Holiday Break

I can't even tell you how wonderful holiday break was this year. I was completely looking forward to it and spending the days with family, sleeping in, running, eating good food, playing games and hanging out was sheer nirvana. I really think my body needed the rest because I felt great! I was able to really get back into running and letting myself sleep past 5:15 in the morning...let's just say it was heaven!

We first spent time with Walmir's family in Naples and it was really nice. We had so much fun just hanging out and I really had a good time learning new recipes, getting tips for the baby to come and about food storage (one of my goals this year). Sandra and Regina (Wally's sister and mom) are food storage gurus and I'm really excited to get things in order. We also ran every morning, played a ton of "Hand and Foot" and just hung out. I especially enjoyed Christmas Eve. They held a Christmas family home evening focused on the Savior that night before Noche Buena (dinner) and it was something really special for me since that's not something we can really do as a family at my house.

After Christmas we headed to my family's, which is always awesome. Charles was back from college and we spent time playing Balderdash, watching movies, cooking and hitting the gym. For New Year's, we had Wally's family over and a few other friends, which is as it should be: ringing in the new year with family, friends and good food! My mom and I spent a lot of time cooking: some of my favorites including tres leches, platanos en gloria, and arroz con leche. So good!

As for gifts, I got some money to go shopping for maternity clothes, which actually turned out to be pretty fun. I was able to find some really cute stuff at Gap and Old Navy. It was getting time too. I was barely fitting in my regular pants. And with money that Wally got, we purchased an awesome new camera: the new touch-screen Sony Cyber-shot. It is super awesome and can record up to 10 minutes at a time, which is perfect for the new baby. Charles also got me the first season of Lost! Which, by the way, is starting up again in 3 weeks! WhooHoo!

Anyway, the break was great and I'll admit that I was really depressed Sunday night when I had to get back to getting up at 5:15 again. I already spent my morning planning period passed out on my desk! :0)

Here are a few pics from the break. We didn't get the new camera until a few days after Christmas, so I don't have the millions that I normally would! Hope everyone had an awesome break!

On New Year's, we spent some time dancing. Wally was teaching Hailey how to salsa. It was adorable.

Dylan striking his sexy little male model pose. :0)

My mom. I love this picture of her!



Wally, me and Charles. It was really cool hanging with Charles. I've missed him tons.

During the break, I was able to see my closest friend from high school 'Lex. She is super awesome and I love how even after not seeing each other for months, it's like we never spent time apart. She has a beautiful little boy and it was one of the highlights of my week to see her. I love you 'Lex!