Flight to California

On December 10, we made the trip from Zurich to California. The first flight to JFK was 9 hours (we were delayed an hour on top of that for de-icing) and then from JFK to LAX it was another 7 hours (another delay, add at least another hour onto that). We left our house at 7am in Zurich and arrived at 7pm the same day in California. So that's 12 hours + a 9 hour difference = 21 day. Luckily, we were able to sleep some on the plane (when it became nighttime for us in Zurich). Everyone always asks about how Kelsey does on the plane. She's a dream - better than Tally and I for sure. She plays well and takes naps, doesn't scream and has never had a problem with her ears. I, on the other hand, threw up, got anxious, couldn't sleep well, and got grumpy. Tally can't stand airplane food and often gives his plate to me and Kels. By the end of the trip, he's a hungry bear. The last few hours of the flight are always torture for us.
The little princess sleeps on the floor in bulkhead
We were able to adjust well to the new schedule, but Kels and I were up by 3am two mornings in a row. By 7am, we were back to sleep and Kels apparently wanted to sleep extra close!
Tal with Kelsey and my sister Jenna. Jenna has a huge crush on him (she has severe Cerebral Palsey and she and Kels are about the same level mentally, so it's actually kind of cute).
We watched a lot of TV at my parents' new house. First of all, the big screen is in the main great room so it's hard to pass up. Secondly, we were so tired and drained (especially prego me) that it was nice to veg out. Kelsey loved the car seat my parents got for her and thought it was her special seat in front of the couch (until we moved it back to the car, of course).

My mom & Kels in front of the Christmas tree. We didn't even get around to decorating the tree with them! Don't worry, I got to put the angel on still (always a contest between me and my sister).

My Grandma Lang got Kelsey this "Elf on the Shelf" book that was so cute! Basically, it's a book that comes with an elf. The story tells you what to do with the elf (name it and then put it somewhere in the house) and then the elf watches to see if you are good or bad (for Santa). The elf "magically" moves around the house at times to get a good view. Anyway, Kelsey loved the little elf, even if she didn't understand the story.

My parents' finally built their dream house and it was above and beyond what we had imagined. It's beautiful and welcoming and made me think living there while we went to UCLA wouldn't be too bad. We had our own master suite downstairs and Kelsey enjoyed being able to run around in so much space. They have cool views of the valley and you can often see wildlife in their backyard. This is some kind of hawk we saw.
We were only there for two days before we were off to Utah, but it was nice to have been able to see my family, my parents' house for the first time and to eat at a few restaurants we'd been craving.