Christmas Vacation

Pete, Maya, and I all flew home to Arizona this year for Christmas. I didn't think any of us would enjoy 14 hours in the car this holiday season, so we popped for airline tickets! Thanks to everyone who let us borrow cars and crash at your pads. It was greatly appreciated, and we couldn't have made the trip home without it!

We spent the first couple days chilling at Dad's house. I went to lunch with my old friend, Sarah, and her two babies at the Cheesecake Factory. They need to build one of those here in Albuquerque! So yummy! Afterward, we mosied around Chandler mall for a bit. Here's our picture in front of the Santa Claus area.



On Christmas Eve, we had the traditional party at Dad and Terea's place. We usually do goofy trivia and an auction, but this year they mixed it up a bit and instead we did Survivor: Christmas Island! I was on the green team, and Pete and Maya were on the red team.




We had several challenges, and I whomped the red team on the first challenge! I, along with Autumn, were the puzzle assemblers, and our teammates had to run back and forth getting the puzzle pieces as we assembled the puzzle. We were done before theirs was even halfway assembled. I'm very proud of my mad puzzle skillz. Next, we had a Wheel of Fortune challenge, an air hockey challenge, a scavenger hunt, and a cookie decorating challenge that the kids judged. It was pretty fun. I got voted off about 2/3rd of the way through after being betrayed by my teammate! Watch your back next year, Alicia! Mwahahahaha!! (just kidding ;D) Pete made it pretty far, but was voted off after the scavenger hunt. Angela was the surprise big wiener! Whooda thunk?







We opened white elephant gifts, and the kids opened up their gifts. Maya opened her first present from her Auntie "M". She actually ripped the paper a little and peeked inside. She tried pulling out her new spaghetti monster before it was really unwrapped. What a cutie!



After the festivities, Dan and Autumn gave us a ride up to Prescott in Grammy's van. We woke up on Christmas morning at Mom's house. Maya was cruising around on the floor when I showed her her stocking. She bee-lined straight for it, and started pulling stuff out.






After the stocking fun was over, we drove to Hanna's house where I didn't take any pictures! Oops. Well, Nana and Papa got Maya a box full of cute new outfits, and Pete and I got a nice little stuffed envelope, if you know what I mean. Pete is totally getting his e-reader now! We hung out with all the cousins, and then cruised over to Grammy's house. The usual gang was there minus Erica and Justin with their families. We totally cleaned up at Grammy's! We got lots of treats, and I got a really pretty gold bracelet. It's a little big, but I think I'm going to take it to the jewelery store and have them size it down to fit me perfectly. Maya got a giggly doll that she thinks is just hilarious. It's a bit maniacal with the laughing, but that kinda just makes it more fun!




We stayed at Mom's place along with Melanie and her family. I have to say it was nice to all hang out like that, but I will be crashing at Grammy's next year. I love you, Mom, but your house is small!



We did have some gross fun with the noise putty Santa put in Grampa Ken's stocking, though!



On our last day we drove back to Dad and Terea's. Pete was a handyman and fixed their garage door and garbage disposal, and unclogged their bathroom drain. He's so nice to have around! Maya had fun playing with Grandma T and Tuti.



For dinner we went to Dorothy, Ron, and Mady's place. It was SOOO nice to get a nice, light, home-cooked meal. We were in heaven! Too much fast food and heavy holiday food was making us feel gross. And I am totally putting the tomato feta recipe in our cookbook! Yes, the cookbook is still coming. We were lazy and didn't e-mail them out yet. Oops!





The next morning, bright and early, we flew back to Albuquerque. Maya slept on the plane, which was great because she was in a mood! Poor baby was up coughing that night, and had to wake up at 5am so we could get to the airport on time. She was back to her old self after a nice long nap, though, and her cough went away. We had lots of fun in AZ, but man it's good to be home!