Christmas - Part II: Oakland

After a little delay at the airport (United forgot to put Ava's car seat on our plane so we had to get a loaner), we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house and were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Pooh and Tigger!

On Christmas Eve the whole family bundled up and went to St. Paul's, Oakland (not to be confused with our church, St. Paul's, Tustin) for the early evening service.

The next morning started with a trip downstairs to the living room to make sure that Santa came. Sure enough, Santa filled all our stockings and since she was a good girl Ava got lots of fun stuff including a wind-up horse,

and a pink tricycle with a matching princess helmet.

Ava's favorite gift from Santa, however, was a candy cane. It's always the simple things that make her the happiest.

The family then opened up all our gifts and Ava had plenty to open including a dollhouse and a new water bottle.

Throughout our visit, Ava helped around the house, and even helped Grandma decorate cookies for all our guests.

In the days following Christmas, Ava practiced riding her tricycle on the paths surrounding Lake Temescal and started to get the hang of it.