Christmas Cheers

We are finally back from our Christmas vacation to Washington. We enjoyed our time with family and friends, but it is nice to be back in our own house, in our own beds, and not quite so much noise!

Carissa and I flew out early with our kids because my brother returned from his mission and we wanted to be there at the airport. We held up a cheesy welcome-home sign and took turns giving him huge hugs. It was sort of strange for him to be home, but because I lived in Utah while he was on his mission, it didn't seem that strange having him home. It was my parents who needed the adjustment. Not only was Kory home, but they now had 4 extra adults and 4 loud kids. So must for empty-nesting!

I love having Kory home. He has changed a little, definately more church-oriented (obviously) and thoughtful (he used his Christmas money to buy some of his converts in Kentucky some scriptures). But mostly, he is the same old Kory we all know. He still takes forever to get ready in the morning, procrastinates everything (packed for college the night before!), and hung out with a different girl every night =) He is now at BYU, I wish we could be back there too but we're stuck here for now. Good luck Kory!

Another highlight of our vacation was going up to Issaquah/Sammamish to see Jeremiah's family...although I'm not sure how much of a highlight it was for them. Roman had contracted a stomach flu from Jack, and...well, let's just say his blow-out diaper that we noticed half-mile from Sophie's house should have warned us of the weekend to come. Between blow-outs and vomit, we were cleaning him constantly and Sophie was doing one load of laundry after another. Then, to top it all off, Sophie, Brooks, Cecile, and Josie all started feeling sick. Aren't we the worst?! However, Sophie spoiled us with amazing meals, and we spent some time at Bellevue Square. It was nice to see Jeremiah's mom again, as well as Sophie's family. Amy and Brian were out of town, so we met up with them at the SuperMall for lunch. I think Jeremiah felt a little cheated on time with his family, but that's why we are headed to Utah next Christmas! The picture is of Sophie feeding Roman applesauce, a safe food for his sick tummy.

On Christmas Eve, Santa came and visited the kids. Hayden, Rix, and Olivia freaked out and couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap. Jack just stared, but Bryce and Roman cried hysterically. They were not impressed with Santa at all. The kids even decorated cookies for Santa. They did really well, even though they snuck in bites of frosting, and Hayden was sad that he had to give up his cookie to put on Santa's cookie platter.

Hayden's sad face as he puts his Christmas cookie on the platter for Santa.

Jeremiah was up at 6am on Christmas day. He's like a kid! The rest of us slept until about 7:30am or so, and then we went down and opened up stockings. Hayden's and Roman's Santa present was a Fisher-Price Imaginext Castle, and they got cars and candy and other little toys. We had a great Christmas! We were spoiled, as were our kids. I'm not sure how we fit it all in our luggage coming home, but by some miracle, we did. Even more fun opening our gifts was opening the gifts that we gave the others. Maybe that's the idea of Christmas, but I loved it.

Roman got little Mickey's Clubhouse figures. He was so excited he squealed!

Jeremiah with his new Spinbrush and Daughtry CD (which he exchanged later for the Simpsons movie)
Hayden opening up his stocking, including StarWars characters and a Disney puzzle.

December 27 was Jeremiah's birthday. He is the big 2-9! He just keeps telling me how happy he is that at least he's not as old as Joe. All us kids (without our own kids) went to lunch at Claimjumper (not to be confused with the Claimjumper in Utah!) where we met my parents and grandparents, and had a great time. That night, we went and saw National Treasure. I got him XBox's Call of Duty 4. Luckily, his friends got that game, too, and they now have another excuse to meet online and play.

That next day (Carissa and Adam's 6th anniversary) we held a surprise birthday party for my mom. Her birthday isn't until January 21, but my dad thought it would be a great surprise to have a party while everyone was there. The girls and I have been planning this for months, and luckily it all went well. We had a lot of food, great friends, and most of all, Mom was surprised. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it to show my mom how many people love her.

I met up with Heather, whom I have known since 4th grade, at Panera Bread. First of all, what a great place for breakfast! Not only was their hot chocolate the best ever, but they have souffles that are amazing. Anyway, it was good to see her and hear about her boyfriend-soon-to-be-fiance.

On New Year's Eve, Carissa, Celeste, Kory, and I went out to Applebees for dessert. We felt we hadn't had a whole lot of time together without kids, and so we decided to make some time before everyone left. We were all in giggles (well, not Kory, he just rolled his eyes and thought we were so weird...see? nothing changed!) and had a great time. I'm not a huge New Year's fan, mostly because midnight is way past my bed time. I drank a quick sip of sparkling cider, handed my glass to Jage, gave him a quick kiss, and went to bed.

The following day was our flight. Jeremiah and Roman were on a different flight, so we parted ways at the SeaTac airport, and I met up with the Poyfairs for our flight home. We had a layover in Minneapolis, which is a huge airport. They had a nice playarea for the kids, and enough shops to make us think we were in the mall. We had a 3 1/2 hour layover, and when we went to board, we found out that the plane was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to stay overnight in a hotel and fly out the following morning. I volunteered Hayden and I, and they gave us dinner vouchers, a hotel voucher, and breakfast vouchers...oh and the best part...2 free round-trip tickets that are good for a years! So guess what that means?! Yup, we are for sure coming out this April/May!!! I always wanted to, but had to wait to see what ticket prices were. But since I now have two tickets and Roman will still be under 2, we can basically go for free! I'm so excited!!! Anyway, Hayden and I said goodbye to the Poyfairs, who stayed on the flight, and used our dinner vouchers at TGIFridays at the airport. We then went to our hotel, the Raddison, which has the world's largest indoor waterpark (of course, it was closed by the time we got there). Our room was nice, with a king bed and a little bunkbed just for Hayden. He was so excited about it.

Hayden on his bunkbed. He loved it so much that he ate his dinner on it. The hotel is across the street from the Mall of America. Too bad our flight was so early the next morning!!!

Anyway, we are all back home and doing well. Sadly, Northwest lost our luggage (it should have flown in January 1) and as of today, we still do not have it. The kids can't figure out where their Christmas presents are! Oh, and Jeremiah starts his 2nd semester on Monday, wish him luck!