SMELLS LIKE HOLIDAY SPIRIT

This is my third attempt at this post. I wasn't able to finish before we were on to a new holiday venue, so here is the very loooong recap:

The family spent Christmas Eve at home in Ventura. The in-laws arrived at 11 a.m. and spent the entire day with us which was a little exhausting when all I really wanted to do was sit around and eat cookies, fudge and See's candy in front of the TV. After day-long snacking on appetizers, tamales were eaten, presents were opened and we saw Santa and his reindeer fly through the night sky (thanks Aspen Helicopters!). The in-laws stayed at The Pierpont Inn and returned the next morning to watch the traditional ripping of the presents. The Girl went to sleep in her bed knowing Santa would bring presents only if she was indeed sleeping.

Christmas morning brought gasps of joy from The Girl when she saw that Santa really did leave her several gifts. The first she saw was a stuffed Boston Terrier dog peeking out of her stocking. Then slowly she realized Santa doesn't wrap all his gifts and saw the set of ponies, half a dozen books and other packages. She actually had to stop looking at her stocking loot twice because she was so overwhelmed. I shot video and will post once I figure out how. Note to parents - the tip about Santa not wrapping presents is awesome! My sister suggested that Santa use gift bags for clothing, but otherwise his presents were just artfully arranged in one area under the tree.

We were on the road to Temecula by 10:30 a.m. and ready to enjoy another round of wrapping paper ripping by The Girl with my family. She was thrilled to see my brother's dogs again, Winston and Harley, and spent a good portion of the day getting Boston Terrier slobber all over her cute dress. I thought she was going to stroke out when she opened the wooden horse stable from her aunts & uncles. We spent the night there and headed back home for a couple days of R&R. The Hubby took the entire week off, so I napped a lot while he took The Girl to the zoo and park.

We continued our holiday celebration throughout the Southland, heading to Moreno Valley (shout out to V - hey homeslice, IE, the original 714!) for a large gathering of my Mom's side of the family on Sat. She came from a family of seven and they produced 31 kids, most of whom are married with kids. So it was a buncha family. Best part was visiting with my cousin, his wife and two kids who are moving back to the States from Kenya for a few years. Yippee. The Girl was so excited to meet our cousins from Africa. But then she was a beast all day and I let her run amok like a monster.

We spent the night in Riverside and enjoyed walking around the Mission Inn looking at the amazing holiday lights. Woke up and had breakfast with my bro, then back to the Mission Inn for a daytime tour (to tire out The Girl) and then back on the road.

We are home in Ventura to spend our last evening of 2006 grilling hamburgers on The Hubby's new barbeque. Hope your holidays were fantastic and 2007 starts with a bang.