Family, Christmas and taking a break.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope everyone has had a great holiday.

After my whirlwind trip to L.A. to help Stephen and Laura move, I came back to the Christmas frenzy. I usually don't start shopping until the middle of December and I try to finish and be wrapped at least a few days before the big day. Every year I tell myself that next year I'm going to start earlier but so far, not!

We had a good Christmas. Christmas Eve, we went to my sister Evelyne's house for their annual open house then went to church. We went to an earlier service than usual so we could come home and settle in for the night. Christmas morning, we opened presents and sorted through stockings then headed to my Mom and Dad's for brunch and to meet up with the rest of the family. Afterwards we came home for a quiet rest of the day.

Monday, we drove down to San Luis Obispo for a 3 day mini reunion with Dave's Mom & Dad, sister Sue, her husband Steve and their kids Ryan and Kira. We had a great time with a night tour of Hearst Castle, some good dinners, wine tasting and Kira's favorite, thrift shop shopping :)

It's fun to have all 'legal' kids since we all like wine!

Hearst Castle was beautiful at night.

Dave and I at Morro Bay.

My sister-in-law Sue, Dave, my mother and father-in -law Cathy and Bill.

Ny niece Kira, Sue, brother-in-law Steve and my nephew Ryan.

Our happy family. I want it noted that I am taller then my girls. They either had heels on or were standing on a rock!

The day after we got back from SLO, I had planned a big group barn ride to Henry Coe State Park. We had 15 riders and had a great time.

A good time was had by all!

My run training is going well. My bike and swimming has been almost non-existent for December. I decided to take a couple week break from swim and it's been too busy to get a lot of bike time in. I can feel the aches that come with only running and I'm looking forward to getting into a more balanced routine. I ran my first 20 miler yesterday and I surprisingly only have a little soreness today.

We're off for some New Year's festivities tonight. I think next blog I'll wrap up the year. Looking forward to 2012!