holidaze adventures continued

can i just say that i think my hair is starting to show signs of new growth?!! if i let this stubble grow, i may have enough for a comb-over! finally! i won't have what my 4 year old nephew, max, calls "empty hair" forever!

while ej and i were in orange county, we got to see my young cousin, jeremy, in a christmas play.


that's right, he played Turkey Kid.


he did a great job!


we also were able to attend our friends' white elephant party. our fabulous hosts, sonja and albert, call it the "broke dick" party because when this annual tradition began, they were quite financially challenged. many years later, throngs of people are showing up with a wrapped present, eyeing/haggling/stealing their way through the high decibel turkish-bazaar-meets-the-stock-exchange process, and leaving with a "treasure". after the "gift exchange", i had to document a few of my lucky friends and the items they took home.

deirdre and her shell lady.


ej and his annette funicello cassettes.


nancy and her monkey.


osvelia and her hillary.


and the triumphant danuta with what was perhaps the most vied for gift of the night: barack obama riding a unicorn in the nude.


this deserves a closer look.
the gift exchange was so much fun, but it was even better to be back in the fold of my l.a. friends.

the next day, ej and i visited the gene autry museum with my parents.


the exhibit was about fact and fiction regarding the role of latino "noble" bandits.


a detail of an old movie poster in the exhibit. don't you just love rodeos?


on christmas eve, my family visited my tia rachel and uncle tito. a group photo with assorted relatives was one of the few permanently lost in the recent "holiday photos deleted while uploading" fiasco, but i do have a shot of the tamales.


me and my cousin, bea. when i was little, i loved hanging out with my cool cousin "bea-bea". she would tell us scary stories. i loved it!


back at the ranch, the boys deflate the air mattress.


it's the little things in life.


on christmas day, ej made a big batch of salsa verde. que sabroso!



we were lucky enough to have ej's mom, hanna, join us for the christmas festivities.



attempting to wrangle kids for a photo.
well, you get the idea.

on christmas night, things were settling down. the kids were bathed and pajama'd.


i don't know what was in the milk, but all of a sudden, the little people started bouncing off the walls.


which led to a pillow fight.


which was followed (at max's suggestion) by a giant group hug. the kids were smooshed in the middle and although i don't have a photo of that, i think i'll always remember our love fest of christmas '09.