California Christmas

We arrived in SoCal on Dec. 22. For Esther and Zoe, it was a whirlwind of seeing family, meeting family, and meeting friends.

My parents.

On Christmas Eve day, we visited
Mark's cousin's family.
Our girls are with Kensie and Kadie.

Mark and his twin/cousin, Jeff.

I don't know these people.

Jeff, Charlotte, Kensie and Kadie

Christmas Eve back with Jodie's nieces:
Rachel, Charis, Sarah, Esther, Zoe and Samantha



Christmas morning and opening stockings.





Have you ever seen anyone so excited over
a tape measure?!?!



Decorating cookies after Christmas dinner.

Alex, Samantha, Ariel and Rachel

Ariel, Rachel and Sarah

Jodie's family

The extended family: Grandma, aunt and her kids (and new grandbaby),
uncle and aunt and their kids

Before we left, we were able to have lunch and coffee
with Mark's good friends and their kids.

Then we were able to take a ride in a friend's
1929 Model T.

It was a great ride, including the need to push the car
to get it started after having issues at a gas station.

We were going to leave Wednesday, but a bad storm was set to hit the Flagstaff area, so we chose to leave Tuesday ... but first we all had haircuts set. Priorities, man!



Zoe's first hair cut.
OK, so I ask "Dante" how much he thought needed to come off. He said about an inch. So I'm in a chair on the other side of the salon having my hair done, and an hour later ...



Zoe's short 'do. It's cute. Not what I expected or hoped for. I miss her puffs. But it will grow back and be healthy. Eventually.

We woke up in Williams, Ariz., the next morning to A LOT of snow. Other than some weather in the Gallup, NM, area, we had a good trip in. We planned to spend an extra day with Mark's parents, but that was stretched out because of the storm that hit, especially after seeing the footage of dozens of cars sliding on the icy roads.