Christmas CliffsNotes

Our Christmas in Santa Barbara was a blast. The kids and I spent 3 blissful weeks with family and friends in my hometown. I spent lots of time at the Museum (I even gave planetarium shows while I was there). We went tidepooling, we ate yummy food, we shopped at Trader Joe's, we went to the nativity at the Mission, we did a semi-impromptu musical number in sacrament meeting, we watched bowl games on cable, we pawned the kids off on relatives.

But most importantly, we had a blast hanging out with the fam. In retrospect, the first week was a big build-up as siblings started arriving and we waited for more to come. Then there was the middle part, which was smashed full of love, hugs, jokes, presents and general merry-making. Then people started leaving, which was almost excruciating. I managed to see all 7 of my siblings over the course of the trip and also all 3.5 of my nieces and nephews, as well as 42% of my cousins (3 in total).

As Kevin put it, "It was so good to see all of you! We love you, we miss you."

Ditto.