Christmas catch-up

What a week!

A week ago Friday, on December 21, the 3 of us flew from SLC to Long Beach, CA to spend Christmas with Mom & Dad. First surprise: Dad bought a new truck, another Dodge Dakota and it is very nice. Dad has really good taste in vehicles!

One of the best things about the trip was that we did something fun every day. On Saturday we all went to Huntington Beach for a little stroll along the beach and lunch at Ruby's on the pier. It was a beautiful day and we all had a good time.

On Sunday we hung out in the morning, doing a little shopping here and there, then in the afternoon MT, T & I went to see the new National Treasure movie. It was entertaining and I really enjoyed it.

Monday was Christmas Eve and my aunts and uncles came over in the afternoon. My cousin, his wife and their baby came over too. It was such a nice day that we all spent time on the patio in the backyard, chatting and having snacks. We moved inside for dinner when it cooled off and got dark, then we opened gifts and had some dessert. It was probably one of my favorite times with the whole family.

Christmas was Tuesday of course. T was up at 2 am. He was very excited because Santa had already been there and T was ready to open presents! We told him to go back to bed. He didn't, but he did leave us alone for a couple of hours. Yep, he was back in at 4 am. We still weren't ready to get up. We did get up at 6 am to open gifts, then I and most of the others, too, went back to sleep for a little while. When I got up, Dad was making waffles. Yummm. After waffles and several mimosas, I was in the Christmas spirit and the rest of the day was great, very pleasant and enjoyable. T got a Nintendo DS from Santa and he couldn't put it down. Very successful Christmas!

On Wednesday I tried to figure out how to get everything back to SLC. I couldn't do it; I had to leave some things at Mom's and I think Dad will bring them up when he comes to visit. Wednesday was also the day that we met up with my college roommate and her family! It was so cool to see Reg and Scott and to meet their kids. They have a son who is close to T's age, and the boys hit it off over the Gameboy. They also have a little girl who is almost 3 and she is so adorable! She had me cracking up while she was stirring up all the food left on the plate - note: guacamole, sour cream and ketchup combined will result in a sort of grayish goo. I also thought it wa funny when she traded socks with her mom. Good thing Reg has little feet!

We left from Long Beach on Wednesday night and it was pretty cool and quite windy. Of course, it was very cold but not windy back in SLC. Our flight was delayed, so we got home around 1:30 am. MT had to go to work by 6:00; I also went to work that day and it wasn't much fun. Speaking of not much fun, did I mention that on Friday afternoon before we left I slipped on the sidewalk at my house and bruised both of my arthritic knees? That really sucked.

Today, Saturday, we drove to Pocatello to attend the funeral of MT's uncle Don. It wasn't a very pleasant drive because the roads were wet/slick/snow-covered in different places. Still, I was glad we went to pay our respects. MT is close to his family and I know it's hard for him to live away from them (as it is hard for me to live away from my family, too). At the graveside there was a full military service, complete with a 21-gun salute, taps, an honor guard, the whole thing. It was beautiful and touching. We also all released red, white and blue balloons. The balloons floating away against the gray sky with the snowflakes tumbling down around us was quite a sight. Yes, it snowed a little and it was very cold. Another reason why I'm glad we went is because MT's brother will be shipping out to Afghanistan in 4 days and I'm happy that we got to see him again before he goes. This will be his third tour during this war, and I worry about him each time. Take care, Kev.

After a scary drive back home, we went to dinner at the Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood where we all ate a lot. At home I watched the Patriots/Giants game - I love Tom Brady - and now it's time for bed.

Sorry for the long post. I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of posting regularly. It's funny how addictive it is!

I hope you all had a merry Christmas and that you are making your resolutions for a fantastic 2008!