Christmas

 This year we had decided that we were going to stay in St. Louis. There was no way we could afford to fly and driving in the winter is always risky- especially if it's a 20 hr drive. Mike really lucked out and got the week of Christmas off as part of his 3 weeks of vacation. We know that this will NOT be the case for the last 3 years of his residency. One day Mike threw out the idea of driving home for Christmas. BIG mistake- because from that point on all I could think about was the possibility of being with our families for Christmas. We decided to wait and see what the weather was going to be and then we'd make the final decision. At last the final decision was made-- we were going to do it. Like I said before-- in the next few years we'll be lucky if Mike has those days off, let alone the whole week-- so why not take advantage of the blessing it was to have that time off and just do it!
We were incredibly blessed to have great weather (only a few little spots of concern) and our kids are traveling rockstars- ZERO complaints or whining during the whole 20 hrs. They were just so dang excited to see their grandparents and aunts and uncles- which made the miserable drive worth it for both Mike and I.
We loved being with our loved ones, and we feel like although we were only there for 6 days and drove roughly 40 hours round trip, it was WORTH IT.

Just like so many other times, I did horrible with our camera(Especially in Centerville-- where I completely forgot to bring it). Thank goodness for camera phones and grandparents stepping in and taking the pictures.-

Decorating cookies for Santa 

(and ourselves-I may have a minor weakness for my moms sugarcookies)

Christmas Eve

We had my Grandparents (my moms parents) and Uncle Paul, Aunt Marianne, Alix and Sarah over for dinner and visiting. Later on we had my moms spiritual message and sat around and talked WAY too late.

We are missing 4 very important Floridian faces in this picture! (Jonathan, Bree Addison and Halle---My brother Jonathan and his family were in the middle of moving to Orlando(luckies)--Jonathan got an incredible job-so as much as we missed them--we are SO happy for them)

My grandparents, Mom and Uncle Paul (her only living sibling)

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is always a little chaotic- I never got a shot of all the kids--oh well!

My parents got a steal of a deal on this little red car-- which the kids loved.

 In the background of  few of the pictures you can see the felt house that I made for the kids. It took too many hours to count- but they love it- which made it worth it(barely). I did it in the colors of our house in Dublin, that little house will ALWAYS hold a special place in all of our hearts.

 Christmas Day

As I mentioned before, I left my camera in South Jordan, so I didn't get ANY pictures of Christmas Day :(
We started the day off a little rocky-- our van's battery died-- so it took awhile to get it going again. We met Mike's family at church a little late-- but atleast we made it! It was the perfect way to spend Christmas Day. We played games, napped, talked, and had a delicious turkey dinner.

Luckily Mike snapped a few pictures with his phone of the kids bowling on the day after Christmas.

A few other memories that weren't documented on film:

-Playing with cousins and favorite uncles and aunts

-Shopping with Mom and sisters (LOVED that day)

-Mike went shooting with his dad and Stephen

-Seeing our grandparents and extended families

 After the whirlwind of Holiday parties and family time and ALL the driving, we felt a little like this in the end:

Exhausted-- (BUT very happy)