A New Year! (This post prompted by Aunt Carla)

Christmas at 30th Street Station, Philadelphia

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! So, it has been so long since my last post. At first that was because my new job was taking all of my time... and then later, it was that my semi-new job was taking up all of my time. But right now I have time on a winter Saturday morning to upload some pictures and share a little bit about what's been going on with us.

Thanksgiving we spent with Bryan's family in Real America. It was a much needed break, and a relaxing four days of watching movies, making cookies, hitting golf balls and doing puzzles. (I'm sorry- I don't have any pictures--- it was THAT relaxing.)

On December 23rd we boarded a train to central Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with my family. 11 of the 14 of us were there- Angela, Andres and David spent Christmas in Peru for Andres' brother's wedding. It was another relaxing time, complete WITH SNOW and a six foot snowman. Little ones in the snow are completely adorable, and it is always great to spend time with my parents, sisters and brothers and our so far lone niece, Claire, and two nephews Josiah and Brendan. On New Year's Day we boarded another train, headed for the extended family get-together in Ephrata, PA. Bryan's mother's family keeps growing every year, and there were 50 of us all together this year. While there, we got to spend time with Bryan's brother's family (with little ones Ephraim, Joel and Caleb), who have moved to Mississippi. Ephraim is now 5!!!!! Crazy. Those guys are awesome and little Caleb is making his way to keeping up with his older brothers.

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on January 7th with dinner at a nice Korean restaurant in Park Slope and sundaes at Haagen Dazs afterward. Bryan also got me beautiful roses. I am so thankful for Bryan and that he chose to spend the rest of his life with me. I am married to the best person on earth. Seriously.

January has been quiet. Work has even slowed down a little bit, giving Bryan and I more time in the evening to be together. Last weekend our good friend, Gabe, turned 30 and we celebrated by playing his new wii, good times at the Draft Barn and reading parts of Dr. Suess, Harry Potter, and Cormac's The Road.

We also had a chance to catch up with Bryan's college roommate and good friend, Varun, who was in New York for a night a few weeks ago. Tomorrow night we're looking forward to a visit from Lexie, one of my great friends from high school who currently lives in Thailand. We are so blessed with great friends, and it's wonderful to catch up with the oldies but goodies. : ) Last Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr day with his I have a dream speech, a walk in the park with our friend Meg and her b-e-l-o-v-e-d dog Dakota, and making snickerdoodles and home-made pizza.

Meggers and Gabe-ers.

The biggest news on our end is that on January 10th, good good friends of ours, Aubrey and Andrea had their first baby, a little baby girl, Anaiah Jane. We were so thrilled to meet her and are very excited for the new parents. WELCOME ANAIAH!!!!! We're so glad you're here!!! Thanks for all the Christmas cards and updates we got from all of you. We loved hearing how you were doing and hope 2010 brings many joys and more love into your lives. Remember, our door is always open and it even looks pretty in winter.