Over the river and through the woods...

That about sums up the last 5 days for us...1000+ miles, over 15 hours in the car, 5 grandparents, 1 great-grandma, and a partridge....wait....you get the idea.

It all began Friday night as we headed north for our first Christmas on the road. We drove to Valencia (2 1/2hours), and stayed the night in a hotel, to help break up the drive. Saturday morning we headed out to Jeff's grandma's house in Visalia. We visited with Grandma, Nana Marie, and Uncle Mike. We had the chance to visit and celebrate an early Christmas with everyone.

Saying CHEESE at Great-Grandma's House

We left Sunday morning after breakfast and made our way through the mountains to Midpines, where Jeff's dad and Kathy had been preparing for Christmas at their cabin. The weather was certainly winter-like, minus the snow, but cold enough to sure put us in the mood. Upon waking Christmas Eve Day, we made the 45 minute trek to Yosemite. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when we first drove through the park gates and the weather outside felt like winter, but there was NO snow in sight. I was really hoping for a "White Christmas", but figured a "white" Christmas Eve would suffice. Well, my disappointment didn't last long, a short climb up into the park and before we knew it, a sea of white was all around. Emerson and Brennan, having only seen snow in pictures or on TV, were quite excited. We stopped at one of the many spots along the road and explored a bit. After a mere 10 minutes (maybe less), my little desert-babies were visibly shaking, even though we had gone to great effort to put on the hats, jackets, gloves, boots, etc. So, we made our way back to the car and drove further into the park. We spent the morning in the park, had lunch, and headed back to the cabin to prepare for Christmas Eve.

After we went to Mass in Mariposa, we had a fantastic dinner of ham and the fixings. We spent the rest of the night opening all our presents. The kids were really spoiled this year! Finally, settled them into bed, after making sure Santa had something yummy to eat.
Christmas morning we arose and found our stockings filled and more "Santa" presents under the tree. We packed up after breakfast and finally made our way back home Christmas Day, a long 7 hour drive back to La Quinta. And you would think we would head straight home...but the holiday would not be complete without a visit to the Black's house. Lucky us, we walked in just in time for dinner, pie, and a rousing game of Catch Phrase. What a perfect way to finish off a Merry Christmas.
We hope that you and your families enjoyed a beautiful and blessed Christmas as well.

Lots of love,

The Grady's