A California Christmas

This year, we flew into California on Christmas Eve. It was a great week long visit that I wish could have lasted even longer. I didn't take very many pictures at the beginning of the trip and it's because I was to busy enjoying our time together.

I was having a hard time focusing at work the last few days before the trip, so I made this. It didn't really help me focus, but it was fun to hand letter!

I got really excited seeing all of the green and knowing the white was only clouds instead of snow. My parents greeted us at the airport with fresh crab sandwiches from the San Francisco wharf. We headed over to my brother's house and watched the beginning of Napoleon Dynamite. I want to make that movie part of our Christmas tradition from now on! Ryan, Jonathan, and I kept talking in quotes from the movie. Also, it's shocking to see how much Ry's grown up. I'm not too sure about this.

Since Christmas was on Sunday this year, we opened a few presents with my parents and then got ready for church. Amy's family joined us at church. Her kids didn't know we were coming and were stunned to see us in the chapel. Spencer quickly became friends with me because I gave him food.

After church, we went to Amy's house for lunch and to play with Charlotte and Garrett while Spencer napped. We played a few dozen rounds of Hungry Hungry Hippo. I forgot how loud that game is!

We had a fantastic crab dinner that night. My mom made a Crab Louie salad, cheesy crab breads, and some extra crab legs. I hope that becomes a new Christmas tradition too!

There were snow flurries throughout the entire week.

That evening Chris's family arrived from Idaho to spend the rest of the week with all of us.

On Monday, a bunch of us went to see Star Wars Rogue One. I was surprised by how good it was. (I'm not the biggest fan of The Force Awakens.)

After dinner, we went back to Andy's house to celebrate Amy's birthday with delicious desserts.

Garrett and Seth are trying to see each other through the tree.

On Tuesday, Jonathan and I had to visit Fry's. There is no electronics store like it in Utah.

That night we had Skipolini's pizza for dinner at Andy's. After we ate, we started making plans for our trip to Europe. Both Chris and Annie served their missions in Europe and they've been wanting to get back there for years. It started out with Chris wanting to take Mom to visit his mission (my dad has no desire to leave the country) with Jonathan and me tagging along. It's since grown and all of the siblings are going on the trip. Chris served in the Netherlands and Belgium while Annie served in Italy. Since they aren't too close, we had to decide which trip to take first. In the spring or fall of 2018, we will be going to Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, and London for two weeks! 

Photo cred: Amy R.

On Wednesday, we had our family pictures because Spencer is now here.

After family pictures, we went to the Taco Tree.

Whenever Jonathan and I visit, Tyler is kind enough to let us sleep in his room. He ended up falling asleep between the couch and the ottoman because the kids were still playing in the game room.

Thursday morning, we took Ty's new drone flying around the school. It was pretty tough with the breeze, but he slowly improved. After the battery died, we played some basketball. Jonathan dove to save the ball (which he did), but he fell down and his glasses got scratched up. Which is better than his face getting scratched up.

Jonathan and I took Ty out for lunch as a thank you for letting us use his room. I chose Chevy's because I have been craving their chicken flautas! The closest Chevy's to us is in Las Vegas. It kills me!

That night, the girls went out to dinner before seeing White Christmas. It was really well done, though a bit different from the movie.

The dark spot in the water is a dolphin.

Friday was our last day together, so we made it a beach day! It was gorgeous! The kids had fun playing in the water and accidentally getting soaked. Jonathan and I walked our way along the shore and we were able to see dolphins!

I am so ready for spring!

We found a tetherball court and Jonathan tapped into his inner Napoleon Dynamite.

Saturday morning, we pretended to go home. The fog/inversion over Utah Valley was so thick we couldn't land.

They diverted our flight to Las Vegas to refuel before trying to land again.

It did not work out at all.

We were exhausted and I was coming down with a cold. It was not a happy New Year's Eve for us. The airline rescheduled our flight for the next morning.

Sunday was not a promising start, but we made it back home. There was no one at the counter to check all of us in until about a half hour before the flight took off. All of us were concerned that we were not going home again!

Someone showed up and got us all through.

It all worked out in the end!