Christmas

Ramon (Dad) and Luke

When we arrived in LA it felt like summer - the temperatures were in the 80's. Wanting to take full advantage of this, we set out to the Huntington Beach dog park with Tracy and Pinyon for the day. It seemed quite unbelievable that we could be walking barefoot in shorts and a t-shirt at the end of December. Pinyon was an absolute master of swimming in the ocean. Fearlessly plunging into the crashing surf in search of her log-like stick, she swam a good ways out into the ocean and then rode the waves back to shore, begging for the stick to be thrown again immediately. Don's dog Mookie wasn't quite as eager to get into the rather chilly water, so Don agreed to get in with him (more like, Don carried Mookie into the ocean and let him swim back). BRRR! :-)

That evening we had a great dinner with Grandma Ginny and then a fabulous dessert with Deanna, Ramon, and the 3 boys (Blake, Jared, and Luke). What a blast getting to see them! The three boys were pretty amusing with the digital camera. The scenario played out a little like this. "Brian, take a photo of me!" Click. "Let me see, let me see, let me see!" Lots of laughing. "Take a picture of me!" Repeat twenty times. Deanna and Ramon swore up and down that their kids had plenty of access to technology at home, but we had our doubts after watching the boys. (Just kidding!)

Tracy and Molly

The next day we headed up to Bishop and enjoyed the rest of our vacation there. Again, the weather was absolutely perfect the first week. We skied three times, all on warm, sunny days with not too much wind. The runs were nicely groomed and we enjoyed the terrain parks and the slalom course a few times. Joy and Travis were able to make it over to Bishop on Christmas Day, so we were able to enjoy some time with them as well. The four of us went skiing for a half day and then did the traditional Lawrence Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant, the only restaurant open on Christmas Day. Mmmm, mmm, good! Speaking of delicious food, Ron and Karen cooked up a storm while we were there. We sampled 2 or 3 different kinds of soup, many scrumptious desserts, and freshly baked turkey and chicken for our skiing lunches. Getting home to an empty kitchen certainly was a rude shock after that. Other fun things in Bishop included a trip to Keogh Hot Springs with Tracy, Julie, and Megan, a few great runs with Tracy in the mountains, a beautiful hike in the snow near the end of our visit, some great meals at Amigos, and some serious beauty help tips from Tracy. :-) We were able to ski one more time near the end of our visit after a big storm in the mountains. There was a foot and a half of fresh powder and the mountain was fairly empty! What an experience. It was like learning an entirely new sport, but there were no consequences for falling! Near the end of the day, we did a few great runs through the trees and then Tracy and I skied down to the bottom of the mountain, while Brian rode the lift down.

As we headed back to LA, the weather in the mountains was absolutely stormy and stayed that way for a few weeks after we left (the resort we skied got 96" of snow after we left). The weather in LA wasn't much better: rain, rain, and more rain. We definitely picked the perfect time to come out. Thanks a million for everything!!! We had a great vacation.

-- Molly & Brian Lawrence

Christmas Eve Dinner: Tracy, Molly, Sharon, Rick and Ron