Home At Last

Hello! What a whirlwind of month we had in December. We started with our Christmas Open House...and the rest is a blur. Sorry it has been so long. I have been barely keeping up with real life, without throwing cyber life into the mix.

We had a great time in California. We arrived in Los Angeles, drove to Orange County, where we stayed for four nights, then drove up to Fresno, where we stayed four nights, then back to Orange County for the duration of our trip. All was going quite smooth, until Phoebe ended up with a bacterial infection, which led to bronchitis and an ear infection. Poor thing was sick for a good chunk of our trip.

Phoebe is fine now, and thankfully her yucky days were sandwiched by great days before and after. We are happy to be home. Between the packing and flying, the family events, the sick kid, and the task of boxing up Christmas after our return, I am still it a bit of a haze.

I am about to post a ton of pictures from our trip. Enjoy!


It had been a while since Phoebe played with her cousins. I always try to catch the three of them smiling, but they move so quick...this is as close as it gets.

Phoebe and Angelina got right down to business. Within minutes of our arrival, these two were decked out in princess gear, from their heads to their toes!

Phoebe and Nani were such great little helpers in the kitchen, preparing for the big feast at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Grandma and Grandpa hosted an early Christmas gathering (since Xee had to be back at work on the 26th). Phoebe's aunties had her pose with as many relatives as she would, so we can look at these pictures and remember what a big, loving family we have back in Fresno. These are just a few of them.

With cousin Lisa.


With cousin Dale.


With cousin Simon.



Her and Auntie Chie.


And Uncle Pao...


Now with great Auntie and Grandma.

With Uncle James.

This cute little guy and Phoebe spent some time chatting like old friends...funny thing is, he only speaks Hmong and Phoebe only speaks English. So sweet.


Phoebe with Auntie Khou, cousin Lisa, and Auntie Mao.


And here she is with her Grandpa.


Xee takes a pic with some of the "men" of the family.


It turned out to be a White Christmas for us. We had a blast up at Shaver Lake! This was Phoebe's first time seeing real snow.



Say, "cheese!"

Nani is ready for a sled ride.


Nani snuggles up with Mommy!


Auntie Khou takes Phoebe for a ride...


It was a little bumpy at the end!


Xee seems to enjoy this as much as Angelina!


Khou climbs up to the top of the hill for quite a slick ride...this is the look of fear!

Lawrence, being silly.

Khou and Lawrence go down tandem and wipe out.


Phoebe thought the snow looked a lot like "shave ice", a local favorite in Hawaii.


Fun with Mommy!


Me and my guy!!


Auntie Chie gets started on a snowman...kind of looks like an angel, huh?


It turned out to be more like a snow gal...we took turns posing with her.


Here she is in all her glory!

The night before we left, Phoebe and Angelina got to decorate cookies...so much fun.


The finished product...awesome cookies girls! If you ask Phoebe what her favorite part of the entire trip was, she will say, "making cookies with Auntie Mao!"


After leaving Fresno, we headed back to southern Cal to spend Christmas Eve with more family. Here I am with the ladies.

My nephew, Matt, with his beautiful daughter, Cadence. Cadence is just a little older than my sister's youngest, Madison in the next picture...which makes Madison Cadence's aunt. We get a kick out of that one.

Adorable Madison. Don't you just want to squeeze her?

A big squeeze for great Aunt Sharon, for her favorite gift...


You cannot go wrong when you give Phoebe a ballerina doll.

For the last nine and a half years of our marriage, Xee has been notorious for taking "bad" pictures of me...sneaking up on me when I first wake up, when I am mid-sentence, or even when I am mad. So I am including this picture to document the rare occasion when Xee captures a decent shot...on purpose!


Christmas morning, at the Eisleben home. Xee and I arranged presents under a little tree that Phoebe had decorated...


Whether it was that the novelty of opening presents had worn off (is that even possible with a 3 year old?), or the fact that she was suddenly feeling very sick (that must have been it), this was not quite the response we were hoping for!

I reenacted it for Xee, with a little more enthusiasm, so he would feel better...




Just click your Fancy Nancy heels together and we'll be back in Hawaii with Daddy!