So usually for a couple of weeks during every Christmas we make our annual trip to visit our families in California. And every year we always have to be extra cautious about the snow as we travel. In 2010 we had snow all the way through Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and some of California all the way until we got down into Sacramento.
And just when you thought that the long stretch of road from Oregon to Winnemucca and beyond couldn't get any more boring....well....guess again...
Yep...about 2 hours of good ol' fog....
But again, the good news is that those crazy road conditions were only during our 2010 trip. However, our hopes still weren't high for our 2011 trip. But somehow, some way, Mother Nature decided that there would be no snow during the course of our most recent trip, and we were blessed with the company of the sunshine instead:
When we finally reached California we stopped at Aaron's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Yolanda's house. We also got to see our old friends Tink and Bob (2 of our family's dogs). And anyone that knows Bob - you'll know what I mean when I say he's still the same ol', same ol'. =)
After our visiting with them we stopped to get some dinner before reaching our final destination of Brandy's Dad's house. We immediately went to the one place that we had been missing so much:
Hungry?
After our In-N-Out fix we made it to Brandy's Dad's house on Friday night and had a wonderful time hanging out with him the for the remainder of the week before Christmas. Brandy's family even ended up surprising her with a baby shower during our visit!...but we'll tell that story later.
During Christmas Eve we had a huge party with Brandy's family, and by huge, we mean about 30 people-huge! It was so much fun though and it was nice to see everyone again.
It started out with a pull-string Christmas Pinata for all the kids:
Aaron's turn:
Everyone gathering their Christmas Candy loot:
And a few family-friendly Christmas games. This is a picture of a candy cane game in which a person has one minute to pick up as many candy candy canes as possible - the catch: you can only use one candy cane in each hand as your tools.
Aaron playing with his cousin Chris. They got along so well and had so much fun during this night! If you notice Aaron's excessively rosy-cheeks and sweaty, matted hair throughout any of these pictures it is because him and his cousin Chris were busy chasing each other around the house the WHOLE night! Needless to say...Aaron slept really well that night after the party.
Santa even made an appearance and gave everyone at the party a Christmas gift!
Every year we have a gingerbread house contest between all of the families. Each family gets exactly the same bag of supplies and 15 minutes to complete a gingerbread house. Brandy's dad judges the houses and selects a winner. Since he was unable to choose his favorite this year (due to so many great entries), he resorted to picking a number out of a hat. This was the winner! $100 in prize money!
Aaron opening gifts at Brandy's mom's house Christmas night:
Again, this is only part 1 of our trip. So....to be continued.....
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