Christmas seems like ages ago now. Hard to believe it was just a few weeks. I've been back to work for a week and a half, been sick, had a sick husband, and cleaned up the house. I guess that might be part of the reason Christmas seems so long ago.

But it wasn't that long ago, and I haven't told you much about my actual time off for the holidays besides teasing you with Swedish Coffee Cake.

Josh and I had a great time for Christmas. It was about 10 days in California. We started by flying to my in-laws in Palm Springs (actually, Indio, but more people know Palm Springs).

We did some relaxing, some shopping, and got our nails done. On Christmas Eve, we took the tram up to get a great view of the desert.

The tram rotates 360 as it goes up to give you great views of the city below. Although the top is pretty darn cold. So cold there was even snow. In 15 minutes you go from the warm desert ground, to the cold snowy top. But you get some great views.

Christmas Eve we went to Southwest Church to celebrate with the candlelight service. Then we enjoyed a nice family meal at Indian Wells.

We opened a few gifts on Christmas Eve, and the rest were finished off in the morning. Then the next part of the Christmas journey began. We packed up the car, and all four of us drove out to Encinitas.

Josh and I then spent time opening gifts with my family. We really rushed because early afternoon guests starting arriving.

We had about 16 people at the O'Neill house for Christmas dinner. There was turkey, hame, potatoes, broccoli, jello, sweet potatoes, wine, cake, and cookies. It was an excellent way to finish off the Christmas holiday.

We stayed in Encinitas with my family after Christmas. Even though it rained a few times, we caught some breaks and enjoyed some sunshine (not to mention, warmer temps). We headed out to Coronado and visited the Hotel Del (pic) and took a walk on the beach. Another day we went to La Jolla, but got caught in the rain. It was pretty awesome seeing the storm over the ocean coming towards us. There is a little more of a story here, but basically it ends with Josh and me getting soaked. But we warmed up with some delicious coffee at Bird Rock Roasters (BTW, another coffee find on our visit was the Lofty Bean in Encinitas - yay good coffee!).

What else did we do? Well, we enjoyed some time with family friends - the Hartleys, the Troglers, and the Richardsons. We ventured to the theaters and saw Les Misérables (worth a see!). And that's about it. Just some quality time with the families celebrating a wondering holiday. We flew back to Seattle New Years Eve into much cooler temperatures.