Nothing Says Christmas Like a Raccoon Cowboy

This year I only had Christmas Eve Day off from work so we had to fit a lot of celebratory activities into one 24 hour period. I can't complain too much - at least I got Thanksgiving off- but I look forward to ALWAYS having the holidays off like a real person.....

So how did I spend my 24 hours?

Well I ran first thing. On Xmas Eve day, Adam and I were only 7 days out from having run every day for a year (now we've surpassed that!). At least a mile. Everyday. For 365 days.

It was a short run- just 2 miles- but it was so nice to be able to run outside! This time of year I'm only home for daylight hours 4 days a month (the days I am off work).

We then headed out to Cherry Valley to see the family. Every year our Christmas Eve dinner has a theme. This year was tex-mex and we had delicious chili.

Some highlights:

It was great to see my two grandmas joking around.

Seeing all three of my living grandparents. I haven't seen them for a long time. My 90+ year old grandpa had a pacemaker put in last week so it was good to see him recovering well and starting to look like his usual self.











Talking to my brother Garrett and watching the video he made today for the family. As I've mentioned before on this blog, he's a Marine fighter pilot and he's currently deployed.

Plotting and planning my next trip(s) to Yellowstone. We're going for sure this February to ski with my Dad, but we're also trying to coordinate a huge family trip with my brother, sister-in-law, niece, parents, and whoever else can join us for this Summer. That would be incredible.

Walking through the festival of lights in Rockford. It was nice to get outside and enjoy the crisp but not too cold weather. The festival of lights is a yearly attraction sponsored by various local companies and organizations- each has a light display. There are some really cute ones, some goofy ones, and some downright confusing ones like the raccoon cowboy below. Does anyone know what that has to do with Christmas?

The Raccoon Cowboy

My favorite: the cross-country skiiers!

Does your family feel the need to do a group pose with every animal (real of fake) they see? Well, we do:) Us with the Red Plastic Cow in honor of our Wisconsin relations.

All in all it was a good, but way too short, day.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!