Elias is onto his sixth hour of opening presents. Not that there are a lot of presents under the tree but he is opening at his own pace and he keeps running into nap time. Travis and I opened presents from each other during Eli's first nap. Travis got some blinding bright lights for the front and back of his bike and some new goretex cycling gloves. I got a beautiful red Gaggia espresso machine! You know you have a good coffee machine when the first language in the instruction booklet is Italiano! We also got a new coffee grinder. But not just any grinder. This beast is a burr grinder with 40 different settings from powder fine grind to course grind for the french press. So we're getting all hopped up on Caffeine here today! It is a beautiful day and we just returned from a really nice walk along the gorge. This city is amazing.

Last night we welcomed Josh and Davannah home from Turkey with a fun night filled with great family times. There was also a great cause to celebrate because Josh proposed to Davannah yesterday evening in front of the Empress! We are so excited for them as they start to plan for a wonderful life together.

Yesterday we also had some terrible news that a friend of mine from University was killed on duty in Afghanistan. Please keep Andrew Nuttall and his family in your prayers and on this holiday remember to thank the heroes from our country and other countries who are making sacrifices to make this world a better place for all of us.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday. Joy and Peace to you all. XOXOXO