Christmas in California

I've written about the things we did while in California, but I haven't written about the real reason we were in California. And of course that was really to spend time with family and friends. I did wind up going to a holiday party, and a lunch or two with friends, but the main highlight was celebrating Christmas with my family.
This is my brother, mom, grandmother, me, the boy, and my dad and grandfather in the front row. We went over to my grandparents' house in the in the morning and had appetizers while we opened presents. We all spent the day together and then then later had dinner which my grandmother made.
Dinner was prime rib, green beans, mashed potatoes, and one of my favorite salads. If I remember correctly there's squash, dried cranberries, and a lot of parmesan. Everything was really good, but I especially love that salad.

There was homemade dessert too, of course!
A cranberry cake that wound up having almost a candy crust on top. And yes, I did cover my slice with whipped cream!

Since I'm always curious seeing what everyone received as presents, I figured everyone would enjoy seeing it as well.
My grandparents bought me a new box of See's lollipops (good thing because I was running low!). And yes, that is a Drew Brees Saints jersey that the boy bought me.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay in California for ever and wound up having to fly home the day after Christmas. But not before taking a few family photos in the backyard. Here's one with my parents and younger brother,

and a second shot of just me and the boy.

It was great being able to spent some time back at home. I love being home in California and wish I could be there more often. Unfortunately its a little hard to visit from Louisiana often. Otherwise I'd be home a lot more often. But whenever anyone creates some sort of instant travel machine I'll be back there for more often!

~Shoshanah