If none of that made any sense whatsoever, you may be curious to check out THIS LINK...
Anyhoo, the holidays have been hustley and bustley to be sure, but they have also been very relaxing, getting to spend time with family, and for me and Jess to spend some extra time with each other (amid novels, graduate work, our careers, pets, band rehearsals, etc.)
The first "Christmas-y" thing was our church Christmas party over at the Bridgeport Clubhouse. If that name doesn't mean anything to you, it's just the clubhouse at the coolest (and most expensive) planned community in Valencia. It has a big lake in the middle and the houses are huge and beautiful. We live across the street from the community, so we like to go take walks around the lake with Maggie the pup.
Christmas Eve was held at our house again this year, and my parents, my grandma, Donny, and Uncle Reuben and Aunt Eileen came over with all their kids (rare): LaRae, Reuben, Gabriel, and Isaac. We watched the Christmas classic: "Nacho Libre" and had a great dinner, opened presents, played Rock Band, and sang "The 12 Days of Christmas." Donny spent the night, and we made a pot of coffee with our new Cuisinart magical coffeemaker of the universe, and talked until the wee hours.
Playing Rock Band with cousins
Maggie, Mom, Grandma & Jess enjoying dinner
A crowded kitchen
Merry Christmas!
Binx got out his Christmas polo shirt
Maggie loved her Christmas bow
I got my brother the Planet Earth DVDs
Christmas day we went down to my parents house and hung out there all day after Donny and I spent some time at my church recording drum tracks for him to use when he lead worship on Sunday. We had our holiday favorite: Thai food, and watched the "Caves" episode of Planet Earth while I napped (another holiday tradition).
The next day, Jess and I left to go up to Mammoth Mountain for a couple days, thanks to the generosity of our friend Tim Sullivan, whose parents own a condo up there that they let us use. We went up with our friends Nick and Jenny Patey, and another couple-friend of theirs: Brooke and Charlie. We arrived Friday afternoon and got settled in. There was a little bug going around that everyone but Brooke and I started to feel at some point in the trip, but we persevered.
Bathroom break on the way up
Brooke & Charlie, and the kitty puzzle we did
Jess making some tacos
Good food, friends, and games
I proceeded to lose my phone that first night, and spend the next couple of days feeling like I was disconnected from the entire world. I am using Jess' old phone for now...sigh...Blackberry Storm...would you go on a really good sale soon? Hmmm, my birthday's coming up...
We spend the next day playing in the snow, and just relaxing and hanging out. Nick and I both
brought up video game consoles, so we alternated between Wii Tennis/Golf and PS2 Rock Band.
It was GORGEOUS weather while we were there
Me and Nick (The Duke)
Jenny kept flipping over backwards
Jess shedding layers in the sun
I had just run over an exposed root and my tailbone was in severe pain
I think I'm reliving the moment here
Why not get a photo while I'm in pain?
"Quick, take a picture before the snow falls off"
Charlie working on his Wii putting
Brooke liked the sand traps
The girl band: The Snow Angels
Sunday was snowboarding day! It had snowed a couple of nights in a row before we got there, and then cleared up for a marvelous day. It was my second time ever, and Jess says I have made a lot of progress! She's much better than I am, so I trust her opinion. I felt like I made good progress all morning until lunch, and then my body started to say "I've had enough." The snow was much better than it had been last year (we went at Thanksgiving last year), and so my mind thought that when I fell it hurt less, but I was wrong.
Jenny and Jess
Nick
Me taking a break
I was doing well at this point
The gang
We came home Monday, and we've been savoring the time off together, and reading by the fire. We are going to go to MB2 tonight with our Young Marrieds group to ring in the New Year. So that's the last couple of weeks for ya!
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