Merry Christmas!

On Saturday, we spent the day in San Francisco and visited the Fairmont Hotel to see the largest-ever gingerbread house to be built in San Francisco! It’s constructed of 7,500 gingerbread sticks, 1,200 pounds of chocolate icing and 650 pounds of candy! It was beautifully decorated and everything had so much detail. Thank you Megumi for suggesting we check it out! 🙂

 

huge gingerbread house

Mio and I
Mio looks suspicious of all the candy.

 

Teddy bear in the window.

penguins wading
A snowy landscape in the window of the gingerbread house... made of frosting, littered with cinnamon sticks.

 

A toy train runs on the track.
A toy train runs on the track.

 

Merry Christmas!
We had a great time seeing it with friends!

 

Merry Christmas!
Beside the huge Christmas tree!

 

Family picture
Our little family by a smaller tree.

 

My sweet little Mio.
This will be Mio's first Christmas!

 

Mio and Mama
The excitement is palpable.

 

Mio's first Christmas
A family picture by the Christmas tree.

 

Mio getting some love from Megumi!
Mio's beautiful dress was a gift from Megumi back in the summer. She's big enough to wear it now!

 

Before we went to the Fairmont, we had lunch at The Stinking Rose, a garlic restaurant in San Francisco. I love garlic, so everything we had there was amazing!

Mio in a "banzai!" pose
Megumi caught this perfect moment of Mio in a "banzai!" pose.

 

with some Nakayoshi friends.
Lunch with dear friends!

 

Mio loves Graig!
Mio loves Uncle Graig

 

With Megumi and Sam
Hadn't seen Megumi and Sam in so long! I love these two!

 

Megumi brought thoughtful, generous Christmas gifts for everyone… so sweet of her!

"What could it be...?"
Even Mio got some presents!

 

Opening Mio's present for her.
Opening Mio's present for her.

 

"Come to Auntie Sam!"
"Come to Auntie Sam!"

 

Megumi brought her signature sugar cookies… they’re always so adorable, and get better and better every time (if that’s possible!).

Megumi with her signature sugar cookies!
The cutest reindeer and Santas!

 

Mio looking at the cookie.

The cutest Christmas cookies!

It was so great seeing some of our San Francisco friends before we fly back East for Christmas! We had just all recovered from being sick the past couple weeks, so it was nice to be enjoy some holiday cheer! 😀

The Stinking Rose with some of my favorite people!