Just The Two Of Us: Our Christmas Story

Christmas was rapidly approaching, and it was time to see the family. This time, the WHOLE family! We flew down from Texas to California to see both my side as well as Collin's side of the family. We had a feeling that we were not going to be bored during the winter break.

It had been six months since we last saw our families, so a visit was way overdue. If there was one word that would describe our vacation, it would be busy! Busy in a good way, of course. :) we felt like there was always something to do with our families. There were a lot of family activities and holiday excursions to enjoy. Also, brace yourself! I am going to be writing a lot about our vacation. HERE WE GO!!

December 19th: We landed in Sacramento, sometime in the afternoon to meet my dad and stepmom, Patty. The one thing that I noticed right away was how much colder it was in California compared to Texas. I remember having goosebumps coming out of the airport. We suddenly were not used to California's weather since Texas is warmer. Immediately after we got out of the airport, we met with my extended family to go caroling around my aunt's neighborhood in Sacramento. The streets were filled with older, classic-looking houses. Most of them were built around the 1940's. What a sight it was to behold! The lights were so beautiful and each house was neatly decorated with Christmas festivities. We sang a variety of Christmas songs at random, different houses. After we were done, we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Eldorado Hills to eat dinner and play games. It was fun to spread Christmas joy and to laugh together as a family again.

Getting ready to land in Sacramento. What a beautiful sky!

Group Picture. It was a bit cold out and we were both tired from the trip. I did not look glamorous that night, but we had a great time with this amazing bunch!

There were some fantastic light displays!

December 20th: We went to church with my in-laws early that morning. Their ward put on a really good Christmas program! The talks and the music was great. I felt the spirit so strong. After church, we went to visit my mom. She recently remodeled her home and it looks spectacular! Almost everything about her home was different; the kitchen, the bathrooms, the dining room, the floors, it is all so brand new. She added a beach theme to complete her home which looked adorable. She has given us a lot of ideas of how we can decorate our future house. Later, we went back to my dad's place to do an early gift exchange. (I certainly wasn't complaining about getting early Christmas presents. :) ) When it was close to dinnertime, we went to Collin's parents' house to enjoy a delicious roasted pork dinner. Collin's grandma and Uncle came too. It was great to catch up with them. They are both the sweetest.

My niece Abigail has grown so much! She loves to walk around and point at everything.

By the Christmas Tree. :)

Sister's shot from the gift exchange.

Winking. 😉

It's about to get real...

Drinking hot chocolate like real men.

Love this picture. Love my daddy.

The best picture I could get with the three of them.

She was so good at opening the presents!

December 21st: We had a play date for my two sweet nieces, Lila and Abigail (Abbey) at my sister's apartment. Lila is from Collin's side of the family and Abbey is from my side of the family, so they had never met until this moment. Since they are only six months apart, we figured it would be fun for them to meet and play together. It overall was really good. I feel like they bonded pretty well and loved playing with the toys. It was really cute to see the interaction between the two of them.

Seeing two toddlers playing with toys together is the cutest! :)

Sharing a toy

This one is my favorite. Storytime with these kiddos

We finished the day by having dinner with my mom. She made a very amazing soup called Cioppino. Yum!

December 22nd: My brother-in-law Miles and his wife Mikaela came into town early that morning. They flew all the way from Ammon, Jordan where they studied abroad for the fall. They gave each family member an early Christmas present from Jordan. We all received beautiful scarves; the men's scarves were different from the women's. I absolutely love mine. It's always so neat to get something from another country. In the afternoon, we play a game called pickle ball with Collin's Aunt, Uncle, and Grandpa Wheeler. We had never played it before. It's so simple, yet so fun. It's like volleyball meets tennis. Once I got the hang of it, things went smoothly. I certainly got a work out while playing it. We enjoyed dinner with Collin's family, with his grandma and uncle included. Right after dinner, we watched a fun slide show from Miles and Mikaela's trip to Jordan. Later that evening, we drove over to the Studio Grill Theater to meet my family. I had never been to a place where it was literally dinner and a show. We got food served to us as we watched a movie. We saw the new Star Wars movie! (Surprise, surprise.) My dad and I have always been Star Wars fans so we were both so excited. The movie met our expectations. It was so good! We walked out of the theater extremely happy.

