We were planning to stay in Texas for Christmas this year, and to do Christmas here by ourselves for the first time ever. However, around Thanksgiving, we got the very big news that my mom and dad got called to be MISSION PRESIDENTS in Ecuador from 2016-2019! This was a huge surprise and definitely changed our ideas for what was going to happen for the next few years. (I'll probably write more details about this mission call in another post.) So knowing that we wouldn't be seeing them much for a while, and particularly that we wouldn't have the whole family together again for a long long time, we decided to fly out to Irvine for a week over Christmas. It was a lot of work flying and traveling with these two kids (who never fully adjusted to the California time zone until it was time for us to leave, so we were kind of sleep deprived the whole time), but the trip was a lot of fun and it's always worth the hassle of traveling to see family. It was pretty cold there (for California in December) so we didn't end up going to the beach or spending as much time at the park, but we did have a great time with all my siblings there.
A few pictures of the fun things we did:
Best thing was having the two babies together! They were both doing the exact same things--getting up on their hands and knees and rocking back and forth--and it was a lot of fun seeing them together.
Both babies loved watching Murphy through the back door. Graham especially.
A morning walk/run with Grandma and Papa. Dane ran for probably a mile (off and on)... he was determined!
Balboa bars! Every time we go to California we have to get some.
We walked around Balboa Island and looked at all the Christmas lights the night we got there. Both boys were so jet-lagged but really happy and nice.
Christmas Eve matching cousins!
I just loved getting pictures of these three together.
Christmas morning, Dane opened more presents than last year but he still ended up being overwhelmed with all of them and wanted to be done. He was still really cute and excited about some of his presents though.
Graham's first Christmas!
Best baby present ever: I got some random keys from the key-cutting guys at Lowes (for free!) and put them on a keychain and gave it to Graham. He still isn't as interested in them as he is in my own keys, but he likes chewing on them and shaking them around.
Talking about his favorite Christmas presents. Dane is very interested in favorites right now. He loves asking, "What was your favorite part of today?" or "What was your favorite thing?" And he has to ask everyone in the room. It's pretty cute to see him processing and thinking about that.
Graham's favorite part of the trip!
The day after Christmas, we all went to a trampoline place and had a lot of fun jumping around. It was one of those rare activities that was fun for the adults AND for Dane. Win win.
We went to Irvine Regional Park and went on the train--like every time! Jackie was in Southern California helping Tommy's brother Shane and Kiley move down there, and we got to have her and their two boys meet up with us there. It was awesome to get to see her and them for the day!
Dane has been talking about his horse Echo that he rode on at that park a year and a half ago. He remembered all on his own! So we let him do it again this time.
We had a really nice time with everyone together. We watched (most of) the Lord of the Rings trilogy, played Just Dance together, played Ticket to Ride and Monopoly Deal, and did a lot of talking. I was a little stressed out about getting everything ready to get there this year, but once we got there, we were of course really glad we went. It was especially a meaningful trip knowing that my parents won't be here for three years, and since they're moving away from this house that we all grew up in since 2000. It kind of makes me sad that Dane and Graham won't really remember this house or the fun times they've had there--but I guess that happens, and life goes on. And they will be coming back to Irvine after their mission so we will have plenty of trips back there in a few years! (And one or two more before they leave too.)
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