Christmas Holiday catch up...

We had a great Christmas holiday, although it was busy for us. Here is a quick rundown...

Christmas morning

Chica got a dog snuggie. She is not looking at the camera because I'm quite sure she is embarassed...After Christmas morning, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Myers house for Christmas dinner. Doug and Kandee and David and Linda were there. It was good to see them. The next morning (day after Christmas) we left early for California. My 89 year old Grandma has moved to an assisted living apartment near my mom in Utah. Her house sold after being on the market for two days and we had to move her out quick. We packed, donated, threw away and brought home lots of stuff, (including my Grams 1988 Cadillac Coupe DeVille in perfect condition with 57,000 miles on it!) My mom and dad were there and my Sister in Law from China flew in. We even had a day to play.

Nicole enjoying grass in Great Grams backyard (not much or even good quality grass here in AZ)

Great Grams house. I have so many memories in this house. Grandma and Grandpa bought it new in 1967 and have been there ever since. (Grandpa died in 1981.)We all rode the Blue Line/Red Line rail system to downtown LA. Riding through Compton and surrounding areas was fantastic! So much graffiti. Although done for the wrong reasons, there is so much art, talent and beauty in their pictures. This was the Artesia stop, where we got on.The culture is so diverse there. Something that I wanted the girls to experience. Although this was a temporary "fun" ride for us, for others, this is real life. Nicole will still talk of the man who popped his fake eyeball out thus proving to everyone why he needed their spare pocket change. Our phrase most said? "Don't stare...". Once downtown LA, we got off at Union Station. The grandeur, the woodwork. So beautiful.

We walked to Olivera Street. Another great memory. We used to go there all the time as a kid and eat the famous Cielito Lindo taquitos. They were sooo good! We also did a little shopping and ate churros.

We then walked to Chinatown, shopped and ate Chinese food. I could have spent all night there. It reminded me of my time spent in Taiwan and further motivated me to get my family over to China to visit my brother.

After spending time in Chinatown, we walked to Philippe's (another place we would quite often go when I was a kid) which is world famous for their french dip sandwiches. We wanted to eat there too, but it is standard to wait in line for 30 mins just to order. We were running out of time since my mom had to pick someone up at LAX that was flying in from China. We just took a picture out front.

And then we walked back to the Red Line/Blue Line to go home. I figured I would take a picture, since this was the girls first time riding this type of public transit. There are LA County Deputies everywhere patrolling, to maintain safety. Wave "hi" to the one in the picture behind my mom and Jenny. I guess this was his way of protecting us. I didn't realize he was there until after I took the picture. Too funny!

We left back home for AZ the next day. It was a short trip, but a great one! Full of culture, diversity and a sense of being off our typical beaten path which I love. I hope it created the memories for Scott, Jenny and Nicole that it brought back for me.