Our Christmas Vacation

Here's some pictures from our vacation, the longest that Chris has taken since he joined the Air Force! We had a great time seeing our families and we also got to visit with lots of friends: the Champlins, Jason and Adrianna, Molly, and Andrea and Jenny.


David's first present was actually his last birthday present -a tunnel and play tent from Aunt Missy.


A candy that David isn't allergic too! Pez! Here he is getting one from Chris' Chewy Pez Dispenser he got in his stocking.


David and Aunt Missy with David's new t-ball set. David's got lots of people on both sides of the family rooting for him to play baseball.


Papa helps David open another present.


David and I snack on a chocolate chip cookie that Aunt Missy made from a recipe in my favorite David dessert cookbook Cookies for Everyone.


I'm about 34 weeks pregnant in this picture taken on Christmas Day.


Missy made the best dessert for Christmas with espresso fudge sauce on top - soooo good!


Once Lisa's dad (Gene/Grandpapa) and his girlfriend (Cathy/Gigi) arrived we opened more presents. Here is David with his favorite - a toy gun that makes a great firing noise and projects an image of a skull and crossbones wherever it is aimed.


A four generational picture, Grandpapa with Lisa, Chris and his two siblings, and David.


Grandpapa, the original Italian cook in the family, helps David learn to cut up (wooden) vegetables, another great toy David got for Christmas.


A couple of days after Christmas family friends babysat David so that the adults could all go out to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner, a Ewing family holiday tradition.


David curled up in Aunt Missy's lap watching Peter Pan. Our little boy got lots of love and attention from all his relatives while we visited.


We took David to his first movie at a theater - The Princess and the Frog. David enjoyed all the music, dancing along with every song as he went from lap to lap of all his family members. There's a sad part toward the end of the movie which made David cry, but overall he had a great time and it was a real pleasure to watch him watch the movie.

Besides spending Christmas Eve Day with my family in Vallejo, the week after Christmas we got to see them again. First we met my dad at the state Capitol where he works for the Governor. My dad took us on a tour of the Governor's Office, including a stop to see Arnold's sword from the Conan the Barbarian movies. Chris likes the movies, so that was really neat. After lunch near the Capitol we said good-bye briefly and then met up with the whole family for dinner back at their house. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures - my dad and sister haven't emailed them to me yet! - but we did have a great time.

Overall we had a great time. It was a great Christmas to celebrate with our family after being apart last year. We have a lot of blessings to count as we start 2010!