Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas! We love you all, and miss everyone that we couldn't be with during this holiday. We hope your holidays are filled with lots of fun, love and family!

We had a fabulous Christmas, celebrating Christmas Eve with our two families for the first time. We then had two present openings, first at Jacob's house and then at my house! Jacob then headed home for some family time, and my family trekked up Pine Mountain (about 2 hours east), determined to find snow- and find it we did! We built a snowman, and it even started snowing. I know that my mid-west family is probably laughing out loud right now at the thought of driving two hours to find snow... but when you are California babies, you'll do anything to have a semblance of a white Christmas! I have pictures on Bren's camera- I'll post them later! I also got an early Christmas present- an acceptance letter to the Education Policy program at University of Maryland! We also celebrated Bren's 21st birthday, and will be celebrating Ryland's 21st birthday in just a few days. Love the holidays!

On the wedding side, Jacob and I made our rehearsal dinner invitations last week. We had a whole week with nothing to do but watch West Wing (season 7!), wrap Christmas presents, and enjoy each other's company. Well, that got boring after a few days, so we decided to get crafty! We goccoed the invites, and also made a gingerbread house! Well, it was actually just the pieces, because it has been so damp outside that the sides of the walls never hardened like they were supposed to. Oh well... I also ordered the fabric that we'll need for the runners for the rehearsal dinner, and some tulle to make my own veil! Yep, that's right- my mom and I will be making my veil. Veils sold in bridal shops are redicuously expensive- think hundreds of dollars! I found a great tutorial online, and figured out that we could make my veil for under $10. Maybe I should go into the veil making business... sounds like a pretty good profit margin. I also ordered a pretty comb that the veil will be attached to:
I'm not sure how long we're going to make my veil. It will probably be fingertip length, but we'll see how I feel after I visit my dress in a week. When I was trying on dresses, I fell in love with the cathedral veils (think super long) but now I think that that style will cover up the back of the dress. But I ordered enough fabric to make every length, so we'll see!