California, this is Aaron! Aaron, this is Calfornia!

 We don't mess around at the Hoppy home at Christmas time!  As soon as everyone woke up, we got right into gift giving and present opening! Not that I'm complaining!   

It was so fun to have Aaron around during the family time!  He fit right in. :)

My mom and dad!

My mom picked out some black converse for Aaron for Christmas, which was great considering neither of us can find shoes that fit our big ol' feet in Korea!   

My mom, sister, Aaron and I all chipped in and got my dad a kindle!  He'd been talking about wanting one for months!  He was so excited and has barely put it down since!

I found my mom a nice Korean style Chanel watch!  Gotta keep her looking fashionable! 

Aaron's present to my mom was her favorite though!

Her very first Auburn University t-shirt!  She is an avid Auburn football fan and actually graduated Valedictorian in 1969!

After opening gifts, Aaron and I drove over to my college friend Lynzi's house for lunch!  I was so excited to get to see Krista too!  These two were my University roommates my junior year at Vanguard!  I love, love, love these girls, and really miss sharing a closet with them!

 I brought Lynzi's son Greyson a fun green light up ball, some Japanese candy...

... and a Korean danso, which none of us were able to make any music out of (oops!)...

The newest addition to the Irvine clan - Little miss Blakely Elizabeth!

Lynzi and Beau are so great together!  They've been married now for 8 years!  Good job you two!

Me, Blakely, and Greyson!

 Krista's dog Ruby was there too!  I think she was a fan of me!

 Lynzi and Beau live in the cutest little neighborhood of Newport Beach!  They bought this house 2 1/2 years ago and completely renovated it, in the lovely Irvine style!

Next stop was Laguna Beach!  We stopped at the cliffs in Corona Del Mar, first, to check out the view of Balboa!

The cutest little dog was there with his dad, going for a walk.

Yea, the beach!!!!

Ahhh, lookout point!  

Next stop was my high school!  

 When we were finished with our little Orange County adventure, we came back to the Hoppy home and finished opening prezzies! 

Introducing the Hoppy fam!  My dad, me, sister Amy, and mom!

My mom got a Macbook from my dad!  Lucky gal!

Amy, Aaron and I did some shopping around town and then came back for dinner with Rick and Sherry my mom and dad's good friends!  I can not fully explain how wonderful these two are!

We capped off the night with a good ol' game of Apples to Apples!

Aaron was the big winner of the night!  Good job babe!

Today was a gorgeous day, with beautiful blue Californian skies and warm sunshine!  Couldn't have asked for a better 1st day home in the heartland!

We made it to California!

Ahh, the lights of Orange County!  What a wonderful sight!  How I've missed this place and my mom and dad of course!

My mom met Aaron and I at the bottom of the escalator at the airport, with a big hug, and warm welcome!  My dad was the chaeffer (sp?), so we got our hugs from him on the curb!

Our flight landed at 10:45pm, and we actually made it back to my childhood home, just in time for a New Years Kiss!

... and even more fun to be home and getting Asian presents!  mmmm Japanese candy!  Amy (my sister) handed these to us and said, "Think of me and my trip to Korea when you eat these!"  Love my sis!

 It's sooo good to be home! 

Y'all come back now, ya hear?!

We started off the morning at Mammy's house with Sherry, Jed, Mammy, and Sherry Beth!

Mammy gave me these amazing vintage boots when I first arrived in town! She found out I didn't bring any snow boots, so she pulled these out of her closet, and low and behold, theyre a perfect fit! I think they're amazing and have named them "moots" (short for my Mammy boots!) 

Then it was off to Gran's, which was about a mile away! 

She met us at the door with a big smile and a "oh my two favorite kids!!" Ssshhh, don't tell the other grandkids! :) 

She actually hand sewed this gorgeous quilt for Aaaron, which consists of material from family members, his moms wedding, his grandfathers dress shirts and some other neat pieces! Talk about a labor of love!! 

This is one amazing Granny! 

I feel as if she's already accepted me as a grandaughter, for which I am incredibly honored! 

Aaron took me by Lake Tamahawk, a cute little lake, where he used to go fishing as a kid.

I couldn't resist!

This is the Red Rocker Inn, which is an old home in Black Mountain, that was renovated into an Inn a while back.  It's actually right across from his Aunt Carol's gorgeous yellow home!

... and this is his friend Burke's old house.  Aaron spent a lot of his childhood playing here!

We met Aarons mom for lunch at Ole Guacamole, a local, and authentic, Mexican restaurant! Mmmmmm! 

When we got back to the house we snapped some pictures of Pegg in her garden, but before snapping her photo Aaron used me as his lighting model... to make sure the lighting was right!  These are the types of faces I make when I'm getting impatient! :)

Okay, lighting's good!

What a pretty lady, huh?! 

I love this one of her and Cash... 

... Aaron and Cash... 

... and Me and Cash! 

Before long, Keith showed up and loaded our bags into the car for our drive to the airport... It was sad for both of us to say our goodbyes to his mom (and the puppies!) 

We had a nice hour and a half drive over to the airport with his dad!  It was sad to say goodbye to him. :(  He actually called Aaron's cell phone when we landed in Dallas, and had all of the 18 guests at his New Years Party yell, "Y'all come back now, ya hear?!"  It just might have been the highlight of the whole day!  

I couldn't have asked for, or imagined having, a better time with Aaron in North Carolina! He has such a special family, who overflows with southern charm and hospitality!  I knew finding Aaron was special, but now I really know just how lucky I am! 

To all of Aarons family and friends... Thank you for making my time in NC so fun!! :)