A Willows Christmas

On Tuesday morning December 18, 2007 my family ( Cori, Alex, Casey, Joey, Holly, Cate & Jack) and I drove our 1999 Suburban west down I-94 with the goal of reaching Midway Airport located in downtown Chicago, IL. God brought us safe and sound to our destination with plenty of time to spare. The plane took off on time and we arrrived in Oakland, CA at 7:00 pm Pacific time. We were greeted by Grandpa and Grammy Talley and their Dodge pickup truck along with a light rain and 50 degrees. Boy, it was good to see them again! As I followed Grandpa back to their home I realized something: I drive like an old lady. I put this new information to good use later as I followed behind Jon in San Francisco. My humble apologies to pedestrians and commuters throughout the city by the bay . Anyways, we arrived in Willows, CA safely looking forward to a good nights rest. The next day found us relaxing with Grandpa and Grammy preparing for our trip to Chris, Trish and baby Seths place in Susanville, CA. Shortly after leaving Chico and a second visit in 2 days to In and out Burger in-n-out.com/














we found ourselves at an elevation of 5,000 feet with the most spectacular views. I cannot truly describe fully the experience of driving up into the Sierra Nevada mountains. As our ears popped we were subjected to numerous stunning views of snow laden pines , distant peaks and ranges brushed with sunny highlights. ( wow...pretty descriptive eh?)











































After roughly an hour we reached the town of Chester ( hometown of Chuck Norris' wife) where the Talley family recently purchased a cabin. (I think it looks like Santa workshop.) It's difficult to describe the feeling we all got as we approached this little red sided, green trimmed cottage in the mountains. God graciously blessed us with this special time. Well, the trip only got better as we arrived at Chris & Trish's shortly after dusk. They have a beautiful home and an even more beautiful family .

( Please note the cutest baby in
the universe) After 2 days in Susanville we made the trek back to Sunny Willows.

























One evening we received and early visit from St. Nick!



We celebrated Christmas first by worshipping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the night before at Opengate Christian Fellowship Where Grandpa is pastor. ( Did you know "pastor is Spanish for "Pork"?) Christmas morning we all joined together for a reading from the book of Luke by Grandpa followed by the opening of gifts. Jon's friend Exzavier ( sp?) joined in on all the fun and festivities. side note: Thanks for the big bag of peanuts ! Did I mention that the Worlds cutest toddler was in our midst? Delia Talley had a blast playing catch with her cousins Casey, Joey and Alex until she took the hard, green plastic ball to her cheek bone. After a few minutes she was over her injury and back at it!

















As you can see from the picture Grammy love her Grandkids...and I think the kids are a bit fond of their Grammy ;) We finished up the vacation with a trip to one of Sacramento's finest malls where the little ones purchased Build a bear items and the older ones bought a really cool, odd game for their new "Wii" called wario .

It was a great blessing to see all of Cori's family together. I am especially thankful to God for giving us a new heart with which to worship and serve Him! The 10 days in California were a fantastic time of fellowship and fun. I can't wait to go back! Pray that God blesses us with diligence, wisdom and overflowing work.