Christmas in Concord

As I mentioned yesterday, I traveled up north to celebrate an early Christmas with my parents and my brother and his fiancee.

Scout was rather sad to see me pack up and head out.

We met up at Chris and Ashley's place in Concord and caught up a bit before opening a few gifts. Thanks to the magic of Google+, Terry even made an appearance via Internet video. We missed him, though!

Look at that adorable couple. They actually got engaged on Christmas last year!

 Even the puppies got presents from Aunt Julie!

Giant bones!

Dad became our entertainment/post-gift bow storage.

Chris and Ashley prepared a delicious holiday meal of prime rib, potatoes au gratin, creamed spinach, and Yorkshire pudding. A few of their friends stopped by to join in for dinner but had to leave quickly afterward. Then we ventured out to check out Christmas lights.

I'm really sad to say that my phone died right after taking this first picture, but my brother has promised to send me a few more. The highlight of the adventure was a house with lights that coordinate with a radio station, similar to my favorite, Christmas lights set to "Wizards of Winter" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The lights were extremely impressive, and I would love to go back to see more houses lit up (since we went out after 10, a lot of houses already had their lights off). By the way, did you see New Girl this week? We kept quoting the last scene where they all yell, "Turn on your lights!" Because we're all awesome like that.

Family Christmas was a success, but we missed Terry. I can't wait for him to come home so we can finally celebrate the season. Only a little longer! Meanwhile, I'm so grateful that I got to see my family and give them their gifts in person. Plus it's been a wonderful break from the chaos lately in LA, and I've welcomed the distraction!