Our Christmas in California

I finally got some pictures of Christmas to show you! It was wonderful and full of firsts for our family. It was our first Christmas with 5 kids! Hectic but sooo fun! It was so fun to watch them be so excited about what the other one was getting. They got to spend almost every day of the 2 week vacation with Grandpa Rick! They all love him so much ! We camped at the Beach in our 5th wheel. THAT was a first but NOT a last! WE loved it and plan on making it a tradition! What a blast it was to wake up to beautiful waves and dolphins instead of snow and ice!!!! This California girl was in HEAVEN!!! It was Jonah's first Christmas! He got right into it! He tried to grasp the whole meaning of Christmas as we explained it to him with a Nativity. We talked about Jesus ( who he insisted is NOT a baby). Then he helped us name all the people in the nativity set. When we got to the wise men, of course Grandpa Rick was one of them! I will post a picture of Jonah opening his first Christmas gift! It was an emotional moment for me. I am just so glad he's home with his forever family and not in an orphanage with no heat!!! It was our first trip to Disnayland since we adopted Mia, so neither MIa or Jonah had been . That was so fun! Of course Grandpa Rick went and Aunt Paige and Emily and Aunt Mandy and Aunt Kate...! We loved hanging around with them all . That was half the fun! My kids love all their Aunts and they still ask when we can go back and see them! We got to go see Heather, my cousin, who is bravely fighting Breast Cancer. She still had such a sense of humor and kindness despite what she is going through. I am happy to report she has not lost that contagious giggle she has! What a treasure she is. Her kids are darling and they all had fun playing Mc Donalds. If you have been to Aunt Coy's house you know what I am talking about:) It was wonderful to laugh at and with Uncle Fred! Heehee....... And Aunt Coy is still as much of a busy, service queen as she has ever been . All the Leudtke's have had a rough year as they watched Heather's cancer return. It hasn't been easy but you can see and feel all the love that family has. OK>>>

I guess the bottom line of our trip was FAMILY . Every day was filled with family. That is all that matters and my kids saw that. We are all connected and love eachother so much no matter how far away we reside. We are so grateful for this and are so glad that families are forever!