So another year has come and gone. Is it me or do the years just keep getting faster and faster. I think it has something to do with having kids. Like they say, time flies when your having fun and we definitely have had fun this year. Last month was a busy month for us as I'm sure it was for most everyone. We were able to go to California for Christmas and spend it with Antione's family, something we have never done before.We left on Wed. Dec 16th at about 4pm. We thought we would try to drive straight through but Jada wasn't even going to let us. She cried and cried because she was soooo tired but she wanted to lay down to go to sleep. So we get a hotel room in Las Vegas, at the Excalibur. We stayed there before last time we went to CA because it is right off the freeway. Ava loves it because it looks like a castle, Sleeping Beauty's castle of course. Actually, the first time she saw it she said, "Look mom, a temple." She called all big buildings temples. It was very cute. Anyway, the rooms are cheap but the beds are sooooo uncomfortable. I don't know if we can stay there again. Both Antione and I woke up with aching backs. And for that matter didn't sleep much anyway. The other thing that I HATE about the rooms is that they don't have a dead bolt lock or even a latch lock on the door. So, my child, who is absolutely and completely obsessed with opening and shutting doors, is able to open the door to our room and walk right out into the hall. So as tired as Jada was in the car, as soon as we get to the hotel and lie down with the girls, at 1200am, she is wide awake and wants to play.

So the rest of the drive there, the next day, wasn't too bad at all. The kids mostly slept or watched a movie. As opposed to the day before when I was turning around every 10 min to get Jada's binky or bottle, or get Ava a blanket or something else. Not even kidding. I had sores on both elbows, what would be equivalent to "rug burns." Caused by the friction of my elbows rubbing on the seats from turning around so much. Crazy! I just laughed about it, but they did hurt. Other than that, nobody threw up, the car worked just fine, no accidents happened and we all arrived in one or should I say 4 pieces.

We actually ran into a little fog when we arrived which is not at all surprising for Fresno. In fact, Fresno has some of the worst fog in the nation. Antione told me that they have had 100 car pile ups on the road we were driving, due to fog.

The weather was actually pretty nice. It felt just like fall in Utah to me, most days anyway. It was so weird to see leaves on the ground, green grass, and people mowing their lawn and they had Christmas decorations on their house. I have never spent Christmas away from home. There is nothing like a white Christmas. I love it. Before we left, I asked Ava what she wanted for Christmas and she would say, "um, green or blue." I think she saw that the presents were wrapped in colored paper but I don't think she understood that you get what's inside. But one time I asked her what she wanted for Christmas when we were in CA and she said, " a white Christmas." I kid you not. She must have been thinking what I was thinking. Or maybe she heard me singing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas." What can I say, I love that song.

We mostly just spent time with family while we were there, did a little last minute Christmas shopping, and of course Antione caught up with a lot of his old friends. It was fun to have his family be able to get to know the girls a little better and have the girls get to know some of them. Ava was a lot more outgoing and friendly. She even gave hugs and kisses. But Jada, sweet little Jada, well she was kind of meanat times. She would smile when someone would smile at her but as soon as they would try to hold her, she would give them one of her famous scowls and sometimes even hit them. She is such a mommy and daddy's baby. She also started cutting three teeth right before we left so there was the added bonus of that. She was so cranky on Christmas day. After her and Ava openend up all their gifts, or should I say after Ava opened up all their gifts, she was sooo fussy. She would not let me put her down. She just wanted to be held. It made for a long day. But the best part was the food. No wonder Antione gets so homesick around the holidays. He misses the food. There were 2 turkeys, a duck, a ham, and a roast. Then there was collard greens, green beans with ham hocks, dressing (not stuffing, but made from scratch, to die for, cornbread dressing), 10 sweet potatoe pies, potatoe salad, pasta salad, cornbread, rolls, lemon cake, and german chocolate cake. I feel like I am forgetting something but you get the idea, ALOT of food! And it was gooood!
By the end of the trip, Jada was starting to warm up to Aunt Diane and Grandma Bobby. It was good to see everyone but I was ready to go home. I was looking forward to sleep in my own bed and without Jada. I love her, but she is one wild and crazy sleeper. Antione was also looking forward to going home. The drive home wasn't too bad. I think overall the kids did pretty good. 12 hrs is along time to be in the car. We stopped in St. George for dinner and went inside to eat. While we were sitting at the table Jada starts yelling and when Jada starts, Ava has to chime in. We just smiled and apologized to everyone sitting around us. The kids were just so happy to be out of the car and they had to express it. I can't really blame them. I was happy to be out of the car too. We got home at about 9:30-10:00pm Dec. 28th and we all crashed. Can't wait to do it again next year for Thanksgiving!