Christmas 2008

We had a great time on our CA Christmas vacation! The 14-hour drive to Antioch was split into two days and went pretty well! I don't know that it would have been quite so smooth without the Nintendo DS and the van's DVD system! And I packed all our food this time, so no yucky fast food stops (oh, wait, except In N Out, which is too good to be considered among the fast food yuckiness). We got to my sister's in Palmdale on Saturday night--and we were greeted with snow! The kids played in it a little on Sunday morning before we left for Antioch. The camera was packed and buried in the back of the van, so no photos :(. In Antioch, Peter's mom hosted an impromptu get together for some of Peter's childhood friends to come visit with us. It was a fun fun night! Monday, we went around visiting other friends. Peter flew back to Phoenix late Monday afternoon (he had work Tuesday-Saturday...the juvenile hall doesn't shut down, you know). Here's where the funny part of the story kicks in. About an hour before Peter is due to depart, he calls me from the Oakland airport to say he did not have our house key, as it was attached to the car keys and in my possession! There was not enough time to drive it over to him (and I shudder to think what the Bay area traffic was like at 6pm), so we decided to overnight it to him the next day. Thankfully, our friend Paul (a former co-worker of Peter's as well) said he could sleep at their house and we could mail the key to him. And, a current co-worker of Peter offered to drive him to work Tuesday and Wednesday. In the end, after quite an ordeal (and a ridiculous amount of money), Peter made it home. Christmas was awesome. The kids were so excited to be at Peter's parents house; we haven't all been there together since August 2005! Of course, we all got some fabulous gifts (I got my Furi knife--hurray!!!), but really, it was just nice to be with family. Of course we missed Peter but we called him as often as we could and took a ton of photos. We got to visit with a lot of family and friends we don't see often. The drive home was (almost) uneventful. My Mom-in-law forgot her medication, but we fixed that dilemma easily with a few phone calls. The kids had a great visit with their cousins in Palmdale on the way in and on the way out. It was just awesome to have quality time with our family!

Of course, Peter and I felt a heavy void this season, missing our little man. Our friends, the Slocums, despite their busy schedules, 2 kids (plus one on the way), and their own Christmas chaos, managed to make a new tribute DVD for Ezra. Peter and I watched it together upon our return last night. We both cried, remembering how much Ezra adored the Christmas tree. He would just stare at it for as long as it was in his view. This was before he got glasses, before we even knew what was wrong with his eyes. We miss him so much, but our so thankful for the memories we share with him.

We hope you all had special moments this season. Enjoy a little slideshow of photos from our California Christmas!