Christmas Present is Now Past

My, oh, my, how do we describe this past month? It has been wonderful!

We made sure that almost all preparations (shopping, wrapping, Christmas cards, homemade candy, etc.) were finished by Thanksgiving weekend and are sooo glad that it was done! Since on December 10, Cordell was informed that his position had been eliminated at the hospital due to a $35M budget cut and he was now unemployed. Merry Christmas to us!

It actually has been a blessing so far. The stress from his horrendous boss, the commute, everything (!) being alleviated has made him feel and look 10 years younger. Of course it leads to another set of challenges, such as, oh, income, health benefits, etc. All "minor" worries! Yikes!

But....the kids came home, except for Mike and Stevie who weren't able to leave RI at this time. We gathered, we ate, we played, we visited, we ate, we watched movies, we ate, we played on ther Wii, we went for walks, and then ate some more. Amazing how much stuff I used to have in the freezer! Also amazing how much trash was generated, how many times the dishwasher needed to be run and how busy the washer and dryer seemed to be.

So a pictorial glimpse of the holidays from our home to yours....

We went to Thoroughbred Lane in Alta Loma to see the most amazing displays of Christmas lights!

(l to r) Daniel, Katey, Kyle, Jamie, Janette, Cordell and Miya

Stefani, Janette, Katey and Jamie









Stefani with Kira and Landon

Leilani with Landon, Jake, Katey, Daniel, Ian
Jamie, Kira, Melissa, Kyle, Stefani and Miya

Our early Christmas dinner (Monday before Christmas) filling ourselves with enchiladas, tamales, arroz, frijoles, and lots of other good stuff! we loved having Uncle Adolph and Ruth here with us! Cousins - remember the chile rellanos when we were kids???

Big, bad Guitar Hero fiends!

Grandma loves her Kira Bear!

As we said goodbye to 2008, we lifted our glasses filled with sparkling cider and toasted each other with wishes of a fantastic 2009. Remembering, of course, that we were in So. CA at midnight in our bathing suits in the spa and watching the images at Times Square where it was 17 degrees!!!!


Ahhh, our life is good! Happy New Year and wishing you all a prosperous and joyous 2009!