Monday, December 29, 2008

Christmas 2008

On Monday, 12-22, we headed out from Happy Trails to SoCal. Our destination was our son Matt's house in Hemet, CA. However, before we get there we stopped by Lois's house in La Mirada to drop our dog Pearl off for her Holiday visit with her best friend Misty. There was tail wags galore, and Pearl really appreciated some time on real grass instead of rocks in AZ. We also picked up some Christmas items we would need during our stay.

Since we were taking our dog with us to SoCal, it limited our space in the Pilot for presents. We had to run around a little bit to pick up some last minute items. Linda started a new tradition for our children's presents this year. We would limit the presents to three-one based on a want, one based on a need, and one that was a surprise. It seemed to work out very well. We did more shopping this year on the Internet with the items being shipped to us. We got some unique products, good prices, and surprise, all of the items arrived before Christmas!

On Tues. 12-23, John had a follow up appointment with his Doctor in Santa Monica. With all of the traffic it was an all day ordeal. But it was worth it, the x-ray showed the hip mending well and even some new bone growth. He still has to do physical therapy and come back for another x-ray in 2 months, but we're really encouraged.

On Christmas eve we headed out to John's cousin Linda's house in San Bernadino to celebrate with his side of the family. It was a lot fun seeing all of the family and how they had grown over the past year. Linda and her husband Mike made a good Lasagna dinner with all of the trimmings, and we caught up on all of the news with the families. It really special to see John's Mom Betty and her sister Shirley. Both of them are doing well.

On Christmas day we headed down to Garden Grove for Christmas with Linda's side of the family. Our niece Val and her husband Rick were the hosts this year and they went all out to make the day special. Like I mentioned in the last post, our daughter Jeni couldn't join us this Christmas. She had to stay in SC to finish her project. But she was with us in electronic form through the Internet. Using web cams in CA and SC, we were able to share the Christmas experience together. When one of Jeni's presents was announced, someone would open it in front of the camera and she could see what her present was. It worked out pretty well, and Jeni got to see what everyone got. She did miss an excellent dinner, though. Here's a picture of the computer with Jeni on the other end.

Of course the real center of attention was the three little ones, our nieces and nephew. Here's a closeup. From left to right we have Chase, then Iris in the middle, and on the right is Violet. Aren't they cute!

It was another great Christmas even though we missed Jeni. Next year we'll have everyone back together again, and it will be even more special. If you want to see all of the pictures from Christmas, click in the link to see our web album:
After Christmas it was back to Matt's house. On 12-26 we picked up John's mother at her sister's and took her home. Normally Matt, Suzanne, and Jeni join us, but Matt had to work and Jeni was in SC, so it was just Linda & John. But we had a good time exchanging presents and catching up.
One of the present we got Matt was a water fountain for his front door. John had to put it together, and then Linda planted some pots around it to add some color. It ended up real nice and makes their front door area real inviting. It fun to see the kids making progress on their new house.
On Monday we picked up Pearl and headed back to Happy Trails for the New Year. We pray that everyone had a great Holiday and we hope 2009 turns out to be a great year.

2 comments:

Dkalla said...

Sounds like your holidays were almost perfect. And great news about Johnny!!!

Love,
Donna

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you were in Garden Grove and didn't come see us! We miss you! You guys have to meet little Ava... she's as cute as your little nieces and nephews and needs to see you guys... let us know when you're in the area - we would love to see you!