Christmas/New Years Road Trip

I was very excited about Christmas this year...last year, after Bella was born, we were discharged on Christmas day and 2 hours later were back in the emergency room with her only to be admitted for the next week.  So I consider this year to have been Bella's first Christmas.  David's mom went back to Texas Christmas eve so it was us, my parents, and brother and his family.  We got up early to open gifts as our plan was to hit the road for our week long road trip.  We had planned to leave the day after Christmas but there was a big storm blowing in that we wanted to stay ahead of.
Just like with her birthday, Bella really enjoyed opening her gifts and finding all her new treasures inside.  I felt like she was growing so tired of the toys she had (and I hardly ever buy her new ones) so it was very exciting to have so many new things that were more age appropriate. 

By 8:30 am were on the road headed for Yosemite.  Our first night we stayed in a great hotel just outside the park that was very festively decorated for Christmas with free hot chocolate in the evening...mmmm!! We relaxed, had a nice dinner, and awoke the next morning to this beautiful scenery (we successfully got there before the storm!):

This was only the day before...hardly any snow!

The wonderful fireplace in the lobby

We only stayed one night outside of Yosemite and then spent two nights at a lodge inside the park.  Driving into the park was so beautiful with all the snow and seeing all the amazing mountains.  Once settled in our lodge we did several hikes to some of the waterfalls nearby.  Thankfully Bella would fall asleep in the Ergo carrier during most of our hikes, and even more thankfully was that she was on David's back and not mine!!

This is a view of the famous "Half Dome":

One of the many waterfalls:

Bella really loves textured things-sand, water, snow....so she was quite content just sitting and playing but her poor little hands would get so cold!

The snow truly was amazing...it was so beautiful how it perfectly rested upon every branch of the trees:

Beautiful view at the end of one of our hikes:

Apparently bears are a big problem in the park and will actually break into your car if there is even a hint of food inside. These were the only "bears" we saw......

...although we did see this foot print in the snow!

Bella has mastered the "kissy face"!

After our two nights in Yosemite, we headed to Sequoia National Park.  Unfortunately we only had one night there, arrived late in the , and it SNOWED, SNOWED, SNOWED overnight leaving us with the task of shoveling our cars out of the parking lot in the morning and trying to get to Disney that day.  Our original plan was to get to see the redwoods but there was too much snow to go hiking so instead we just enjoyed the winter wonderland.  I have seriously never seen so much snow in my life.  It felt like we were in Narnia or some winter maze where these paths had been plowed but all you can see for miles is walls of snow!  Literally the snow surrounding us on the paths was way over our heads.  My niece Emily and I had a blast seeing how far/deep we could throw ourselves into it!

 There was one massive redwood near the main road that the boys jumped out of the car to see:

That's me, Bella, my mom, and my dad in our room...peering out at the deep snow!

 This was the parking lot the next morning...that is a long row of cars you just can't see!!!!

 After much shoveling we got the car out!

After Sequoia David had to head back home for work but the rest of us continued our adventure onto Disneyland in Anaheim for the New Year. Can you say "CROWDED"!!!! We knew the parks would be packed but we braved the lines anyway. Bella loved the rides...she would stare and clap and was thoroughly entertained. Trying to keep her occupied in line was difficult but overall she did really well. My parents were gracious enough to babysit in the evening while the rest of us would stay at the park until closing when it wasn't so crowded. Because we stayed up so late the first two nights we were there, we didn't make it to midnight New Year's Eve!! But we did hear the fireworks from our hotel room and it sounded like nuclear bombs going off...I am sure it was spectacular!

David and I are HUGE Disney fans but I have to be honest...Disneyland just doesn't quite compare to Disney World.

The Christmas tree on Main Street in Disneyland during the day and at night:

 Emily and I ready to ride "Toy Story Mania"

Excited about the carousel:

A boat ride through the fairy tales:

"It's a Small World After All"...which was actually decorated very cute for the holidays:

 Downtown Disney:

 Um, do you think they strategically designed the toy store this way?!!!

 Relaxing in the hotel room after a long day!

We headed back home New Years day and made it back in just 6 hours since Bella slept most of the way which meant much fewer stops!  It was so nice having family here for Bella's birthday and the holidays and as always it all just goes by too fast.