Christmas - Southern California edition (part 1)

Our next stop in our trip was Lancaster, CA.  It's a more desert area.  We went to visit Lee's roommate from college and his family.  They were in our wedding.  We were in their wedding, and we've only seen each other a handful of times since then.  When we do get together though, it's like old times and so much fun.  They have two little girls the same ages as Isabel & Ana, so of course they had a ton of visiting with one another also.  And yes, we let all four of them sleep in the same room. 

We were supposed to arrive to their house around dinner time.  However, our 5 and half hour car ride from northern CA turned into a 10 hour car ride because of accidents and extra cars on the road during the holiday season.  Yet another traveling hiccup.  We finally did arrive though and had a blast.  We made the most of our time together.  We went to church, In-n-Out (a must when traveling to California), dirt bike/quad riding (something they do on a regular basis), and then went to an awesome neighborhood with all kinds of Christmas decorations.   

We had a blast going dirt bike/quad riding.  The girls loved it too.  They usually go out to this park desert area and make a day of it, but because we didn't have much time, we just went to this desert area by a neighborhood that was a few acres.  Isabel got really confident after awhile and was riding on her own.  And I'm so thankful for all the pictures Maria had us take, because it really was a great memory. 

 

Roomies

So the Christmas lights.  They told us every year this neighborhood, it is about 10 houses or so and ends in a cul de sac, decks out their houses with Christmas decorations.  Then people can either drive or walk through the neighborhood to see the decorations.  And if you sell your house in that neighborhood, the new owner has to sign a contract saying they will continue the tradition.  Pretty cool.  Several of the houses had sayings on the roof, Joy to the World, Silent Night, etc.  The car line was super long, so we decided to walk it, even though it was FREEZING cold out.  Yea, it gets cold in California.  One house was passing out hot chocolate and Bibles to people.  Another had a live brass band playing.