A fun and relaxing holiday!

 

It's not very often we get to sit down for a few days and just relax but that's exactly what our trip to Vail this Christmas entailed :) We enjoyed lots of laughs, walks in the snow and of course, some delicious Bingham cooking.

One of our Christmas presents from the Binghams was a punch card to the Vail Nordic Center! Since we were up there and had our skis, we had to break the lazy streak!

We haven't skate skied since last March so it was a rude awakening. I always forget how incredibly hard that sport is...especially when you're at altitude AND out of shape. Bryce absolutely crushed me :)

After drinking some homemade apple cider in some cute Santa mugs, Bryce and I were in charge of dinner for Christmas Eve. We made a GF/DF pasta fritatta and roasted brussels sprouts with quinoa. With a lot of sous chefs to help, it was a miraculous success.

Christmas morning was also laid back with homemade GF waffles and present opening. It snowed about 6-8 inches so it was a beautiful white Christmas. The Yule Tide log television station came in quite handy as well! Get it?!?

After Bosco opened his various bones, we did our gift exchange. Along with our nordic pass, we received money to buy a new bike pump (a much needed item in our household) and a garlic press! Big thanks to the Binghams for a fun few days.

After a slow, but beautiful and snowy, drive back to Boulder, we busted out my parent's xmas gift - A KITCHEN AID MIXER!!! Every girl's dream, right? Apparently things are changing because I would have never thought in a million years I would have wanted one of these a year ago :) At any rate, it is amazing and we christened is well by making Almond Thumprint cookies and mashed potatoes for the Torrance Christmas dinner.

Right after walking in Tom's door, we indulged in the various homemade dishes brought by all of our friends. A lot of them made GF/DF foods which was super cool. Shortly after, we started our Secret Santa gift exchange. It was a total blast. Rose got me a sweet Detroit Gnome which will now be an icon in the house.

Tom had Bryce and got him some sweet socks that look like Vans shoes. Tony had to bust out his 'crocs with hairy legs' socks as well which were a total hit. The night was an absolute hoot. HUGE thanks to Catherine for purchasing a 'Star' in memory of Don Torrance. It couldn't have been a more appropriate gift for Rose and the boys!