Christmas

Our second Christmas together and in Denver has been an improvement over the first. (I say that mostly because last Christmas day started out quite nicely and ended in me sick in bed - as luck would have it, the only day I've been sick enough to stay home from work was a paid holiday.)

Our Christmas tree, nativity, and stockings. Sorry for the blurriness - the mirrors on the wall behind the tree don't make it easy to take pictures with necessary flash.

Ross and I committed to ourselves and our families before we were married that Christmas would be a holiday for us to celebrate as our own nuclear family. Thanksgiving is our time to celebrate with his family and New Year's Day is for mine.

Christmas Eve involved an a treasured lazy morning full of coffee and pajamas; the last of Christmas shopping; and the Christmas Eve service. First Mennonite has beautiful Christmas Eve service - readings from Isaiah and Luke, choral music, and lots of Christmas hymns followed by wassail.

Christmas Day began with exchanging gifts, and then we headed up to the mountains for a full day of skiing at Winter Park. Christmas ski traffic, both on I-70 and on the slopes, turned out to be much lighter than most Saturdays. We were also delighted to discover the ski in - ski out parking. We came back exhausted, called and Skyped our families to wish them a Merry Christmas, and went to bed early.

On top of Mary Jane peak with the Continental Divide behind us on Christmas Day.