January 7, 2006

• Toward the end of December the Arnell sibs started to show up in Calabasas.  That meant that most my days leading up to Christmas were spent there hanging with them all.  The week of Christmas was warm and sunny and it was perfect for our last hurrah in California.  Christmas Eve was spent at Mom and Dads.  We had the traditional dinner and Mom outdid herself with ham, beef and turkey.  Her excuse was that there needed to be lots of leftovers because she wasn’t cooking on Christmas.  Works for me.  There was a small program put together by the grandkids with some music and Christmas themed games and stories.  It was great to see all the cousins interact with each other.  Olivia was new to the mix and she got right in there and stuck up for herself. 

  
  

                  Christmas Day was on a Sunday this year.  I got up early to make sure we had enough time to get the girls pretty for church.  We made time to do our stockings and Serra tore through hers quickly through sleepy eyes.  Sophia wasn’t all that impressed with her shampoo and nail clippers.  Serra got some necklaces she decided to wear to church even though they didn’t really go with the dress.  I guess that is part of being three.  We attended our Sacrament meeting where I sang a solo this year, Mary Did You Know, and it went well.  There were two other musical numbers one of which was the primary.  I have great feelings of pride when our little group pulls off something like that.  We only had Sacrament meeting and so we headed home and finished off Christmas.  I was a little glad it was only us as we might have been embarrassed by the way Serra showed her greedy side.  She would tear off the wrapping paper  of one, look at it briefly, and exclaim, “I need more presents!”  I have a feeling Christmas is going to replace favorite day over birthday from here on out. 

  
  

                When we finished making a mess at our place, we headed up to Calabasas to enjoy the family.  Dad did one last hunt for us and I must admit I got stuck in the more difficult group.  One of our clues was not only cut in half but one of the halves was put in the wrong place.  That is what makes it fun though and we had a great time trying to figure out what Dad could possibly mean.  The hunt ended in the trunk of the Jag.  We also read our memories and they were the highlight as usual.

  
  

  We were able to spend Monday with everyone as well and then  half the troops headed back on Tuesday.  Julie, Olivia, and Serra stayed though and Serra came over to my house and helped my get Christmas taken down. Our tree headed south about a week before and was really starting to stink.   I had to get laundry done as well and get packed for our trip to Utah for Amy Jo’s wedding.  Serra was a life saver.  I would never have gotten everything done without her.  Having an infant around takes up a lot of time, not to mention keeping Serra~V~ busy and happy.   SV fell asleep before Serra left and was upset that she was gone and that it was dark outside. 

  
  

  Wednesday , it was all I could do to get everything packed and ready to go before Brian got home.  I also had to drop Mo off at a Kennel.  Gary and Liesl kindly agreed to pick him up for us on Friday so we wouldn’t have to wait until Tuesday to pick him up.  The kennel wasn’t very accommodating over holidays and was happy to charge us full price for three extra days they weren’t there to let us pick him up.  All packed up and ready we headed to Vegas at 4pm.  We stopped at one of our favorite Mexican joints along the 14 freeway for dinner and then made it to Brian’s parents place by 10.  The girls traveled well.  Serra napped and watched Mulan  and Toy Story on her DVD player.  Sophia slept mostly with only one extra stop for a snack and some attention.  

  
  

  We were up and out by 9:30 the next morning and headed straight for Provo.  The weather cooperated and the girls did well.  I think it only took us 6 ½ hours.  There were a ton of people at the Grandparents and I won’t even try to remember who all, but there were many Robisons, and all the Andersons.  We took a big group out to pizza at Brickoven while Amy Jo and the folks were out with Tucker and his folks. 

  
  

  Friday morning, Dec. 30^th, cold and snowy, and the wedding day.   We headed out at 9:30 and made it to Manti in time to feed the baby and get the kids to the babysitting area.  It was one of the most emotional weddings I have ever been to.  A little bittersweet as Amy Jo is grown up enough to make one of the most correct choices she’ll ever make.  I have a soft spot for Amy Jo since I have known her since she was barely 13.  I got to know her well as we spent summers in the same house for several years.  I have seen her go through a lot and Brian and I have been involved with many aspect of her life.   As we watched her make covenants over the alter I felt a great deal of pride in the woman she has become. 

  
  

  It was a white wedding because we had to walk through the celestial room to get to the sealing room.  That was a great experience and we were able to spend some time in the celestial room of that great pioneer temple.    

  
  

  I did the photography and we spent the next few hours capturing memories.  It was very cold and Amy Jo’s dress was a bit on the summery side.  She had the biggest goose bumps I have ever seen. And my trigger finger was numb from the cold.  Amy Jo and Tucker seem very happy to be married and we hope they will be very happy.   We headed to Salt Lake with only Sophia.  Serra went with Adriane and Vito.  We went a different way then most and it turned out to be a good thing.  Every one else went by some canyon and the weather turned really bad.  Adriane ended up spinning off the road and upsetting Serra badly.  She passed her off to Grandma and Grandpa as soon as she could but they all got stuck in traffic due to a bad accident in the canyon.  Everyone eventually made it to the reception in Salt Lake that evening.  I spent my time taking pictures and visiting with folks.  It was a good time. 

  
  

  We headed to a Sheratan hotel in downtown Salt Lake.  It was a really nice room and we took hot baths and crashed.  I was up with a baby quite a bit but got enough sleep.  We met Jeff, Maren, Doug and Darci the next morning at Jeff and Marens, where we had breakfast.  We couldn’t spend too much time because we needed to get home by that night or we would have to deal with New Years traffic out of Vegas. 

  
  

  This part of the journey was interesting.  We hit snow, rain, sleet, intense winds, dust storms with zero visibility, and tumble weeds you would not believe.  I think my car took some pretty bad hits and got a few scratches with those.  Toward the end Sophia had had it and we had a very upset baby in the back seat vocalizing her discomfort.  But we made it, picked up Mo in Camarillo (he stunk really bad from his days at the kennel), and pulled into our garage at the stroke of midnight and the beginning of 2006. We heard shouts and cheers from all the neighbors and fireworks blasted at our return.

  
  

  I caught a bit of a cold on the trip and so stayed home from church, but we headed up to Calabasas after Brian and Serra got home.  Julie’s family, and Serra were leaving that night and so we wanted to have dinner with them all and celebrate Brian, Liesl, and Jared’s birthday’s. 

  
  

  On Tuesday as I was doing my hair I pulled a muscle in my neck and the joints froze up causing me a lot of pain. I had my 6-7 week doctor appointment to get to and so went to that but made arrangements to see a chiropractor as well that afternoon.  Since then I have been 3 times to him, and I am about 80%.  What a pain in the neck (ha ha) this whole week has been.  I could barely do anything.  Even sleeping has been difficult.  So I am looking forward to being back to normal. 

  
  

  Our house goes on the market hopefully next week and we are working on a loan to purchase a house in Vegas.  Things are starting to happen.  It’s exciting and little sad at the same time.

  
  

  

  
  

  current cousins

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Brian and Sophia

  
  

   

  
  

  Christmas Day

  
  

     

  
  

  Amy Jo and Tucker…..Amy and her neices

  
  

     

  
  

   

  
  

  Mom and Dad…Brothers….Sisters

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  The Andersons…Adriane and Holly with our girls

  
  

   

  
  

     

  
  

   

  
  

   

  • 2:49 pm
  • 4 Comments