Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

An odd title for a post about our Christmas adventures...I realize this....but it is a VERY funny movie and an appropriate title for our holiday journeys!!!  

As a family, we celebrated Christmas with the opening of presents before we went our separate ways for Midnight Mass....me to St. Benedicts and Dave to St. Josephs and Jeffery to the next door neighbor's house.  It was a wonderful and very special first Christmas with the best present of all being little Jeffery!

Christmas Day saw saw me actually sleeping in and NOT rubbing the sleep out of my eyes after Midnight Mass to go and do two more masses.  Dave, unfortunately, was not as lucky.  Ahhh....but that is why he is paid the big bucks!!!  Hahahahaha.  We then left on an airplane for Arizona....Jeffery's second trip on a plane in his short 6 months.  He is QUITE the well traveled little boy.  All things considered, the trip went well....except for the 2 hour delay on the tarmak in Charlotte which caused us to get in to AZ at 12:15am AZ time....2:15am our time.  {yawn} So the following day (Boxing Day in other parts of the world) found us relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather in Arizona....

Kickin' back in the Harris backyard

....and celebrating Christmas with my family.  They had done a nice dinner on Christmas Eve, opened a present or two each, and then the traditional Mexican fiesta on Christmas Day with friends but saved the ham, potatoes, cider salad, Ensalada de Noche Buena, etc and opening of all other presents for when we arrived!!!

An interesting take on St. Lucia

Jeffery was very pleased to join in the festivities and help unwrap presents!!!

A very happy little boy!

It is absolutely amazing....and terribly sad....that a person can live in a place for over two decades and never have seen some of the most interesting sights the place has to offer.  Example: the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum is less than an hour from my parents' house....and this was the first time I had been.  Better late than never, I suppose but still!!!!!

In an effort to get some of that dry desert air into our lungs (and walk off some of my dad's Christmas fudge), we went with my parents up into the desert mountains (sort of) and walked around the arboretum.  I think I could visit there every week!  What a beautiful and spectacular place and setting!!!!!

I would sometimes...make that all the time....love to be in Jeffery's little mind and be able to see the world through his eyes.  It is sad that such innocence and beautiful naivety is sooo quickly lost and forgotten.  The smells, the foreign environment with all its foreign sights, the sounds....he was absolutely fascinated by everything.

Aye there mate!

Rattlesnakes only beyond this point?!  Jeffery, I don't think we're in VA anymore.  

Soooo happy

The Jefferys in my life!

We are sooo blessed that we were able to travel home to AZ for Christmas.  It was an absolutely wonderful and special time and the perfect way to celebrate Jeffery's first Christmas.

The Harris Family

We were also blessed to travel to California.  That's right!  Jeffery has now been from sea to shining sea.  My parents loaned us an automobile and we made the drive across the Mojave Desert to Southern California to see Dave's family.  Sadly, our visit was with mixed emotions.  We were very happy to see his family but his grandfather had just passed away and part of our time there was to attend the funeral. His grandmother passed away just two months ago and his mom and aunts and uncles were now dealing with the loss of their father.  Leave it to Jeffery and his 5 month old second cousin to add some joy and smiles to the otherwise sad occasion.

We were in CA for a short time but during the visit, we were able to see all of Dave's aunt and uncles on his mom's side....and his sister, Julie who had just come back from visiting their brother in FL for Christmas.

The Pedersen Siblings

And Aunt Julie got to meet her little nephew....and (I think) was quite smitten with him!!!  :)

We also got to see Dave's other grandma...and Jeffery's only remaining great-grandparent.  It was such a beautiful thing to see her face light up and filled with instant happiness and love as Dave handed her her great grandson.  

And....he got to have more fun times with Great Uncle Patrick!!!

Swing Time

We left CA on New Years Eve Day and were making good time across the desert.....when Dave decided to pull off in the surreal town of Quartzsite, AZ and pay homage to Hi-Jolly and his camels.  Quartzsite....oh Quartzsite.  There really are no words to describe this mecca of flea marts, swap meets, desert people, RV's, and young hippies who are in desperate need of a shower, hair cut, and civilization.  It must be experienced to be believed.  But on to Hi-Jolly.  Hi-Jolly was a man from the 1800's from somewhere in Arabia who was brought over by the Federal Gov't to oversee an experiment in the desert where camels were used as pack animals.  The experiment (though terribly successful) was abandoned and for years afterwards, camels roamed the area surrounding Quartzsite.

Hi-Jolly's Grave

We made it home to ring in the New Year with my family which was accomplished with the help of my dad's amazingly delicious BBQ chicken wings, some shots, and few rounds of Pass the Pig, and a Top Gear marathon on TV (probably my favorite show on TV!!).  After attending church on New Year's Day, the family traveled to Scottsdale and the McCormick Railroad Park.  My sister and I have pictures of us being toddler age at this park....and we were excited to take Jeffery...and see their new model railroad exhibit building.

It was Jeffery's nap time and he humored us for a while.  Grandpa was even able to carry him around and look at the trains for quite a while.

Yay for trains!!!

And then....he decided to melt down.  I don't blame him.  He had spent 16+ hours of the past 3 days strapped in a car seat going to CA, around CA and back to AZ, had been an absolute angel the entire day of his great-grandfather's funeral and following lunch and meeting his great grandma.  He was pooped.  But we had one more event at the park to do....and then it was on to dinner at our favorite pizza joint.  At that event?!   Riding the train of course!!!!

All aboard!!!

Jeffery was soooo unhappy.  I was doing everything I could to calm him down....and then the train started and the noise and the motion put that little boy into a trance.

Not a happy Jeffery

We ended our trip to AZ the next day with an obligatory trip to Tia Rosa's for dinner and then a trip to the Phoenix Zoo to see their annual Zoo Lights.

After almost 10 days of being in AZ and CA where we were surrounded by family and friends....I was terribly saddened to be coming back to VA.  I love our home, I love our friends and the community we've made...we have a life here in VA.  But 2500 miles is such a far, far, far distance.  Our trip was one of the most memorable trips we've had out there and we are so thankful and beyond grateful that it was made possible.  And....there is talk of my parents coming out in April to see us, their grandson, and maybe fit in a NASCAR race.  Fingers crossed on that!!!  :)

So I think it only appropriate that I end this post with something uplifting and joyful....something to ring in 2012!!  So from me and Dave....and from Jeffery...Happy New Year!!!!