Christmas Goodness

Just got home from spending the past week in Coos Bay at my mom's. Amazingly, Raf and I have never spent a Christmas together. I always get a lot more time off than he does, and want to be able to spend as much time with the fam as possible--it's the only day of the year that all my siblings are in the same room together at one time, and often the only time I make it all the way to my mom's to visit (9.5 hour drive). Here's our annual Christmas photo (Take #27):

By Take #34, my dad caught a shot of me giving my "I Shake My Fist at You" face! Classic.

I finally got to meet Andrew and Lizzie, Drew's son and his fiance (getting married the weekend before us!), and their daughter Zoei. Too freaking cute! So fun to have a baby around. Other goodness from the week included a stop on the drive to admire a few elk north of Arcata--hidden in the brush rather than in the "elk viewing spot" that I always skip. Let's play Where's Waldo...can you see him? And finally, no trip home is complete without a night at Shore Acres to see the lights. Seriously, it's not Christmas to me without these lights--yet another reason I always insist on going! I know it's no short hike, but a visit to this place is worth every minute on the road. It's magical. My favorite annual installation:
This year they made the full switch to LED lights. It was AMAZING! So much more vibrant. I was really digging the new purple color.

Hope your holiday was this merry and BRIGHT!