We always spend Christmas in California. I enjoy the family and the traditions. However, arriving Stateside days before Christmas does take away the “fun” of getting ready for Christmas. The fake tree goes up, the gifts are purchased and wrapped in record time.

When we arrive on the first day, we put the tree up so we can enjoy it the whole time we are home.

Aunt Terri and Uncle Andy take the girls to the Nutcracker every year in San Francisco. The night begins with a nice meal in the City followed by the performance. Each year, Aunt Terri buys the girls a Nutcracker to add to their collections. They began taking the girls when they turned 3 years old. It is generally the first night we get home which can be hard to stay awake. This would be Elle’s second time to go to the performance, but she was too tired to go this year so Grandma took her ticket. But, Aunt Terri still got her a Nutcraker which made Elle very happy.

Every year Aunt Nancy has gingerbread house making at her house. Nancy makes the houses from scratch and puts out all kinds of candy to decorate and eat. I love to eat all the hot tamales.

This year, Emmy wanted the Wii. We sent Uncle Andy shopping early, as it was THE hottest toy of the year. Since it is an expensive toy, it would be a SHARED gift for the girls. When the girls went to see Santa, Emmy told Santa, “I would like a Wii to share with my sister”. Elle told Santa, “I would like makeup”. I loved the simple wants of a 4 year old. Funny, how Grandma’s must had known as she bought each of the girls a makeup kit the day before.

As we do each and every year, we had a wonderful Christmas with family. Christmas Eve at Jim’s parents, Mimi and Papa, begins the celebration. Prior to dinner, Mimi and Papa take the girls to church. This year, Andy, his Dad and Emmy were our church goers.

Our Christmas morning always starts off early. We tell the girls they must wait until 6:30. Now, that Emmy is an expert on time, there is no getting around it. My favorite part is the girls running downstairs to see what Santa brought in the night.

Elle got her American doll, Mia, for her birthday. This Christmas, Papa made Elle a special bed for her doll. Aunt Nancy made the beautiful bedding for the bed. A very special gift for Elle.

The girls open their present in less than thirty minutes. Since we still have ALL morning before heading to brunch at Nancy’s, we hook up the new Wii. Everyone enjoyed the girls’ present this year. We had a hula-hoop contest one night. Terri was giving Andy a bad time about how bad he will be at hula-hooping. Well, Andy beat us all, but Emmy. I won’t comment on how bad Aunt Terri turned out to be at hula-hooping on the wii.

Next is it off to Christmas brunch at Jim’s sister’s house hosted by Nancy and Ernie to start off the over eating. Nancy is an amazing cook so you always leave her house a little overstuffed. We finish the celebration at our house with Christmas dinner. My parents, Richard and Rose, come out each year as it is too hard for us to travel to Nebraska. This year Uncle Andy’s Dad, Ray, join us for the first time in California. As the family keeps growing, we were 20 for dinner. After dinner, the wii challenges began!! I think this is the first (and last) year the cousins had fun with the girls’ Christmas gifts. The cousins range in age from 26 to 33. Emmy loves that she beat Justin at Mario and bowling.

We drove to Tahoe the next day for a quick ski/snow trip. We squeezed in some time at the Tahoe house this year. Emmy does amazing well for the 2 days of skiing she gets each year. Elle is working her way down the bunny slopes. Jim is the teacher since he began his skiing days at the age of 3. Grandpa and Grandma watch from the bottom of the hill. They go in for coffee when they get too cold.

We had a day of sledding down the side of the house. Jim gets out the old set of snow shoes to make the path down the house…just like his Dad did when he was a kid. We had a fast sled run this year! After sledding, there is always a snowball and snowman building. It is a fun day in the snow. I like it best when the sun is shinning on us to keep us warm.

On New Year Eve’s, Mimi and Papa always where their best! Papa loves to put on his tuxedo whether he is going out or not. Happy New Year!