December 29, 2015

missed connections at christmas

I think this is the longest break I've taken from blogging in years. For those of you who are still reading here, I just want to say hi and thanks for caring. We just returned home from spending our Christmas in Arizona and California, and at the airport in San Diego, I was stopped in the bathroom by a kind woman who recognized me. She told me she reads my blog and it made me feel so good. I didn't catch her name (since I had two boys pulling on me), but if you're reading this, "cute blonde with the great smile" I just want you to know that you made my day. Haha, this feels like one of those "Missed Connection" posts.
I didn't take very many pictures of our vacation but we were gone for 11 days and it was pretty relaxing, considering all the chaos of Christmas and then packing up Christmas and taking it on an airplane with three kids.
Our first stop was another "missed connection"... my girls in San Diego! And, oh, they've been missed! Lela picked us up from the airport and shuttled us to her house to which all of my favorite families came. We ate burritos and snuggled and laughed and it was so wonderful. These women are the friend gems of my life. Their love, support and acceptance are so inspirational. I love each of them. And no one can brighten my mood more than them.
You better believe we ate our fair share of Mexican food on this trip. As much as we love Seattle, it has very few good Mexican food options so our trip involved lots of tamales, machaca burritos, enchiladas, shrimp + fish tacos, taquitos with guacamole and buckets of chips and salsa. Like it should... Dang, I've missed Mexican food.

My father-in-law picked us up from Lela's house and then we drove to El Centro for the night. The next morning we hopped in the car and drove to Arizona to spend a few days with my family. I took no pictures of that but more Mexican food was eaten and more hugs and fun. On Sunday morning we drove back to El Centro to stay for the week. David promptly got sick as soon as we arrived and spent the next three days in bed. That part was no bueno but the kids had so much fun being spoiled by Gramma, Grampa and their aunts. They even decorated cookies at Aunt Bethy's house, which was a big hit!
I spent a lot of time soaking up the sun on the hammock in the backyard and reading my book (Blackmoore by Julianna Donaldson - a perfect, cheesy, romantic "beach read"). It was in the 70s and sunny every day and we really enjoyed some sun in December!
On Christmas Eve, David's family's tradition is Mexican food. So we ate David's mom's amazing enchiladas, sopa, beans and all the sides. I tried really hard to get some pictures of the kids in their cute outfits but William refused to get dressed and then Louisa would not stand up for the picture since she was busy stuffing her face with olives. These are the best pictures I could get.
During dinner, the Christmas elf came from the North Pole to the front door and left a box of Christmas pajamas. After getting his new pajamas on, Fritz came back in to the kitchen where David was chatting with his uncle and laid down between his legs and went to sleep. I was cracking up. Louisa went to bed around the same time so it made it easy to get them to bed that night.

After the two littlest kids were in bed, we sang lots of Christmas songs with props from David's mom's school. William was loving all the attention to himself and really enjoyed dressing up as Santa. This is such a fun age at Christmas! He was so excited to put out cookies, milk and a game for Santa to play.
Before we left on Sunday, David's dad pulled out a bunch of memorabilia from his time serving in the Vietnam War. William thought it was really amazing to hear about all the badges and thought Grampa was the coolest because he jumped out of an airplane. We spared him some of the harder things about war but concentrated on his Grampa's bravery and the sacrifice that he gave to protect. He thought it was pretty great that he got to wear his hat and his badges.
All in all, it was a Merry Christmas!

7 comments:

  1. I have missed your posts. I like that your son was able to learn about heroism in a gentle way. (By the way, I love your recipes!!). Your children are beautiful and you are gorgeous! Merry Christmas.

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  2. So glad to see you are back! I have checked your blog entirely too many times and was hoping you weren't disappearing forever.

    Those stockings are amazing!! Where can I buy some?

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  3. I've read for years, but never commented, but that picture of you and Fritz in the hammock is perfection!! :)

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  4. I am also glad you are back! I was starting to worry. ;). Looks like you had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. Happy New Year!

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  5. Haha! I love this - I'm your missed connection! Would have had my own two boys pulling at me too, but they were back at our gate. Love your sweet blog and have read it for years. So fun running into you - it made my day too!

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  6. Glad to see you back and everything is ok. Looks/sounds like you had a great vacation, Christmas & New Years.

    Happy New Year!! xo

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