A Cal-orado Christmas

Ryan and I are getting spoiled. Many of our colleagues don't go home for the holidays because it's too far, too expensive, and too much of a toll on your body. But I can't stand to be away from family around Christmas. We tried that once, and it wasn't pretty. Our first year in Thailand we stayed in the Land of Smiles and Ryan's best man, Brian, came to visit. We had a great time with Brian, but not until after getting over the Christmas Day slump. Let's just say it involved a lot of sleeping and too much Kahlua.

We started our journey, as we tend to do, on a fast speed train to the airport. Fortunately, this one is about 1/9 the price of the Airport Express in London.

It's so clean, comfortable, and cheap!

It's not First Class, but it FEELS like it is.

We spent a couple of days with my family in California, and then Ryan headed off to Colorado to visit his brothers and dad. Oh, did you know that Ryan likes the Broncos? He went to his first live Broncos game in Mile High Stadium. I'll let him tell you about it....

I wouldn't say it's analogous to Mecca, it's more on par with Medina. It was that type of religious experience for me. Walking through the entrance to my section reminded me very much of emerging from the womb. 

Amongst the other Broncos pilgrims.

That bright light is an angel
watching over Peyton Manning.

Ryan then headed up in the mountains to visit more family at Lazy Bend Ranch.

A cutie on Christmas Day : )

While in California, I had a special visitor. One of my BFFs from Thailand, Leah, was skiing in Tahoe and decided to make a detour to the Bay Area. I call her the female version of Ryan - she's super athletic, extremely competitive, loves games, and she's just so darn cute. We spent several days together, reliving old times and making new memories, mostly in the form of Settlers Games.

Here we are at the SF Dickens Fair.

Surprisingly, Jessica & Ryan liked her too. I wonder what they have in common?

After Ryan's return from Colorado, we headed up to the North Bay to visit more parents. Have I mentioned yet that our family is complicated? Our total number of parents and extended siblings is far larger than the average and they are spread all over the place. We love it! We spent a week at the Rancho Vitta Bella, and here's a taste of what we did:

Puzzles are a Christmas tradition.

 

We heart games.

A trip to the coast.

What's Isaac looking at?

A-ha! Sea lions.

 

Mike's newest addition to the RVB? A horseshoe pit.

Wait a minute. Does that blond girl look familiar? You may have seen her before in various posts on this blog. We met Courtney in London, and she's now a permanent fixture in the Kirchner clan. For a complete explanation, see my previous post, Ken-yeah. 

You may also notice another Panamanian besides me in the pictures. Roxana the Fox (my mom) and her 2 dogs came up for a night to enjoy the RVB. It's even more special when our various parents are all together! Many thanks to Renee and Mike for hosting!

We took some time to catch up with friends in California. Living abroad is difficult at times. We don't get to experience the daily smiles and tears that makes friends grow closer. But we are so lucky that when we return, there are friendships where the physical distance never outweighs our desire  to reconnect.

 

I got to to meet Leyla's youngest for the first time!

Sweet sisters.

R & J always greet us with open arms and welcoming smiles. They take care of our bills while we're gone, they host our families and friends when we return home, they cook us dinner, and they help us find productive solutions to any problems we have. They never makes us feel bad about living abroad (in fact, they are endlessly planning their next vacation to come visit us!), but we know they can't wait until we return to the US. And the only thing they expect in return is a mean game of 500 and possibly Cities and Knights. Love you guys!

 

All good things must come to an end. The two weeks flew by, and we had to head home to Hong Kong. At least we dealt with it gracefully: