Monday night was our last night with family before our trip home. After the dinosaurs we all drove out to meet Matt & Cherise at a Thai restaurant near their house. It was nice to spend more time with them.
I loved the colors inside the restaurant, that is why I posted several.
The following Monday we went back to the dinosaurs because I really wanted to. I am a big kid with a unique love for weird things. I love animatronics and they had fun robotic dinosaurs. The giant dinosaurs are cool too because you can go inside of them. The Brontosaurus is a gift shop. The T-Rex had been closed since we moved to the area back in 1994 but they finally opened it and you can go all the way up into his mouth. I was super elated!
If you have ever seen Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, the T-Rex will look familiar.
I also had to make a couple pictures black and white, they remind me of those 1950’s cheesy B movies.
The day after Christmas we got the opportunity to meet Todd’s brother Keith & his girlfriend Samantha at a halfway point. Keith lives in Phoenix so halfway for us was a town called Blythe, CA. There really is nothing to do in Blythe, except eat, but Todd did some research and found some cool Intaglios. We spent about 5 hours with them and then headed for home. Along the way home we stopped at my favorite place in Cabazon, the giant dinosaurs. I’ll have more pictures from when we went back the following Monday.
Of all the names a park could be, this one was named after Todd 🙂 Unfortunately it was a very ghetto park, a little scary.
We all gathered at my parents for a yummy lunch and then to open presents afterwards. I think we all got what we wanted this year. Not that it really mattered, I was just happy to be with family.
One of the things I got my Dad was a muskrat pelt, he loves random things like that. He saw it at Dave’s in Lynden when they were visiting but never bought it, so I got it for him.
I guess the froggy outfit I got for Holden is the symbol for a gang in the town my brother works in. He was going to take it to work and show the guys 🙂
I always have to give Lucy some love, after all she is “big sister” now. The day before Christmas Eve we drove about two hours to an all you can eat sushi bar and then afterwards to walk through IKEA. It was a fun evening!
That same evening (after a full day of Wii and goats) we drove to Matt & Cherise’s place to stay for a couple nights. As soon as I walked in the door Cherise handed me Holden and I was pretty much useless from then on. I did take lots and lots of pictures which might make Holden think his auntie is a cyclops 🙂
I love that little guy, being 1,500 miles away is going to be tough.
The first day with Mom & Dad was a full one. We played Wii (Sports Resort), had lunch at a yummy Mexican place, shopped a little and then drove to Oak Glen (mountain town). We wanted to see the fire damage from a couple months ago which burned over 1,000 acres. I forgot to get pictures of the burned hills, but I did get pictures of a cute goat 🙂
This year we rented a little white Ford Focus (not that we actually chose it). It was the sporty addition but it did not have cruise control. Todd did fine driving over 3,000 miles without it 🙂
Friday night we stopped in Shelton to see Todd’s family and then headed to Rouge River, OR Saturday night. Sunday afternoon we made it to my cousin Sarah’s house in Sacramento where we had dinner, played Wii (along with Nate) and watched a movie late into the night. Sarah & Andrew are having a little girl in May, we are very excited for them! Monday we slept in (after forgetting to set our alarms) and then headed for Yucaipa.
I was surprised to see all the green in California on our way down. Look how lush it is 🙂
This picture pretty much sums up the whole trip to California. Well, maybe half the trip. I still have oodles more to post.
We have a lovely blanket of snow right now. It started coming down yesterday after church and stopped a little later in the afternoon. It feels so calm and peaceful when it flutters down, I love to watch it. I also love Christmas lights in the snow, they seem more magical to me.
La Casa Blanca 