night. The whole thing was pretty hilarious because we realized we really were the only ones without kids, but it was still so much fun and being with Kyle, makes it even more enjoyable.

It was in a nice hotel right off the Potomac that is extravagantly decorated for Christmas. Every year they have a new theme and this year’s theme was Frosty the Snowman. You put on big down coats and are warned repeatedly that the air inside is zero degrees and to be prepared to keep your coat on the entire time. We were laughing about how serious they were until we stepped into the tent and yes, it took our breath away. You can see the surprise and anguish on Kyle’s face here. They take big chunks of ice and chip away at it into a certain shape. Then they smooth it down with blow dryers and color it the right colors. It was really fun but what I loved was at the end, they had an ice display of the nativity and talked about the Savior, reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas. Once we stepped outside, it felt like tropical weather, going from 0’ to 30’. Unfortunately, Kyle beat me every time we went down the ice slides. It was quite a nICE date if I was to say so.

"O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave..."

Two days after Thanksgiving, my history lover and I took a trip up to Baltimore to visit Fort McHenry, where the Star Spangled Banner was written. Kyle has a national parks stamp book and I LOVE it. He makes sure to bring it every time we visit a park. Inside the little museum, they do a presentation on how the song was written and why but afterwards, you are able to go outside and view the fort. It was a bit cold but a beautiful day when the sun came out and the wind wasn’t blowing. Afterwards, we went to an interesting modern museum. We ended our trip in their Little Italy district with pizza and gelato. I’m looking forward to the next time we can go visit Baltimore to see the National Aquarium (I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist until I found out it included the study of crustaceans....um, no thank you).

The stamp of approval

You can't tell by this photo by it was FREEEEZING because of the wind coming off of the harbor

An ode to the song

Random Modern Art Poodle Dog named Fifi

Cutest Little Italy (I spy a star being hung up for Christmas!)

"We should just be thankful for being together!" - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

This year’s Thanksgiving was a LOT different than last year’s. Kyle and I took a trip up to New York last year to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that you can read about here. We had a blast but also froze most of the time we were there. We decided to downplay this year’s day of thanks. My work hosted 5K running spots for the S.OM.E. (So Others Might Eat) Program, which raises money for those who don’t have food or are homeless. Some people went all out and dressed up as turkeys and Christmas trees. I was determined not to let the guy wearing an apron and holding a whisk and a spatula in each hand get in front of me. Kyle was speedy as always and finished with a 6-minute mile. I, on the other hand, was happy to finish at a 9-minute mile. It was a great way to begin Thanksgiving and to workout in preparation for all the food we would eat later. 

Kyle knowing he is about to kick my butt and run a race twice as fast as I can. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner with our friends, the Williams. They made the most AMAZING dinner complete with all the fixins’ – turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole  - it felt just like home. I made the sweet potato rolls again as well as some whole-wheat rolls.

The next day we met up with my best friend and companion from the mission, Caitie Graves and her family who were visiting her brother in Philadelphia. We took them to Good Stuff Eatery and laughed and laughed. It was a great weekend spent with friends and indoors this time. Kyle and I have so much we are grateful for including family, friends and each other. 

Thankful especially for this guy!