Live Love Laugh: Christmas Trip to Cali 2010/Lance's first time meeting the fam

My trip to California this year was quite memorable. First of all, Lance came with me and got to meet my family for the first time. I was a little worried at what to expect, but we had a BLAST and could not have asked for a better trip. We are especially grateful to Timmy, Dawn, Robbie, Austin and Siena for sacrificing so much so that we could stay with them. We LOVED being there!

Here is a day by day play on our trip, what we did, and how it went:

Day 1: Tuesday-We started our trip to St. George at about 2:00pm in the afternoon. The weather was a little wet, but nothing too dangerous.

We loved being in St. George with Aunt Kenna and Uncle Bill. They are delightful! It was fun lodging there.

Day 2: Wednesday-We got up early and were off to Cali! We visited Jessi and her Family first and had a great time playing with Ricky and Eden. We decorated Christmas cookies and played games with them.

Day 3: Thursday-Our second day in Cali included some Christmas shopping at the Temecula Mall with Marty and lunch at Hunny's. It had been about a year since I had been back to Hunny's and it was really fun to go in and see some old coworkers.

Later that night we went down to San Diego and did a session in the temple. The San Diego temple is the most beautiful temple in the world, and it was great being there with Lance.

Day 4: Friday-Friday was Christmas Eve making our day very special. First, we went and visited with Grandma who delighted us with her piano playing and made us laugh with her comments(inside joke). And later that evening Dawn made a wonderful Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. In attendance was Dawn, Robbie, Austin, Siena, Grandma, Lance, and me. One of the highlights of our trip was enjoying the cooking of Dawn-her food is amazing!

After dinner Lance and I decided to go to Catholic Mass with Dawn and the kids. We had a great time and it was really neat to attend a different church and see how they do things. Lance has a lot of Catholics on his dad's side so it wasn't new for him, but it was a first for me. I definitely felt the spirit and enjoyed being there. On our way home we all went for a drive to view Christmas lights. We were really impressed with the effort some of the neighborhoods put forth to decorate for the holidays.

Day 5: Saturday-Christmas Day! Our day began with Timmy, Dawn and the kids all opening their presents downstairs. It really felt like Christmas-there was a warm fire in the fireplace, presents everywhere, Christmas movies playing, food galore, and lots of family, joking, and fun. Lance and I had a great time being a part of their Christmas morning.

Another highlight of our Christmas Day was watching "It's a Wonderful Life" together for the first time. Lance has the tradition of watching it every year, and I had never seen it so watching it together was wonderful! It's an amazing movie and it's crazy that I had never seen it before.

Later that evening we met up with some friends at Denny's from the Murrieta Branch. It was fun to catch up and enjoy their company.

Day 6: Sunday-Some of us went to church (yours truly) and some of us played airsoft with Timmy and the boys (Lancey-pants). I went to church with Marty at the Murrieta Branch and got to meet a family that he just helped get baptized-Danielle and Richard. I also got to meet some of the missionaries who have played a large role in helping Marty to re-activate and strengthen his desire to go on a mission. Lance had a great time playing Airsoft in Lake Elsinore with the boys and had some pretty awesome battle wounds to prove it. I was quite impressed that he was able to keep up with Timmy who is an airsoft fanatic.

Day 7: Monday-Our day started with out with breakfast with Dad and Lisa. We did a mini-Christmas with them and had fun seeing them again. After breakfast we got to do Christmas with Alexander over the web cam. He was so adorable and loved the presents we sent him. It was so neat to be a part of it. Next year will be amazing because it will be our turn to have him during Christmas! We're already counting down the days! Our first Christmas as a married couple and we'll have Zander there with us-I can't wait!

After Christmas with Z, we were off to San Diego to visit the beach and have lunch at Ruby's on the Pier. I love the California sun and was so excited to be at the beach with my boy!

Day 8: Tuesday-Years ago, Jessi and I would go to Knott's Berry Farm to celebrate our birthdays. We always had a great time and so I decided Lance and I should go to celebrate my birthday. Therefore, Lance and I spent most of Tuesday at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park. It was a ton of fun, but the lines were sooo long and we ended up waiting in line for rides more than actually riding rides. Even though, we had a great time and kept busy in line playing "Would you Rather."

After Knott's my family had their annual Christmas Party at Tim and Dawn's. It was wonderful to see everyone and spend time together. Unfortunately, Jamie and his family couldn't make it down this year, but other than them, everyone was there. Dawn made a delicious dinner which everyone enjoyed and Kathryn made me and Bryton some birthday goodies! Bryton's birthday is on the 27th of December and mine is on the 29th.

Day 9: Wednesday-My birthday! Sadly, we had to pack up and leave on my b-day, but our trip was amazing and we loved every minute in California. I woke up to flowers and a sweet present from Dawn, followed by being spoiled by Lance on the drive home. We stopped in Vegas and spent a couple hours there, playing around at Circus Circus and finding the perfect buffet for dinner.