Better late than never...MERRY CHRISTMAS! Although this Christmas Wish is a couple days late, we are writing, hoping you all had a fabulous 25th. We had a fantastic 18th -28th visiting family and friends and eating LOTS of food. I was horrible at taking pictures of all the events (and forgot my camera many times) but we captured a few shots of Benjamin's first Christmas up North. He gave the camera lots of love as usual.
We started our Christmas celebrations Friday, the 18th and spent the weekend at my parents 'by the pond.' I forgot my camera but we had a really great time. Benjamin and Reuben were both pretty good the whole time and Jonah and Audrey have never been so well behaved at Nana's house. Audrey had me paint her nails right after presents with some pretty polish we got her, and Jonah had a priceless look all weekend while he played with both of his new race cars. We had delicious soups for lunch on Saturday, a elephant/telephone pictionary game during nap time, and gifts galore afterwards. We got to attend my younger sister's church in Pella the next morning, and Christmas at my Dad's parents on Sunday evening. The roads weren't great but we made the trek, and had fun seeing family. It was a busy but fun weekend.
We came home, un-packed, did laundry, and packed again on Monday night. I worked a little on Tuesday morning, and we hit the road by 1:00 in an attempt to beat the weather. Tuesday night we stayed at a friends to catch up a little bit, break up the trip to Northern Minnesota, and share a little about the ministry. It was so great getting to know the Sayer's a little more. They were close friends with Joel, and I enjoyed getting to know them better. Jenny's house was beautifully decorated for christmas, and she made these star cookies that were 'to die for.' Then we packed up on Wednesday, and hit the road again!
We met Joel's parents for lunch on Wednesday. The plan was to arrive at their new house in the evening and get settled before the rest of the family joined us on Thursday. Unfortunately, all 3 of his siblings were delayed due to the nasty weather that hit a lot of the mid-west. Joel and I were so sad to not be with the whole family, but did enjoy a day of Benjamin getting some alone time with Grandpa and Grandma. Joel's Aunt and Uncle were also at their home up north, with only two of there four children, so our partial families combined for Christmas Eve and Christmas day meals. That night as we sat down for a movie, the driveway filled with lights and Joel's 3 siblings and their spouses and Benjamins 7 cousins came to the door. Everyone braved the storm and caravaned down to surprise us. It was great.
So Christmas was very merry. Unfortunately Benjmain's cough that has been lingering on since November took a turn and it became hard for him to breath/sleep. So much snot! Monday morning I made a dr, apt. as soon as we got back to Ames, and we are now on our first round of anti-biotic. Hopefully we can kick this bug by the end of the week!
One slightly frustrating aspect of the holiday travels is getting Benjamin to sleep at others homes. At home, I lay Benjamin down and he falls asleep within 3-5 minutes. (The past two days, it has been 30 seconds) When we are at Nana and Papa's he takes a little longer, and at Grandma and Grandpas, its a lot longer. I would just change up the routine and bounce him to sleep, but its not that easy. He doesn't fall asleep if I rock him, or bounce him...he just cries. The only exception is at Aunt Heidi's house. She has a noise machine, and it puts Benjamin out in seconds...just like home. So I think the plan is to purchase a noise machine. That way Benjamin doesn't cry so many huge tears, and I dont feel like such a crummy mom. I wouldn't do a thing different, knowing how easy it is to put him to sleep at home. But with as much as we travel, we do have to figure out how to duplicate it on the road! Let the experiments begin!
Well as we gear up for one last party of the season, New Years Eve, we hope that you all have a safe and festive, and maybe even relaxing weekend! Enjoy the rest of 2009
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