christmas in california

Warning: Picture Overload Ahead

For Christmas, we went down to my grandma's house in Southern California, and my family drove over from Arizona to meet us there.  We spent a few glorious days just going on walks, making soda runs, and eating.  In fact, I ate so much that I would probably have a heart attack even trying to figure out how many calories I ate.  It was glorious.

Two days before Christmas, per our traditions, we went out to eat at Acapulco's.  Mmm, Mexican food.

 My aunt Ginny, my brother Eric, my mom, and my dad

My Grandma, my uncle Paul, and Tim 

Mom and Dad 

Ginny [Claus] and Eric 

My brothers and me being goofy 

And a [relatively] normal picture.

Ellie got bored in her high chair towards the end. 

 Clearly.

Luckily we had the back room to ourselves, so Uncle Paul followed her around. 

We have pictures of him holding me when I was that size.  Melts my heart.

On Christmas morning, we woke up at about 8:00.  Since Ellie, Tim, and I were sleeping in the front room, Santa didn't set out the gifts like [s]he normally does.  Instead, those gifts were left in one big gift bag.

She didn't really get what was going on, but to say she loved it would be an understatement. 

Heck, she got a million toys at once.  Who wouldn't love that? 

This is probably still her favorite toy. 

Her adorable Minnie Mouse snowsuit.  I think Santa really knew Ellie would like pink Minnie Mouse this year. 

See? 

Trying to open my presents and Ellie's presents at the same time. 

 And then Eric started helping.

Best Christmas ever.  I was way more excited for her than I was for myself.  She is one very loved little girl.

He's single, ladies.

The rest of the trip was just relaxing and fun and glorious.  I really miss being closer to my family, and so I just tried to soak up every second.  And I think they tried to soak up every second with Ellie.  Move aside, Tim and Katie!  Ellie enjoyed the spotlight this time and spent most of her time dancing and throwing things on the floor.

And even though I look high in this next picture, I thought the look on Ellie's face made this worth posting.  Plus it's only fair to Tim since I post pictures like that of him all the time.

Tim and I loved our cuddle time with our little girl:

And since my grandma's house is only a couple of miles from Disneyland, Tim and I decided to spend some time in the shopping section outside of the park: Downtown Disney.  I was surprised how much Ellie loved it.  She was totally mesmerized by everything the entire time.  It gave me hope that in the near future she might actually enjoy Disneyland itself.

We had an amazing time in California.  Wish we were still there.  Even the weather was better!

Coming up:  Our failed camp-out turned a walk down the Las Vegas Strip!