It's January 1st, 2017, the first day of a new year. I think this past year, 2016, may have been one of the most eventful for our family in the past decade. So many things happened, and one of the biggest changes was that my dad accepted a new job in Montreal. As a result, we celebrated our first white Christmas in Montreal this year. There were some downsides to this move. We didn't get to see any of our friends from Oakland, except for one of each of my siblings' friends, who came to visit. It was our first Christmas without any of my grandparents or aunts and uncles (except for my aunt, who also came to visit). We missed out on our annual New Year's hike/run to Muir Beach with our good family friends. But, there were many good things, too: we got to enjoy proper winter sports, such as downhill and cross country skiing, ice skating, sledding, and snow shoeing, much more readily than we could have back in California. We had snowball fights, drank probably gallons of hot chocolate, and experienced first hand what its like to have to bundle up just to walk out the door and then shed layers and snow as soon as you get inside. We met many new friends and had dinner parties with them. Overall, it's been an excellent holiday for us, full of fun and family. As usual, I'll post my favorite photos from the past few weeks here.

First, we got into the holiday spirit.