The holidays have been good to us here in D.C.  Even though we couldn't make it home to Utah, we still had a great time with each other and with friends. 
For Thanksgiving, Greg and I went over to the Freeman's (I nanny for them) and I watched the kids while Greg and Robert went to the church turkey bowl.  Then we went over to Michon and Ben's for Thanksgiving dinner.  They invited their friends Randall and Kyle and I invited a friend from school, Marissa.  Ben had to leave for Germany that afternoon so we all hung out at their place while Michon took him to the airport.  We stayed and talked for hours about everything and nothing.  We had lots of yummy leftovers.

My birthday was the 15th of this month so we went downtown for dinner and then to see the National Christmas Tree on the National Mall.  We parked and walked over to the display.  We were being shuffled along with the crowd and I was able to snap a quick picture of Michon and Ben.  I then handed the camera off to Ben to take a picture of Greg and I.  Three seconds later all the lights turned off!  You could hear the whole crowd say "Ohhhhhhhh!!!".  We didn't know that the lights turn off at 10 p.m.  I was so sad cause I wanted a picture of us with the tree to send in our Christmas cards to friends and family.  Oh well.  So what did we do?  We went over to the menorah and took a picture in front of that.  I figured this made a better memory anyway.  We went back to the Kolendar's place to have cake, ice cream, and presents.  Michon and Ben got me a cute TY penguin named waddles and a women porn book!  That book was pretty funny with men doing household chores, etc.  It was a good birthday!

 Michon and Ben with the tree still lighted

The National Menorah

For Christmas, the Freemans gave me a Christmas bonus and bought us a night at the Gaylord Convention Center Hotel at National Harbor in Maryland.  It was so nice of them to make sure we had somewhere fun to go together for Christmas.  The hotel was absolutely amazing!  They decorated so beautifully.  There was this really great light show in the atrium that we enjoyed.  For dinner, we walked down the street and found a Mexican restaurant.  It was the best I've ever had.  Then we went and got some pictures in front of the National Harbor Christmas Tree.  I'm glad we finally got our picture in front of a tree.  Christmas morning, we stayed in bed for a while and then headed downstairs to checkout and then to the brunch buffet.  This buffet was the best one I have ever been to.  The food was amazing and very high quality.  I would suggest this to anyone and everyone!  After two full stomachs, we headed home.  It was just across the Potomac River so it was a short drive, which was nice.  We opened presents when we got home.  I gave Greg a canvas painting of the world.  I spent three days painting this and it turned out sooooo well.  Greg loves it!  I have some map pins coming in the mail so he can map all the places he has been.  We then were able to skype with Greg's family and his brother, Matt who is on a mission in Argentina.  It was really good to see him and hear about how he is doing.  Later that evening, we had dinner over at the McKay's with the Packers, and Kohlers.  It was good to spend some time with friends in the ward.   Our Christmas was really enjoyable this year even without family.  

 The light show in the hotel atrium

 National Harbor Christmas Tree

 Greg's new travel map

The beautiful hotel!

We had a great Christmas and are so grateful for the friends and family who were a part of it.  We are so grateful to celebrate our Lord and Savior's birth this time of year.  New Year's is just around the corner and I'm excited to figure out what we are going to do to celebrate it!