The scarf I got from Miles and Mikaela. Now I have to go to Jordan...

Playing with my niece Lila at the park during a family walk. She talks so much now and I love it! :)

Beautiful California sunset.

December 23rd: We went out to lunch with my family at Tsing Tao. This has been a family favorite Chinese restaurant for years. If I was ever craving Chinese food, I would always choose this place. It was good food and good company. Later on, we made dinner for Collin's family. We made Collin's famous shrimp etouffee. His family seemed to like it. For dessert, I made pumpkin caramel praline bread pudding. Trust me, it's not as complicated as the name sounds; plus, it's an amazing dessert. I have made it every year with our families and they love it. When it got darker, we went to look at some more Christmas lights in Rocklin. It was so gorgeous! I was thinking during the whole time that it's incredible to see what people can create using Christmas decorations. We couldn't resist getting a picture in front of the lights. We were getting more into the Christmas spirit.

We liked this house the best. :)

December 24th: It was Christmas Eve! Other than scrambling to get last minute gifts, it was a great day. For the first part of the day, we spent it with my mom. We cooked for Christmas dinner and played games. Towards the evening, we had a nice Christmas Eve spaghetti dinner with the Wheelers, Grandma Cummings, and Uncle Gordon. I am a spaghetti fanatic so I always look forward to Christmas Eve dinner with my in laws. After dinner, we did a cute little puppet show talking about the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. We all had fun, especially my niece Lila. We read scriptures as a family and listened to a nice Christmas story, told by Collin's grandpa a few Christmases ago. It was very sweet. We gathered around the piano to hear my brother-in-law Paul play a musical number and my sister-in-law Jocelyne sing a beautiful Christmas song. They are both so musically inclined. Afterwords, we sang Christmas hymns as a family. I felt the whole room light up as we were singing. It was like you could feel the Savior's presence there. Best feeling ever! We ended the night by having a sleepover with Collin's siblings until it was Christmas morning.

This girl could not get enough of my socks.

....nor my shoes. :)

Christmas cookies we made for dessert. There was also peppermint bark and homemade fudge. Mmm...

December 25th: It was Christmas morning! We got up early to see what gifts were under the tree. Since Lila is the youngest on the Wheeler side, she got to open her gifts first. She was so cute when she received her presents. My mother-in-law Julia made us orange cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It was a sweet treat and a great way to start off Christmas. Christmas afternoon, we went to my dad's house to spend Christmas with my family. We got there just in time for white elephant and stocking gifts. The white elephant gifts were fun, especially when it's with my family... After the gift exchange, we played games. Patty and her siblings decided to do a Loomis Hills Triple Crown competition. It's kind of like the Olympics where we compete for first, second, and third place. So as a family, we competed for games such as Hearts, Pinnacle, and croquet, and categories for who was the best dressed, best belch-er, most sleep deprived, and the loudest. Yes, they were silly, but it wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't silly. Towards the evening, the first, second, and third place winners were announced with trophies for prizes. Of course, it didn't matter who won, because we were all winners. :) Most importantly, we had fun. From there, we went to my mom's house to have Christmas dinner and open presents. Before dinner, we had a gingerbread house contest with my sister Kelsey and her husband Jordan. By the time we were done creating our houses, my mom couldn't decide whose was best. So I guess we both won. :) She, as always, made an incredible dinner which consisted of ham, scalloped potatoes, cranberry jello, sweet potatoes, etc. We opened our gifts immediately afterwords. Like Lila, Abbey got to open her presents first since she is the youngest on my side. I love seeing her smiling face when she's happy. It was a very Merry Christmas, but vacation was not over yet...