A Holly Jolly Christmas

As my final blog entry for the year of 2011, I wanted to share with all my readers (yes, I say ALL like I have sooo many followers) a few highlights from our first ever Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. Mobley.  For the past three Christmases that Mike and I have dated, we've spent the entire week of the holiday apart.  Christmas morning was spent waking up to our little families and opening presents in pajamas just like when we were kids....but in our perspective families.  Our families mean so much to us that we decided not to actually spend Christmas together until we were married.  And even as our first married Christmas, it was impossible to choose between the Mobleys and the DuPonts to decide where we would spend the most holy day of the year.  So....we spent Christmas with BOTH!

For the first leg of what I started referring to the "Mobley's 2011 Christmas Tour" we headed out on a direct flight straight to Dallas, Texas for our DuPont Christmas celebration.  We spent 3 nights at my parent's house visiting with mom and pops, my brother, and of course those two little mugs that I haven't seen since May...Burton & Bear.  While in Dallas we had a few days of festive cocktails, delicious family cooked meals (including my mother's delicious pasta sauce), last minute errands,  opening presents, and watching
Christmas movies.  Even though our 3 short days in Dallas were jam-packed with family activities, Mike and I were still able to steal a few hours to spend time with our besties!  I'm so glad I was able to squeeze in a little ladies lunch with my Boost.  We had a wonderful 2 hour lunch with our mommies, I only wish we could to that more often.

Christmas Eve was my favorite night of the trip...and NOT just because we got to open all of our presents, and NOT just because my husband gave me the most beautiful David Yurman necklace.

It was just a wonderful night spent consumed in fun, food, and conversation.  We didn't even eat dinner until 9:30p because we forgot to eat after being so engaged in the Christmas spirit.  We snacked on home made French onion soup (made by yours truly), crabcakes, lobster tails and a "Christmas salad" made of pomegranate & spinach.  And I'm not sure what time we actually got to bed on Christmas Eve, Santa definitely would have been disappointed, but I wanted to spend every last minute with my parents as I could.  While it was my first Christmas Eve with Mike, it was also my first Christmas Eve away from my BROTHER!!!!  He was spending the holiday in California visiting with his girlfriend's family, so we missed him tons.

One of the most surreal moments of the trip was waking up next to my husband on Christmas morning.  I almost felt like it WASN'T Christmas, because we've spent the three previous Christmases apart.  Since meeting him, I couldn't wait to look at his face and give him a big kiss and tell him "Merry Christmas" in person, instead of missing him while he's spending it miles away.  It was the greatest Christmas gift I could ever receive, and I can't wait to have that moment every year for the rest of our lives.

American Airlines Christmas decorations

So for the second stop on the Mobley's 2011 Christmas Tour, we packed up for the airport on Christmas morning to head out to the beautifully festive Sun Valley, Idaho to spend Christmas Day with the Mobley family.  Christmas was a crisp, sunny day that allowed us to fly directly into Sun Valley airport without any delays or weather problems.  And for the record....Christmas is one of the best days of the year to fly.  The airports were dead, and Mike and I both enjoyed upgrades.  And I'd like to recognize American Airlines for their honest efforts at making the airports a more festive place to be during the Christmas season.  Nice job with the decorations DFW!

While Sun Valley didn't get the snow that they usually get during this time of year, it's still a beautiful Winter Wonderland, with each sight as breathtaking as the next.  I've posted pictures of Sun Valley in the summer on this blog, but it's even more amazing when the mountains are covered in luscious mounds of powdery snow.  But it was still as festive as ever without several feet of snow to delay us from reaching our Christmas destination.

Our 3 days in Sun Valley were filled with single malt scotch, wonderful Christmassy tea, delicious wine, sleeping in late, stimulating conversations, and of course Mrs. Mobley's amazing cooking.  Each meal was so wonderfully planned out and cooked with the greatest attention to detail.  Every meal was like a mini celebration. 

 Not only was it my first Christmas with Mike's parents, but it was the first time I spent the holiday with my  brand new SIL (sister-in-law) and her adorable husband Bill.  But my favorite night of our Sun Valley leg of the trip was our trip to the Lodge in Sun Valley.  The lodge is a beautiful establishment full of  Sun Valley's history that is always impeccably decorated, especially during the holidays.  And it was my first time this year to drink some hot-buttered rum, one of my favorite winter cocktails!  In all the years of visiting Sun Valley, I don't think I've ever even visited the quaint little village.  So we took a chilly family stroll through the village stopping at each ice sculpture, not missing a single photo op.  I don't care that it was 78 degrees in California, Christmas is 100% more festive when there is snow (even if it's just a little bit) on the ground.




I think Mike and I are very lucky that we got to spend Christmas with both of our families, but somehow we still feel like we didn't get to spend enough time with either them.  Our trip home was long, and exhausting, and we were both sad to end the week that we'd both been looking forward to all year.  But after 14 hours of travelling, we got home only to be greeted by the wiggliest little hiney you ever did see from our little bulldog.  While we're happy to be home and relaxing for the rest of the week, we are can't wait until the next time we get to see our families in 2012.  We are so blessed, grateful, and happy to be able to  celebrate with not only one but TWO amazing families.  Here's to a happy and successful 2011 Christmas, and to many more as the Mobleys.