California Vacation Days 1-4

This vacation was definitely one that we were not expecting and not in a good way.  Sickness abounded and took everyone out.  It sure was a bummer, but we were still able to do something every day.

We left for California Friday December 26th at 9am.  It was snowing in Utah, but it wasn't too bad until Beaver and we had to slow down a bit.  When we got to St. George it was nice and sunny.  It's crazy how there can be a difference in weather within a few hours.  Our car got insanely dirty from all the snow though.  We stopped for lunch in St. George and to see if the clothing store Down East had a bigger size of a jacket that Scott got me for Christmas.  They didn't have one, so I might just have to return it which is too bad because it was super cute.  We stopped in Barstow to eat, but also because Kylie had thrown up in the car.  We're not sure if it was from what she ate, the motion of the car, if she was getting sick or if she was teething.  Either way, she was perfectly happy after and even played in the McDonald's play place.  We arrived at David and Kristene's at about 8pm.  Kylie went to bed and the rest of us talked for a little bit before heading to bed as well.

Car is packed and we're ready to go!

Reading her new Frozen books!

Saturday the 27th was sealing day!  Kylie woke up at 7 and woke up at that time pretty consistently the whole vacation.  We ate breakfast, hung out and got ready to leave for San Diego.  We stopped in Escondido and dropped Kylie off with Kyle, Brianna and my mom.  The sealing was short and sweet and Abrie was adorable.  It's amazing how I've learned something new each sealing I've attended.  We are happy for David and Kristene.  We took pictures quickly outside because it was cold and windy.  We picked Kylie up, but got lost on the way to Kyle's house so it got frustrating that it took twice as long to get there.  After we picked up Kylie, we headed to the pizza place in Escondido where everyone else was.  We were planning on playing games with everyone at Kyle's house, but Kylie fell asleep in the car within 2 minutes so we just headed back.  We did try to watch X-Men Days of Future Past with David and Kristene, but we were all so tired that we went to bed early.

Monday the 28th was second Christmas.  We arrived in Riverside at 10 and we had a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls.  Usually Scott's family has orange rolls for breakfast at Christmas, but there was orange flavored frosting on the cinnamon rolls.  We lined up from youngest to oldest and walked into the living room.  Everyone got embroidered towels and then gifts were passed out.  It got a little chaotic trying to pass out and open gifts at a normal pace as we tried to watch everyone open a gift, but it started to take forever.  Kylie received a Bambi toy, a Frozen bag with stickers and a toy car!  Kylie got the toy car later since it was in the garage and the grandparents sort of forgot about it.  Once it was pulled out though, all the kids wanted to play with it.  After opening presents with everyone, we put on a movie for the kids and did the adult white elephant exchange.  We ended up with a chocolate fountain, a towel and a CD of the primary children's songs.  Yeah, I don't think we made out too bad for white elephant gifts!  After that, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing games.  We had ham and potatoes for lunch/dinner and continued playing games into the evening.  We bought Lane and Brita the game Bang! and that was the most played/enjoyed game.  It was a fun day.

Playing in the tunnel that Abrie got for Christmas.

Playing horseshoes! Nikki, Becky, Scott

Toy car! What a fun gift.

Sunday the 28th was a busy day for David and Kristene.  They threw an open house for their sealing that night at their house and there was about 40+ people who showed up!  It was sure crowded and crazy.  We did go to church in the morning at 11 and stayed for only sacrament. We played some ping pong when we got home and helped get some things ready for their open house.  The party was from 6-8 and it was quite loud.  There were a ton of kids there who were screaming and shouting and running around like crazy.  It was a sight to see for sure.  After the party, we played a few games and then headed to bed.