Christmas morning.

We started off the day by taking a hike with the dogs on the trail behind Andy’s uncle’s house.

I hadn’t forgotten how beautiful Prescott is with its sunny skies, gorgeous mountain views, and pretty trees — I particularly love manzanita trees. We’d spent Christmas here two years earlier while on the road in the motorhome, and we were remembering how much we liked the area.

We could definitely feel the elevation change during our hike, but it was too beautiful to resist.

We hung out back at the house as everyone prepared for our holiday meal. There were five dogs total, so it was a busy place!

The weather was so wonderful that we ate our Christmas meal on the back deck.

Filled with laughter and love, it was a great way to spend the holiday. We were so thankful that we made the trip to see everyone — it was nice to be around family and to see people we hadn’t seen in such a long time.

Afterwards, we enjoyed some company around a bonfire.

And that night, we played a hilariously competitive game of charades.

Another exciting day behind us, we headed to bed once more.

In order to give everyone a bed to sleep in, we actually spent the night at the house of his uncle’s friends, who were out of town. The dogs seemed to enjoy having their own space, and the house had amazing views of the area.

The next morning, the day after Christmas, we decided to take another hike. We ventured out on the same trail, but this time, we went further until we reached the forest of ponderosa pines.

The towering trees were gorgeous.

Afterwards, we helped prepare for Andy’s cousin’s (Joanna) baby shower. We all had a fun time at the shower; there were some interesting activities.

We had fun decorating little onesies — Andy and I came up with some pretty dorky designs.

Since it was our last night in town, we took a ton of group photos with the cousins.

What a fun group!

The next morning, we headed back to Ramona, stopping only briefly to check out the views as we left Prescott.

We made it back to California safe and sound — though we did find out that our little car needs some work.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip, and we are very happy that we went! It was so awesome to get to see family and spend time with people that we love. The conversation, laughter, company, and love made for the perfect holiday.