We had lots of opportunities to spend with family this holiday season. Although we had so much heavy rain and storms, it did prevent us from doing some of things we wanted to do, especially if it involved traveling. Our holiday home visits started with family on RT's side. We made the trip up to Aptos and had an early Christmas with his parents, siblings, grandmother, and nieces and nephews.
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| Christmas in Aptos |
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| With Poppa in her pjs after the celebration. |
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| The following morning and more celebrating with Hunca Munca Mak! |
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| Little P surrounded by her cousins, aunts, and uncle! |
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| Gram with her great-grandchildren. |
Then, we packed everything up again and made the trip to my family. We had my birthday to celebrate, then Christmas, and then my little nephew's. Lots of presents and chaos. Although, I have to say that we were very good this year. We didn't have any cake or desserts for the birthdays. Even for Christmas, we just had a cheesecake and an apple pie. We didn't just cut back on presents, but we cut back on goodies, too!
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| The festivities began with my birthday, although Little P was the star! |
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| Dinner was a little messy, as evident from her shirt! |
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| Christmas in Hanford |
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| Little P with Grandpa (Lolo) and Grandma (Obachan) |
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| My parents with all their grandchildren. |
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| My niece, her husband, and my nephew. |
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| The ladies on my family's side. |
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| The last of the celebrating was my nephew's 2nd birthday! |
Finally, we arrived home on the Sunday after Christmas. We unpacked a week's worth of stuff, presents, and everything else we accumulated along the way. We had our own little celebration at our house with Little P. It felt good to be home.
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| Opening up her present from Anne & Ed (her daycare family). |
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| Helping unwrap the present. |
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| Reading her book.."All About Me" |
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| She loved her daddy's drums so much, he got her one, too! |
I do love the holidays, and it always comes on so fast and intensely. It's no wonder some of us feel this "let-down" after it's all over. At least the next day was Monday, so it was back to the grind at work already. All in all, it was a very nice first Christmas for our little one. It wasn't over the top, and we were especially glad that we didn't get these huge presents that made lots of noise or had lights blinking with their obnoxiousness! Thank you family! The best part about Christmas is the time that we spend with our families. It's such a joy to see our both our families interact with our daughter. That to me, is the best gift of all.
