Expanded and Unabridged

Expanded and Unabridged ~ A recap of our time away.
But, before we launch into all that, please know that we view this vacation as a gift
from the Lord's gracious and loving hand to our family.  We didn't deserve it.  
It really was a wonderful provision for this first Christmas without our Austin.
Not a need.  Not at all.  However, it truly was a great blessing.

I gave a brief synopsis in my last post.  Very brief.

This, however, is the expanded and unabridged version.
It isn't brief and it isn't for the faint of heart ~ wink.  
Remember I said we came home exhausted?  Yes, we did.

 But, it was good.  Very, very good.

Our adventures began at 5:00am on December 10th.
We left for the airport shortly after rising to catch an 8:00 am flight.
We landed just before 11:00am in Los Angeles, California.
Fraser, our love-of-anything-cultural man, discovered that there
was an outdoor Mexican market in the heart of old L.A.
So, as you may have guessed, it was one of the first things we did.

The next morning, we met up with my sister and her two children for the day.

Unfortunately, her husband had to work, so, he was unable to join in.  We were sad.

We ate at In-N-Out for lunch together ~ What a treat!  :)

We don't have In-N-Out here in Canada, so this was our first ever experience.

Do you have In-N-Out where you are?  You must go!

We were able to spend the day together at Disneyland ~ What fun!

We headed over to my sister's on the weekend.
Early the following week, the boys took a day out at March Air Force Base.
Emma and I stayed behind ~ We were not sorry to *miss out*.  :)

As you can see, Calvin was in his element.

Planes and cameras are his two favourite things.

Just to give oomph to that statement, I will let you in on a little something ~

Calvin and Howie spent an entire day at LA International Airport,

on day three of our trip, where he took over 1000 images of planes!

Yessirree...he has it bad.

But, I digress.  And, no, I wasn't there.  

I was with Fraser and Emma for another day at Disney.  :)

After five nights with my sister, we ventured out on a road trip.
We took an excursion that had us journeying through the Mojave Desert.
What an experience that was!  Miles and miles of sand and straight (but rolling) road.

Fraser wasn't running for help ~ he was curious.

Amazing and massive expanse of majestic wilderness ~
Truly, one feels extremely small in the middle of it all.

Historic Route 66 ~ A fun find!

We drove six hours Northeast from my sister's home to Williams, AZ.
We arrived still wearing shorts as snow was just beginning to fall.
Amazing what happens when you climb a few thousand feet and drive North.
You get Winter!  :)

The next morning, we drove from Williams to the Grand Canyon National Park.
The South Rim views were completely clouded in.
The very first family shot of the day is all grey.  No view.

Nada.  Zip.  Nothing.

This was to be our only day at the Canyon ~ and it wasn't guaranteed to clear.
Of course, we were hoping to see something.  
Howie wanted to stand in one spot and wait.  He really did.
We walked instead.  And, over time, the cloud lifted.
What a great blessing!!  Because, who knows if we will ever be back.

The Lord is in the details.  Isn't He just so gracious?

It was actually a treat to see the Canyon in varying light
and cloud cover throughout the day.  It was stunningly beautiful.  
I am SO glad we made the effort to go!

Emma captured Calvin capturing an image.
Yes, he was nearing the edge.
No, I didn't tell him not to get too close.
(At least, not at that moment.  Nope.  I was quiet as could be.)

Emma's camera does panoramic shots like the one below ~ 
Isn't it just amazing?  The sheer expanse of the Canyon is mind boggling.
It really is true ~ it cannot be fully appreciated from photos.
In all honesty, it's difficult to comprehend what you are actually looking
at even when standing right at the edge.  Incomprehensible.  Truly.

We made it over to an Eastern Viewpoint where there was a tower to climb.
The views from inside the tower were glorious.
The majesty of the Canyon brings glory to our Great God.
It makes me smile to think of His Creativity!

Emma and Daddy (above) and Mummy (below) inside the tower.

Fraser and Howie late in the day.

It was sunny, but cold.
The South Rim's elevation is about 7,000 feet.

This is such a common view of our Calvin ~
Camera in hand capturing whatever is before him.

Just like this!  :)

A tripod is a great tool in the hand of a skilled photographer.
Thank you, Calvin, for bringing it along ~ it was a blessing to 
have you in some family photos alongside us.

We spent the night in Flagstaff and then travelled South the next day.  
Before the day was out, we were into warmer weather once again.
One of the highlights of our trip was that we were able
to meet up with Jared and Lisa and their family.

What a blessing to our hearts!

The boys were thick as thieves and could be found hunting scorpions
or playing checkers or soccer together.  It was a flurry of activity.
Did you notice I said scorpions?  They actually found one.
It was outside the room Howie and I were staying in.  
I stayed in bed and let the men handle it.  And, they did.

Emma and this young miss became fast friends.
She was eager to learn how to knit ~ I'm not sure how much she learned.
But, they do look happy...don't they?

Lisa posted a less civilised photo on her blog of the kiddos ~
Wanna see?  Click here.

Lisa and me...together.  :)

We make quite a crowd ~
Thank you, Jared and Lisa, for sharing your home with us...
You blessed us so very, very much!

On the way back to CA to my sister's home,
we stopped at a rest area to get a photo with one of these Saguaro Cacti.
The children had never been *up close and personal* with one before.
Howie got a little too close ~ He was stuck by one of the needles!  Nasty.  :(

By the time we got to our final stop, we had logged nearly 1800 miles
on the rental vehicle.  Thankfully, we were renting with unlimited mileage.
It was quite the journey, but, well worth the effort.

Back at my sister's home...
Christmas Day arrived, and there were gifts under the tree 
for each of the children.  There were gifts for us as well.  So sweet.
It was warm and some of us were in shorts and some ate
breakfast outside.  It was out of the ordinary in many ways.

So, we had a different Christmas.

And, it was a blessing.  We enjoyed the sunshine and warmth
that we do not have in our part of the globe at this time of year.
We enjoyed the company of loved ones who graciously opened their
home and hearts to us not knowing exactly what to expect.
And, we were blessed by the Lord in unexpected ways.

He is always Good and Gracious and Kind.  Always.

 
Thank you once again, our precious family, 
for including us in your traditions this year ~
We love you and thank the Lord for you!

My Mama heart will not allow me to complete this post without mentioning 
our precious Austin ~ We miss him terribly.  Horribly.
We don't like to make new memories without him.  It hurts.
But, we are making new memories.  Without trying.
By God's great grace, many of our new memories are happy ones.

But, it's bittersweet.

We had many times of reflection and teary moments while we were away.
We also had many joy-filled times of laughter and fun.  
Tears and joy.  Emptiness and fullness.  Caught between.  

It's a new way of life and living.

It was sad to come home to an empty house where our Austin no longer lives.
We know that he is not missing out on anything.  He is rejoicing in his eternal Home.
We know that he is living.  Just not here.  He lives with the Lord in Heaven.
It really won't be long before our Saviour takes us to live there as well.

Oh, to continually have an eternal perspective!  
It is the best comfort for our aching hearts.  

May the Lord help us all to live each day as if it were our last.
And, live each day for eternity. 
Because, that's what really matters.  It really is.

Much Love,
Camille

**Photo credits ~ Calvin, Emma, Howie and Camille
using two different cameras and one phone.
It was too tricky to keep track of who used what and when for this post.  :)