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A very Merry Christmas from our dirt to yours! Every year, around this time, I sit down to write the annual Christmas letter. I love to reflect on the year, flip through pictures of memories we had, and remember the friends we shared those memories with! Last year, I made a pact with myself that I would write up a blurb about each month throughout the year, so I wouldn’t have to forget all the great things that happened all year. Now, it is December 27th, and I have yet to start it! I’ll put the ball in motion for next year. Until then, here was 2013!

January – February 2013
We started the year off in celebration! We went down to Pacific Dining Car in downtown Los Angeles (a MUST date night for all of you looking to enjoy a romantic meal together!) The quaint railway train car parked on a rented lot in Downtown Los Angeles was the perfect spot for history and fun! For Valentine’s Day, we headed down to the Kings game! #GKG!

March –April 2013
For Spring Break this year, we were fortunate to take a trip out to the east coast. Baltimore, DC, and Philadelphia were our destination spots. Baltimore was an interesting city filled with such history!

 

After Baltimore, we took a day trip out to Gettysburg. We enjoyed a VERY CHILLY horseback ride through the battlefields. We heard stories of the men and women who gave their lives fighting in the Civil War. It was truly a powerful experience to share with one another!

From Gettysburg, we headed out to our nation’s capital, Washington, DC. We spent quite a bit of time walking around the city, seeing all the sights, listening to the history of how America came to be today, and of course, in true Kreider fashion, eating a bunch of delicious meals! We hit a Smithsonian or two, and just as we were leaving, the Cherry Blossoms decided to make their presence known!

With a quick stop in Valley Forge to see how the nation’s first Constitutional president lived, we headed to Philadelphia, home of American independence. Also known as home to Rocky, home to cheesesteaks (wit wiz), and home of brotherly love! We sat in the pews of the founding fathers in Christ’s Church, ran up the Rocky steps, enjoyed a pint sitting in George Washington’s favorite seat at City Tavern, and took a stroll down our nation’s oldest residential street, Elfreth’s Alley. We even caught a Phillies opening day game and found out that there is KREIDER ice cream!

May 2013
May was quite a filled month as Amanda (Tamira’s cousin) graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara and Heather (Tamira’s other cousin) got married in Nevada. What a great month! WE took the opportunity to stop and see God’s beauty of Yosemite along the way! Breathtaking!

June – August 2013
This summer, we celebrated our TENTH year of marriage! We partied all summer long with LOTS of live music. We saw Bocelli at the Hollywood Bowl, Tony Bennett in Paso, and returned again to the Hollywood Bowl for Natalie Cole and Earth, Wind, and Fire. In July, we went back to the hotel where we spent our first married night together. Ten years of wedded bliss! Amazing!

September – October 2013
So speaking of Tony Bennett in Paso Robles, while we were there enjoying the beautiful vineyard and open space, we decided we wanted to find some open space of our own. In August, God brought us upon the most perfect piece of land for us, right in Moorpark and amazingly He allowed us to purchase it! In October, after months of hard-work and ups and downs along the way, we closed on the land. Victor has been working to get plans in so he can start building. Also in October, we also visited Gary and Starr up in Napa during Victor’s birthday weekend (a favorite trip of ours to see some of our favorite people and the cutest kids!), Victor went to the Dodgers championship game, and we picked up another Kings game! Busy month!

November – December 2013
In these last few months of 2013, we find ourselves continuing to search and wait for what God wants us to do. We turned our plans in, waiting for approval. And while we are waiting, we took in an amazing Andrea Bocelli concert in Las Vegas as well as a Los Angeles Philharmonic concert at the Walt Disney Music Hall. On top of that, we are happy to announce that Jason (Tamira’s brother) has met a wonderful girl who will be joining us into the family in 2014! Welcome, Rebecca!

So again, we say a very Merry Christmas from our dirt to yours! Many families gather together to build gingerbread houses to be festive, but this year, we thought we’d try to build a really, really big gingerbread house in Tamira’s fairy tale land of Moorpark! If we could only pay gingerbread + fairy tale prices! Pray for + follow us along our journey as we are sure to have many stories throughout the year!

We pray that no matter how you celebrate Christ’s birth, He remains the focus of your time + conversation all year long!