On December 22, we loaded up and flew to Wisconsin to spend a week with my family to celebrate Christmas. Since my siblings, parents, and I all live in different states, it is always precious when we can all get together. We all arrived within a day and a half of each other. My parents got to enjoy the busyness of five mobile grandchildren ages three and under. It was fun watching the cousins play together and entertain each other. We had lots of cold weather, but that also included plenty of snow for the kids to enjoy, as well. It was fun watching the personalities of my niece and nephews come out more and more, too.
The first evening with all of us together, we had little birthday celebration for Kevin (whose birthday was in December), Andrew and Abi (whose birthdays are both January 22). I’m not sure Andrew had much of an opportunity to play with his new toy, but the other kids sure enjoyed it 
There was plenty of snow, so many went outside to play and shovel or un-shovel, and sled. My parents have a great, long hill in their backyard for sledding. My brother somehow managed to sled down the hill standing up, but Callie and Eli were very compliant sitting in the sled all the way down! Eli enjoyed showing Callie how to eat the snow, too. The weather was quite cold, so the kids didn’t spend too much time outside before needing to get warmed up inside, too. Andrew braved a sled ride, but we didn’t even try and bring Abi out since she his a good history of throwing tantrums when getting bundled up.
Despite the snow, we managed to make it to the candlelight Christmas Eve service. Just before we left home, Eli fell off a bathroom stool and busted his lip open. It hurt for him to eat and drink, so he was a little out of sorts. Poor kid. Neither of our kids lasted the whole service (we weren’t shocked). I brought Eli back in after the sermon. The church gave glow sticks to the kids instead of candles, which was a special treat that was played with all evening.
Somehow, we all managed to wait until Christmas morning to exchange gifts. We were all spoiled with LOTS of gifts. There were presents stacked half as tall as the Christmas tree, several feet out. The little kids did better than us big kids leaving the presents alone Eli scored some new games, matchbox cars, puzzles, and so much more. Abi is enjoying new dolls, a stroller, shopping cart, vacuum, lots of food for her kitchenette and more. Matt enjoyed some Wii chargers, tools, and lots of athletic clothes. I walked away with a new DVD player, garlic press, silicone whisk, muffin pan (okay, I’m feeling all grown up now!) and more! We packed all our suitcases to the maximum weight limit and still shipped a large box home.
After Christmas, Matt and I got a much needed escape from kids and headed out for a date one afternoon. We haven’t gotten out nearly enough for dates since Abi’s birth. We visited the highlights of Monroe and simply enjoyed the freedom of just being us! We were thankful to my parents and siblings for watching the kids!
My brothers and their families had to maneuver through some very icy and snowy weather on their way home. Despite the fact they went south and we headed north to the airport, we somehow had much better roads. We found out after checking in at our gate that our flight was overbooked by 10 seats. With Matt’s job done at Focus, there was no reason for us to be home that day. So we voluntarily gave up our seats. In return, the airline put us up in a nice hotel, provided us with meals, confirmed us on a flight the next day, and gave us three round-trip airline tickets. Score! It was a bit tricky doing this with small kids, but it was definitely worth it in the long run. It was an adventure, for sure!
(Eli showing Tycen how to drive Grandma’s scooter. I think Eli will have no problem helping Tycen get in trouble during future visits)
