another lovely Christmas week of "jeans and sweatshirts weather" in California, Part 1

If I don't steal time now for my Christmas and New Year's posts, then I probably won't get around to it until March. And really, who is going to care about it come March? I barely remember it myself already.


Bryce and I once again flew to California for Christmas, the 19th through the 27th. We were much luckier than many holiday travelers this year because our flight out only arrived about three hours late (including a 45-minute landing to re-fuel without getting off the plane in Denver because the captain said the headwinds were so strong that we'd run out of fuel before landing in Los Angeles). And our return trip was nearly flawless. Not so for my college friend Devon and her husband Patrick.

While I wasn't able to sip wine on Aunt Jeannie's patio while enjoying 70-degrees-farenheight and sunshine on Christmas day like I did last year, due to the rain and temperatures that practically felt like winter (In December? You don't say!), it was still lovely. The Californians complained that it was cold, but I thought it was great - just right for jeans and sweatshirts (or a Scripps College zip-up track jacket!). I guess living in Philly for nearly eight years really has changed my body chemistry and/or thickened my skin.

The morning after our late-night arrival, we drove to my cousin Jennifer's house in Victorville for the annual gathering with my dad's side of the family. There was still snow on the ground from the unusual storm they had gotten earlier in the week. I enjoyed watching my cousin Chris barbecue in it in the backyard.


This year's gathering felt very small. Many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins weren't able to attend. My dad is the second-oldest of nine kids, seven of whom were girls. Out of those seven aunts, four couldn't attend this year. We missed them a lot. Here's a video snapshot of most of the folks who made it, taken during the annual kiddie stocking-opening carnage. This is not even half of the kids under age 18 in the family. The video concludes with a closeup of my fabulous footwear for the day (so just skip to the end if you only care about the footwear).



Jennifer asks that we take off our shoes in her home to help conserve the life of the carpet, and holiday-themed socks or slippers are encouraged. So I bought a cheap pair of slippers at K-mart and went nuts with my glue gun. Yes, those are angel wings. I finally reveal my true nature. Hah.

Tyler found just want he wanted in his stocking.


An unofficial holiday tradition with my dad's side of the family involves the throwing of balls of giftwrap. Think of it as an indoor snowball fight: pretty harmless unless your Uncle Joe packs one as tight as a baseball and aims it for your dad, but your dad ducks and it pelts you in the temple. Thanks, Uncle Joe. Now to worry, I have a whole year to plan my counter-attack. Truth be told, I have never really participated in the giftwrap wars, as it runs too counter to my neat-freak tendencies.

Watch my cousin Jennifer in the mustard-colored sweater, and you'll see where another misdirected giftwrap ball accidentally landed:



To be fair, I dont think my dad was actually aiming for anyone's cleavage.

Another tradition that I always look forward to is the gift exchange game, particularly the last three years because my contributions have been homemade and I get a kick out of watching my aunts and cousins fight over them (it's all in the game). This year, my entry was an apron. The one I'm modeling at the beginning of this post was one of my stepmom Sue's Christmas gifts. And the one I made for the game was almost identical to it, but with the coordinating fabrics used the other way around. My Aunt Yvonne won the other one, after stealing it from my cousin Natalie I think, who I'm pretty sure had stolen it from someone else.


I was very happy that Aunt Yvonne won it. She referred to it as retro (or vintage-like? I can't remember which term she used) and commented on the good craftsmanship. Compliment my craftsmanship, and I'm pretty much putty in your hands.

After the party, we spent two more days with dad and Sue before transitioning over to mom's house. It was a packed two days. We did so much, but I barely remember it (seems like I don't remember things nowadays if I don't take a picture). We decided one afternoon to drive up to Mount Baldy to play in the snow. The line of cars going up the mountain was as bad as a Los Angeles freeway at rush hour, so we folded and turned back around before we got very far. But before heading back down, we pulled over and explored a little area on the side of the road. Dad paid homage to his caveman ancestors.


I have a couple of other pictures from that day, but they're boring compared to that one, so why bother?

On our last night with them, dad and Sue took us to Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. But I'm saving that for another post.