Day 1 -12…..
This trip is all about Hayden Lucas Hill…born on 11.3 to Peter & Leia. YAY!!! We’re all so thrilled about this new baby in our family. But now we live 3,000+ miles away! We took off early in the morning making the 6 hour flight to San Francisco then another hour up to Arcata. Always fun to look out over the snowy mountains!
We landed & soon we held this precious wonderful little babe in our arms! He’s just perfect! And to see your son be a father to his son….(tears dripping as I type) is magical!
So here you go…we spent most of our time holding Hayden, feeding Hayden, changing Hayden’s diapers, rocking Hayden, talking to Hayden…it was just a perfect time.
Here’s a few newborn pics before we arrived
Current & future Jayhawk fan
Two happy guys just relaxing
The awesome parents of Hayden Lucas!
We did give the baby back to his Mom & Dad for a bit to take a hike at the beach…I love love love this area! We had beautiful weather …sunny skies, brisk temps but just perfect.
We stopped for lunch at one of my favorite places in Trinidad for their unique Mashed Potato cone…comes with potatoes, gravy, super yummy brisket, bacon & cheese. Danny isn’t a fan, but I love these!
We managed to fit a few other things in like…Dead Reckoning (my fave tap house in Arcata), went to HSU football field Thanksgiving morning for the boys annual field goal kicking contest, ate Thanksgiving at Luke & Jordans where there was a big big party & nice to meet some of their friends I’d never met & see ones again I’d met before, walked around Blue Lake (the cute little town where Leia & Pete live) a couple of times & once went to the Logger Bar for a cocktail, Pete & Danny worked one day to finish the trim in their new renovated kitchen & hallway & got that chore done, while Leia & I made a Costco run. We all ate several meals together, which was awesome!
One new experience we had while out in California, was our first earthquake. It was a 7.0, which is pretty big, followed by a Tsunami warning. Pete, holding Hayden, & Danny & I were standing in the kitchen talking when an alarm went off on Pete’s phone. We all thought it was an Amber alert, but it was a quake alert. Just a few seconds later, everything started shaking! We could hear the wine bottles & glassware shaking in the cabinets & the entire house was shaking. It was super weird. And I thought, “this is really bizarre but I hope it doesn’t get any worse”, but then it was over in less than a minute. Since then, the area has had hundreds of aftershocks, but nothing you could feel. Then Sara started texting us wondering if we were all ok. So, 2024 marks my first hurricane & first earthquake…as Sara said, “you don’t need to collect anymore natural disaster cards”. I totally agree.
And we have a new Grandpuppy! Meet Rio….
We went over to Luke & Jordans & took Rio for a walk down to the river. Rio is in dog training classes. He’s an adorable rescue pup that came with some abandonment issues, but he could not have landed in more of a loving dog home. These two will get Rio to trust again.
We went out to a local winery that was have a small Christmas market, then all of us went to the Bistro for dinner.
Love this!
Christmasy dressed Grampa & Hayden
One very very happy & in love Gki
Luke’s good friend Steve was in town & it was super great to spend time with him too. He is truly one of my most favorite people!
Just chilling at Pete & Leia's
One of my fave pics of Luke & Hayden (they now have the same hairline)
Love these guys!
For my beer geek friends…this was Leia’s first alcohol in 9 months (pic taken before we got there)…you know how good this beer is! (Look at all the hair Hayden was born with…he’s lost most of the top of it by now, but it will gorgeous when it grows back in!)
The boys made brunch for us at Luke’s house…it was yummy but so good to spend our last few hours here together
We left Arcata around noon under our first cloudy skies taking the little jet (which we love) into Denver, then on a huge plane into Orlando. Sara picked us up at midnight after her long day which included running an early morning 1/2 marathon & an evening work party. We offered to Uber home (because we don’t live an hour away from the airport anymore & we can), but it was lovely to see her & visit on the way home.
We missed the girls a lot & we were all happy to see each other! Here they’re dancing with Grampa but making him do all the work!
The girls neighbors across the street have a 12’ snowman…they had fun dancing around it
Decorating a different house was a little weird, but I made everything I already had work. It’s a lovely neighborhood we live in & it’s fun to see holiday lights everywhere. We definitely downsized our tree…but the good news is it takes less time & stuff to decorate
May every one of you have fantastic holidays & a happy Christmas!
and….just one more picture of our sweet sweet Hayden!
