On December 22, we loaded up our car and headed to Idaho. This simple statement doesn't quite express what a feat that was. We had all of our presents to haul with us. Some years, we try to trick each other by putting small items in big boxes, but this year, we knew space would be a premium so we had a rule that the present had to be put in the smallest box possible. We weren't sure how we were going to get everything back, because we knew we'd be taking a few big items back with us. Somehow, we got it all in, checked Michael out of school a little bit early and headed north.
We stopped by Chelsea & Thomas's house to deliver a Christmas present to her, and she sent us out the door with an equal sized gift bag filled with clothes for Rachel. We stayed there longer than we meant to--probably around an hour or two, and then we were on our way again. We grabbed food at a drive-through in Pocatello and made it to my parent's house a little bit before bedtime. Idaho greeted us warmly:
We got to my parents' house and I thought my face was going to fall off; it was so COLD!
The kids were excited about the huge, untouched yard that had a foot of snow on it, and took advantage of it the next day. We made sure to bundle them up really good.
We had my parents to ourselves for just under a day before Taryn & David and Ethan arrived the next day. Between all of us, we had a mountain of presents:
We tried all sleeping in the same room the first night, and Michael decided that was terrible and worked out a deal with my mom that he could sleep in her office since Ethan decided to take his chances with their camping trailer. He made sure to give Monkey a spot and had him all tucked in too:
One of the best things about visiting Grandma's house is that she usually makes everyone an amazing hot breakfast--seriously, way better than IHOP could do! We were spoiled with huckleberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, and eggs most of the days we were there.
The kids loved playing with Aaron and Elijah and being spoiled by Grandma & Grandpa.
Elijah looked so Christmasy when he arrived, I had to take a picture:
On Christmas Eve, we went to my Grandma's house for the typical program. The last few times I've been home, I've kind of commandeered the thing to keep it short, sweet, entertaining, and spiritual. This year, for our live nativity portion, I had Uncle Doug read from the book This is the Stable. Our ward had done that for the Christmas party program, and it was sweet and simple and kept the spirit of the story. Some of the pages got stuck together, and we had a few reluctant players, but all in all, I thought it went okay.
Rachel and Aaron as Mary and Joseph:
Kelli as the star, Michael and Gabe as the shepherds, John as a cow
Me as a wiseman, and Elijah as a donkey (but only long enough for a picture. Christina as the angel:
Gabe's favorite part was eating the wrapping paper.
My grandma wanted to wanted us to open presents from her that night, which was new, but we went with it. She didn't have any presents for her great-grandkids, so earlier that day, my mom, Taryn, and I did a little last minute shopping, something I had hoped to avoid, but it was fun to be out with just the three of us. We went to a small store in Rigby that we knew wouldn't be too crazy. The kids loved having some fun toys to open. My kids had been looking at presents under the tree for weeks, and it was so hard waiting sometimes! Gabe enjoyed this gift bag more than his toys:
We ate lots of yummy goodies, including Grandma's amazing pastry, and then we headed back to my parents' house to open Christmas Eve pajamas:
I thought Gabe would be a pro at unwrapping presents since he unwrapped a couple over the month of December, but when it came down to it, he kind of choked:
Michael was really excited to have jammies that matched Gabe.
Earlier, the kids made cookies and decorated them for Santa. We set them out on a plate--the first year we've done this--and sent these kids to bed. It was easier for some than others:
The next morning, the kids were so excited that Santa had come. Michael was really excited that Santa brought him this bike:
Michael helped Gabe open his present from Santa:
You can tell that Gabe was really into it:
Santa brought me a Silhouette Cameo 3, and I was so so excited. Brian took this picture of me hugging it.
