Penner Family Vacation

We are in Oceanside, CA for a Penner Family Christmas.  December 26 was a day of travel for us.  We drove down alongside Mom & Dad to join the rest of the family who had already arrived.  Mom and Dad kept Priya in their car and I sat in the back with Josiah.  The trip went very smoothly which was a big relief for all of us.  

The last time we gathered as an entire family there were only 2 grandkids - Priya and Ella.  This time there are 6 and it has definitely been a whole new ball game.  Several of us had never met some of the kids so this was a really special opportunity.

 The weather has been gorgeous and those who hail from snowy lands have especially been enjoying the sunshine and warmth.

 The pool has been a big hit with the kids!

 On Tuesday afternoon we ventured out to Carlsbad for a family photo shoot.  Thanks to Jenetta for finding us a great photographer and for arranging all the details!  These are photos that we took during the shoot.  The professional ones will be coming in a few weeks.

And one professional photo to give a taste of things to come:

Our Christmas Celebrations

Christmas Eve day was spent with Ashish's side of the family.  One of the benefits of living on campus is having a lot of extra space at your disposal when the dorms are closed.  So we spent the day in the lobby of the dorm where we live, cooking, watching movies, making phone calls to India, and enjoying each other's company.  Ashish and I got turkeys this year as our Christmas bonus (frozen, not alive), so we enjoyed one of them for our Christmas dinner.

On Christmas morning we ventured over to Mom and Dad Penner's home for breakfast and for our gift exchange.  It's been fun to see Priya's interest in some of the holiday's traditions evolve over the years.  She is growing in her understanding of why we celebrate this special day and is increasingly eager to get involved in the gift giving process.  She played Santa, distributing each of the gifts to their recipients and was kind enough to assist in the opening of every single gift.  Did she ever have a great time! 

Merry Christmas!

This year holds some very special times for the Christian family!  We're excited to celebrate Jesus' birth with Ashish's family this year.  It's been years since they've all been together as a family for Christmas.  The family still isn't complete as Arpit (Ashish's brother) and Binal are in India.  But it's very special to have Ami and Phil here to celebrate with!  

Then on December 26 we will be driving down to the San Diego area with my parents to meet up with my side of the family (my siblings and their families).  The last time we were all together there were only 2 grandkids.  This time there are 6!  It's going to be quite a zoo having so many kids excited to be together - many whom have never met.  I'm sure I'll have a ton of pics and videos to post as the week unfolds.  Oh how I love this time of year and special times with family significantly intensifies that!  We have a lot to be thankful for!

But before we jump into all the celebrating I thought I'd give a little update since my last post...

Sorry about the unfortunate finger positioning in this next photo.  It was unintentional, I assure you.  ;)  We were at a special Awana "drive-in movie" event.  We made a make-shift car (it was colored purple which thrilled Priya but you can't really tell in the photo).  What a neat event it was!  Ashish and I attended as well with Josiah.  They showed DESPICABLE ME and most of the kids sat in some pretty neat cars that were made out of cardboard while they ate popcorn and enjoyed time with their families and friends. 

 Here are a couple of cute Josiah poses...  His eyes are grey-blue.  I'm so curious to see what color they will end up being...

Priya, Josiah & I briefly joined the extended family in Redding to look at Christmas lights a couple of nights ago.  One of the houses included a chance to meet Santa.  He asked Priya what she wanted for Christmas and her response was that she wanted a candy cane.  Lucky for Priya, Santa was passing out candy canes!  Who knew she'd be so easy to please?  ;)

This picture is really blurry, but I wanted to include it to show you the great company that we were in that night.  We love having relatives living here in Redding!

 I've been working on capturing one of Josiah's precious smiles.  This is the closest I've come so far...

Tonight we attended the Christmas Eve-Eve service at Neighborhood church (no, that's not a typo).  Little Josiah slept through the service in his car seat and when I took him out to take a picture he kept on sleeping! 

 Josiah finally woke up! :)

We made a stop at In N' Out with everyone after church.  I thought this was a fun shot of me playing with Priya...