my new camera

I received many wonderful gifts for Christmas and I love all of them! But I am particularly excited about one - my new camera! It's a Canon Rebel XSi. I love taking pictures and this camera is SO amazing! Right now I have no idea how to use it, but I am looking forward to taking some classes and getting really good.

Here are a few practice shots... Stay tuned for more, improved shots as I learn what I am doing :)

merry! merry!

I think I love Christmas more than any other day of the year! This year was very different with my sister away in Turkey. There were lots of things that made me miss her because we have so many fun Christmas Day traditions that just aren't the same without her. Usually she wakes me up and we go downstairs to see what goodies Santa has left. This year I woke up on my own, but when I got downstairs I found that my mom had been up for awhile, making the house very warm and cozy. She had made our family's traditional Christmas breakfast (caramel rolls and coffee - so good!!) and built a fire. And, even with Megan so far away, Santa still came and left us wonderful gifts :)

After spending the morning opening presents with Mom and Dad, we braved the snowy roads and drove to Becky and Dan's house for dinner. Their house was beautifully decorated and it was so fun to spend the day there with my Mom, Dad, Gram, Papa, Becky, Dan, Ian and Alec. Clara was even invited to come to play with Amber. We had delicious food, more cookies and of course poppers with funny jokes, toys and paper crowns!!

I am so thankful that I have such a great family to spend the holidays with. And even though the traditions were a bit different this year and there were a few people missing this year, it is nice to know that we all were thinking about each other and love each other very much!!

a VERY white ChristmasGram and Papa

the Donegans (-1)

the Bishops

a toast to Terry...

best friends, Amber and Clara...

have yourself a merry little christmas...

I love my family's Christmas Eve traditions... We always go to mass and it's fun to see some of the people I went to grade school with, then we hurry to dinner with Gram and Papa - for the last four or five years we have gone to Piatti's in U. Village, and then we all go to my parents' house or my Aunt Terry's house for desert. This year we came back to my parents' house because Terry is in Spokane with Kellie, Christopher and Hayden. We enjoyed yummy Christmas cookies (about 12 kinds!) and opened pajamas and then ate a few more cookies!! This was the first year I did not write a letter to Santa before going to bed because my sister was not with me. We have a fun time crafting funny little letters that thank Santa for last year's gifts and remind him what we are hoping for this year. It just would not have been the same to write a letter without her! But I did leave him some cookies and milk :)

a snow-venture

Libby and I bundled up and headed downtown to finish our Christmas shopping. It was very crowded down there and fun to finally be out and about! We had a great little 'snow-venture,' but while we were shopping we forgot that we were going to have to carry all our packages home! By the time we got back to our apartment, we were exhausted and so cold! To help us warm up, I made my favorite snowy day meal - grilled cheese and tomato soup.

a snowy queen anne

more snow!

It hasn't stopped snowing! It just keeps coming down. I don't remember the last time it snowed like this in Seattle! There is almost a foot of snow outside my apartment now...

joy joy joy

My dad and I have a very special Christmas tradition. Every year since I was 3 years old we have gone to a Christmas concert called Magical Strings. Magical Strings is a family that plays beautiful Irish music. There are dancers, stories and singalong songs. Our favorite song to sing is 'Ring It In,' a song that is sung like a round. There are only three verses and you can sing whatever you like whenever you like - my favorite verse just says, "Joy! Joy! Joy!"

I look forward to this concert every year and wouldn't miss it for the world! This year we walked outside to find more snow...

baby, it's cold outside!

"Winter Blast 2008" finally hit. And boy did it hit! It snowed all morning and into the afternoon. I think there are about 6 inches of snow on my balcony! I woke up today and got ready for work, admiring the beautiful snow falling outside and thinking how lucky all the kids who had school cancelled were, but not even thinking it would affect my day. Well, I was wrong!! I walked to the bus stop, waited for a bus with the rest of Queen Anne for about 45 minutes, and then gave up. I stopped at Metropolitan Market (for the first time) to pick up some supplies to make Christmas cookies and then stopped at the coffee shop for a latte, then I walked back to my apartment, taking some pictures along the way. When I got home, I turned on the Christmas music and started baking. I made two kinds of cookies and then decided to make a third, so it was back to Metropolitan Market (trip number two) for more ingredients! Everyone out and about was so friendly and it was like the whole neighborhood was sharing this crazy experience together. After making some more cookies, Megan came over and we walked back to Metropolitan Market (third, and last time) to get soup for dinner.

It was a perfect snow day, except I forgot to have grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. That's what my mom used to make for us when school was cancelled due to snow. I am so thankful for today!

the stockings were hung...

by the chimney with care!

let it snow!!

more decorating

My mom and dad did some more decorating and their house now looks like a Christmas Castle! Because they have a Turkish Fir, my mom was able to put all the Christmas ornaments on the tree this year... It is so beautiful!