Winter Break: Part I

What a nice Christmas! This year's holiday was a smash hit - nary a glitch despite being a packed house.

Rob and I arrived down in San Luis Obispo late Thursday night and joined up with the family on Friday morning. Some much needed Christmas Eve laziness, plus a hike to the top of Bishop's Peak to enjoy a brief break from the rain:

Christmas Eve dinner was our traditional dungeness crab, artichoke and sourdough bread feast! To bed with stuffed bellies and stuffed stockings. We did stockings-only for the grown-ups this year and I loved helping to play Santa with all kinds of goodies from Ikea and Japantown. Isn't my mom's stocking adorable with the little mouse peeking out the top?

Christmas morning was lovely. Everyone had fun opening their stockings and doing a small white-elephant-style gift exchange by the fire. My nephew Cameron made out like a bandit being the only kid in the group. Rob and I got him a Paper Jamz guitar that was a lot of fun when borrowed by other relatives and paired up with the piano for some rocking carols.

Christmas Eve dinner was another grand feast! We had a giant turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, roasted brussel sprouts, creamed onions, apple pie, pumpkin pie...the works. And everything was delicious.

Folks started to peel off on Sunday. Jean, Trent and his parents hit the road for Davis in the morning after breakfast. It was a mellow day with a lot of puzzles, a brunch with an old colleague and a couple after-Christmas sales. Dinner feast of leftovers from the day before.

On Monday, Rob and I baked cookies in the morning and then spent the day with his sister and adorable nephews. We had pizza, watched a fun movie they made and decorated a lot of cookies! Our visit ended with a foam noodle battle-royal in the yard. Such a fun family!

Tuesday morning, Rob and I packed up the car and headed north to Tahoe for the second half of our vacation. Good bye sun and warmth...here comes the snow!