We went to Grandma's for lunch/dinner, and it was kind of weird because we ate in shifts instead of all sitting down at once. This happened because Taryn and I had sleeping babies that we were waiting on, and so the rest of the group ate without us. The food was still good, just lacking a little company. And this is what Christmas looked like in Idaho:
This is one of the few times that day that it WASN'T snowing. We were a little concerned going to church due to the roads, but it's Idaho, and they only cancel church if it is REALLY bad. We were glad that we decided to have Christmas morning in Idaho instead of trying to drive up after we opened presents at our house.
After dinner, we played some games. Ethan taught Michael how to play Battleship:
Michael went out to tromp around in all that snow:
And Rachel took advantage of more laps to sit on:
Michael wanted to go back to my mom's much sooner than everyone else...except for Ethan, so he walked home with Ethan. (I didn't want to go outside to take this picture of them, so sorry for the flash glare).
Gabe loves the tub, and Rachel loved having Gabe in the tub with her.
December 26th is my mom's birthday. We took down the tree and Christmas decorations for my mom as a birthday present, and then we went out to a late lunch/early dinner in Idaho Falls. After dinner, Ethan headed back to Logan.
After dinner, my parents and Taryn's crew wanted to hunt some after Christmas sales. My dad wanted to take Rachel, so the boys and I headed back to my parents house. When we got there, the lighting was perfect for taking pictures, so Brian was kind enough to drive me along the Snake so I could take a few pictures:
I drove this route countless times growing up. My parents ran boat shuttles for fly fishermen, and I worked at a dinner theater that was a little up the road from this spot. This is just over a mile away from my parent's house, and it's one of my favorite spots:
When we were heading home, I saw all these swans in the water. I wished that I had a telephoto lens!
We stayed another day and a half. And during that time, Gabe got another bath.
And kept scooting out of his pants.
He has the funniest version of an army crawl. Imagine someone doing the breaststroke on solid ground and you have a pretty good idea of what it looks like. Or picture a baby doing the worm. Either works.
My dad and Brian worked on our mantle for downstairs. They got the pieces cut so Brian could just put them together when we got home.
I took Brian to the dinner theater I worked at when I was in high school and on college breaks. It was so fun! It was his first time going to the show in the winter.
I was so excited that there was enough snow that they could run the sleighs. Sleighs are so much more magical than the wagons.
And Julie, my old boss, took care of us, as usual, and gave us the best seat in the house. We'll forgive her that she made our group eat last.
On Wednesday, the 27, we took on the seemingly impossible feat of getting all of our stuff back into the car. My parents had a platform that fit into our hitch, so we were able to get Michael's new bike home. Every stop we made, Michael wanted Brian to check to make sure the bike was still there.
When we finally made it home, our house was only 45 degrees, even though the temperature was set to 65. Our thermostat apparently forgot to tell our furnace to kick on. It has done this a few times, so we fired it and bought a smart thermostat the next day. But in the meantime, it was almost bedtime and our house was really, really cold. Michael and Gabe went in for a warm bath. Michael turned the bathroom into a sauna. Brian had headed out to acquire dinner. We had our furnace going full blast, as well as our fireplace downstairs, and the temperature was barely climbing. I didn't know what to do to get the rooms warm enough for my kids to sleep in. Then, I remembered about our space heater. I got it and turned it on in Gabe's room. I knew we needed more, so, I got on our neighborhood Facebook page and asked to borrow some space heaters. Within minutes, we had so many people offering their heaters. Brian got home with food, and I sent him right back out to collect heaters. We turned our upstairs fireplace on as well. We borrowed 3 other heaters and quickly got Rachel & Michael's room warm enough. I pulled Michael and Gabe out of the tub/sauna and helped them into jammies. We ate pizza, and then the three kids went to bed. Brian and I piled blankets on and watched TV until the thermostat was finally where it was supposed to be. Then we turned off all the space heaters and went to bed. We were so grateful for the quick response of our neighbors--one even offered to let us come sleep in her basement--and we were so grateful that we didn't have any frozen pipes. The Lord was really looking out for us--again.
We hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas. And if you didn't get our Christmas card, we're sorry about that. Here's a digital version:
