#11-48 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and New Years 2011 Rancho Mirage, La Quinta and Carlsbad, CA

Three granddaughters,  Micaela Martin, Aubrey Martin and Rachel (McBeath) Ivison.  On Christmas eve day.  Breakfast at Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage.

Micaela and half sister Aubrey having a good time together.  Beautiful girls!

Look Grandma and Papa we got a new puppy for Christmas.  We are taking turns holding him. 

We had dinner with Ray, Nicole, her father and his wife and Frank and I on Christmas Day.  The kids were too excited to even eat.  Santa was very good to them this year. 
We left the next to the last day of year 2011, and drove the RV over to Oceanside and spent New Years Day with Diane and her family in Carlsbad.  Renee’, Peter, and family (from San Francisco) were there spending a week going to a California Mission for a project for Katherine (in the pink sweater) and just enjoying visiting with family and friends.  It was a fun day for all of us including Mollie the dog and Misdemeanor the cat.

Mollie wants to know what is going on and when do I get to go for a walk?

Meanwhile Misdemeanor, the cat just sits on the cat condo watching everything.

#162 Thanksgiving-Lancaster and Carlsbad, CA

The Morman Rocks on our way to Lancaster, CA for Thanksgiving with daughter Laurie and family. Can you see the trains in the picture?

We parked the RV at the Lancaster Elks Lodge. It is about 5 miles from Laurie’s, so fairly close and an easy drive with the tow car.

A pregnant Rachel after dinner. She could hardly get out of the chair. We all felt that full. Laurie, Nicole and Rachel made a wonderful dinner.

We all did a little shopping either on Thanksgiving day or the day after, Laurie and I went to K-Mart where Collin works on Thanksgiving evening and took advantage of no crowds. Rachel and her Grandmother Diane went shopping on black Friday, getting up at 4:00 am to get the good deals on electronics. She bought a new video camera—just in time to get pictures of Eldon, once he is born. Nicole and Laurie went shopping on Friday night. One day was enough for this Great-Grandma to be.

Ray and Nicole drove back to the desert on Saturday,

Frank and I moved the RV to Oceanside Elks lodge on Saturday so we could spend time with our grandson, Cameron, who was here from Rutgers for the holiday. We only got to see him for a couple of hours. His flight back to New Jersey left at 6:30 a.m. the next day. But, we’ll take whatever we can get! Sunday, after we got back from church, we went out to a late lunch with Diane, Mark and Andrew. It was a very nice relaxing day. We at at a Mediterranean style restaurant overlooking the water. And the weather was great. Diane is recuperating from shoulder surgery and had her arm in a sling most of the time. Mark has to do everything, Diane supervises. She returns to her job on Monday. Typing on the computer should be quite a challenge.

Sunset on the West Coast, what a beautiful sight!

Monday we packed up and left the ocean and headed back inland to the desert. Tuesday Dixie has a Dr. appointment for her annual check-up.