Pug Hugs: ~ Thanksgiving in So. Cal

We've generally not been up for lots of traveling during the holidays, but this year we thought Thanksgiving in southern California sounded great... And almost everyone was there. Out of the seven siblings in Jonathan's family, only Bethany-- and her hubby Charlie and their daughter-- who had moved to Japan where Charlie just got stationed, and Annalisa-- and her hubby Brian and their daughter-- who live in Seattle and had to work, were missing.

So we packed up and hit the road. Of course, we left late, but ended up being glad for it. The snow that fell that morning had time to be cleaned up, and by the time we reached the passes they were relatively dry:

I need to get photos from my cousin Christine, but at any rate-- we spent the night with her and her hubby and their little boy. We were joined by a few more of our other cousins and enjoyed some catching up and pizza.

We got to Jonathan's parents' home in San Clemente on Saturday evening, and went to church with them in the morning. I had to take some photos of Kiziah and Jonathan-- matching and cute!

and then of course I got dragged into one, too!

That night we had dinner with Jonathan's Grandpa and Grandma Pug. Grandpa Pug is a sealer at the San Diego Temple, and in fact sealed us there (that means married us NOT until "death do you part" but for Time and all Eternity). Yup. We're stuck together as a family Forever!

The rest of the week we just enjoyed relaxing, eating, reading, playing at the private neighborhood pool, paradise garden, and beach.

Did I mention EATING?

playing in Nana's courtyard

We went over to the San Clemente pier and strolled around for a while, before having dinner at the restaurant there.

It was almost like surfing school for 10 to 12-year olds. Very fun to watch, and seemed like a good, safe location for it.

This is the "almost" private beach by Jonathan's parents' home in a gated neighborhood. You go past the swimming pool, down the hill past the paradise park, through a locked gate, and there ya go. Firepits, swings, volleyball nets, etc. Even the dolphins were playing there that day.

The kids love the commuter train!

Nana and Jonathan's sister Ruth, Ruth's girls Emily and Lauren, and baby Sammy.

playin' tag with the waves...

Jonathan and Ruth's little boy Tommy.

My friend the sandpiper. I made friends with the gulls too, of course.

One of the members of a pod of dolphins that played nearby for a little while.

Our little pod playing in the hot tub...

How cute is that??

At the exit for Jonathan's parents' home there is a path that leads down to a GREAT surfing spot. Thus, the sign above, and lots of surfers with boards on bikes like this:

We drove up to Laguna Beach to get some Thankgiving supplies at Whole Foods. Crazy traffic, but oh my gosh... gorgeous.

Back at the pool (almost every day)

Walking back to Nana and Grandpa's house.

Jonathan, his sister Amy, his mom, his BIL Scott and sister Ruth playing Settlers of Cataan. I was bakin' pies!

Breakfast with Grandpa... eating the famous Egg Puff and doin' the morning crossword puzzle...

cousins!

Aunt Ruth and Nana

Jeannette, Ruth, Jason, Jonathan and me, Nana and Grandpa

more cousins!

Wicked cool Uncle Scott

Uncle Ben (trying to hide?) and the kids' table. DANG it, I didn't get a photo of the gorgeous adult table!!

This is my niece Soda. Yes, her name is Soda.

Scott, Jonathan, and Moe

My most huggable niece, Zoey! We were the Hug Monsters. And it's just not Thanksgiving until the kids stick olives on their fingers.

Uncle Ben trying to split after eating, and the kids mobbing him!

We headed home on Black Friday... we're not into all that craziness.

The kids are so easy to travel with. They just read, draw, play Uno or Battleship, or we listen to John Bytheway or Taylor Swift or Johnny Cash! Calvin's two new favorite songs, by the way, are "Cowboy Casanova" by Carrie Underwood, and "A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash. ;)

SIDE NOTE: we didn't eat fast food (or soda) even once on this trip (except hot chocolate once at McDonalds when we used the potty). We ate organic egg salad sandwiches on healthy bread, oreganic strawberries, cashews, apples, etc. And NO one got crazy in the car! After reading some very interesting books on nutrition such as "In Defense of Food" (still reading it) and "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian what's-her-face (from the Biggest Loser? I've never seen it, but she is smart) I have learned a lot. I spent a lot of this trip reading parts of "In Defense of Food" to Jonathan. We both learned a LOT. So many behavioral problems with kids (and adults) have to do with preservatives, chemicals, hormones, pesticides, etc., in foods, and same with metabolism issues. I highly recommend both books!!

On the way home we stayed with my favorite Aunt PJ and Uncle Gordy!!

My twin cousins Shelley and Kelly were there too! Kelly (on the left) and her new hubby Chris flew in from Hawaii, where she is a lawyer and he is stationed there. My cousin Shelley is a cheese connoisseur and can tell you EVERYTHING about cheese! I never knew what an art and science it is. She was a good sport and played Battleship with Calvin. ;)

I don't have a photo for this, but I got to watch a WONDERFUL dvd that Bob (my biological father/PJ's brother) had made of old film reels. They were from the 1950's, when PJ was just a tiny thing and her sister and Bob weren't much older (and Uncle Mike wasn't born yet). My Grandpa Kelly was a minister and I have no idea how he was able to record all that footage, but it was SO BEAUTIFUL. It was... I don't know, I can't find the words for it. Transcendant? To see my aunts and Bob as children, playing in the Finger Lakes of New York, picnicking as a family, and my Grandma and Grandpa as young parents themselvs... my Grandpa's wrinkly, brown hands and ever-smiling eyes, and Grandma with her gorgeous red hair and serenely beautiful, radiant, smiling face... Aunt PJ and I were both moved to tears several times. It was so wonderful. Aunt PJ also gave me two HUGE books of family history that Grandma compiled for Grandpa... so now I have my work cut out for me! I'm mesmerized by the names... When Grandpa passed away, the family did a HUGE family tree... meaning a gorgeous drawing of a tree with branches and names... each level covered the length and width of the dining room table, and I lost track of how many there were. I got photos of all of it, I think. Now I have to find dates and statistical information and link them all together in my geneology software. SO COOL!!

Anyway... the next day we started out for the final leg of our trip home. For lunch we stopped in Red Bluff-- good ol' cowboy country. We stopped at the riverside park on what must have been the windiest day of the year... and once again, of course, I had to feed the birds. Only as I started down the hill I realized that there were far more geese than ducks, and having been warned by stories of my mother's childhood encounters of mean geese, proceeded cautiously and kept the kids at bay. These geese were not agressive though... although they weren't shy, either!