Christmas Eve:
Anna stopped by in the morning to meet Grace because she missed her at the Apartment Gang holiday party because she was sick. It was so nice of her to drive all the way from Torrance just to visit with Grace for 30 minutes. We spent the day in the kitchen with my folks, helping them prepare a nice meal for Christmas Eve, make a dessert for Christmas and make Christmas brunch. My sister left SF and drove down to LA in the morning (it took her over 7 hours!) and Brandon flew down in the evening. Dan and Dalia came over for dinner as well. It was a quiet Christmas Eve and much different than last year, when my Dad had just been released from the hospital and The Jenkins and Grandma Flo drove all the way down to our house because my Dad was too weak to make the trip.
Anna and Grace
Grandpa and Grace
Crown Roast of Pork that I did not indulge in
Dalia and Gracie
Gracie's beary bum
The Red Velvet Cake
Look how pretty
Christmas:
We woke up early to open presents and Grace had cute Christmas Pajamas that Timi sent her. She actually slept through all the gift opening, but woke up in time for us to harass her with props and picture taking. We headed to Kim and Steve's house in Riverside for Christmas Night and got to see all the cousins. In the long car ride to Riverside, Grace pooped through her cute Christmas dress, and Todd and I had to spend 20 minutes in the bathroom when we arrived cleaning her up. Sadly, her cute Christmas dress got very little use. She will be wearing it for New Years! Kim and Steve made a delicious dinner, and it was a fun time getting to visit with everyone. The Lakers beat the Celtics so that made the night even better. However, my Grandma Sally was feeling under the weather and so was Uncle Gary and they were not able to make it. It really did not feel the same without them there.
Santa Grace
Dan with a happy Grace on Christmas morning
Grace with lots of presents
Grace two seconds later
Grace with a bunch of crap
All the children. It sure is nice to have lots of kids around again. They make things crazy but really fun! Grace does not look too happy here!
John and James
Isabella and Grace
Me and the girls
Elizabeth and Jonah
Friday:
We went to Pasadena to see Todd's family. Pam and Tom drove all the way out from Arizona on Christmas just to see their grandchildren. It was sad that Tommy was in St. Louis , it definitely was not the same without him. I know that Shannon and Logan missed him most. We had a nice time there and went to Porto's in Glendale for a late lunch. Yum! It was neat to watch Logan open all her presents! A two year old has a lot of fun on Christmas. Logan is just so sweet. Every time that Grace would cry she would say, "baby sad."Unfortunately I left my camera at my folk's house, so we did not get any pictures. I will post them when we get some from Shannon.
Late Friday Night/Saturday/Sunday:
The end of our trip did not turn out as planned, but it never does. My whole family came down with the stomach flu late Friday night. Unfortunately, we were too sick to go to Palm Springs to see Uncle Jay, Aunt Flo, Grandma and Matt. Alli and Brandon had to cancel their trip up the coast. My Mom was doing okay and took care of Grace while Todd and I slept, but then she felt ill at the end of the day and had to hand Grace over. Grace turned out to be the strong one, thank goodness! We ended up spending Sunday resting, and Todd and I missed our "date" without Grace.
It was a wonderful holiday week, and we are so thankful for all that we have. Grace has been the best gift of all!
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