The Holidays...Take 1!

Oh my, how time flies! I am planning to somehow fit 2 weeks worth of fun and excitement into 2 posts. I'll go chronologically and start with our time in Ohio with Jen's family.

Yes, it all began with the infamous 21 hour drive (see previous post for details). Not the greatest of starts, but things only got better from there, THANKFULLY! We spent a full week at Shannon and Jason's house (Jen's sister and brother-in-law) and had non-stop fun.

Tuesday the kids were shocked to see our dear friends, Sara, Anna and Dayton Molendorp, arrive at Aunt Shannon's front door. Okay, they actually found them hiding in the living room, but they were surprised none-the-less. We got to spend a fun-filled day hanging out together and exchanging Christmas gifts. It was so wonderful to see the Molendorps (though we did miss Jon and Mike!) and I appreciated Sara making the 3+ hour drive and sacrificing a whole day around the busy holidays to join us.Mike and Mom arrived at the house Tuesday evening. We spent Wednesday hanging out and doing some last minute shopping. Mom, Shannon and I had a nice time wandering Target and sipping Starbucks together that day.

Thursday (Christmas Eve) we hung out at Jay and Kathy's house (Jason's parents) during the day, playing in the FREEZING COLD backyard on the zip line and tree house. Seth wasn't so sure about going down the zip line at first, but he eventually warmed up to the idea and loved it. Katey showed no fear from the beginning and couldn't get enough of it.

The adults had fun playing, too! Thanks to Jay, Mike and Jason for keeping the kids going for hours (I only lasted about 15 minutes in the cold). That evening we went to Erin and Puff's (Jason's sister and brother-in law) for dinner and to spend time with their family.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The kids were super excited to wake up and find notes and gifts from Santa and lots of gifts from Mom and Dad, Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents.

(This is the plate the kids left for Santa and the reindeer)This is my 16 month old niece, Aubrey, apparently trying to wait up to see Santa Clause with Daddy, Jason. Notice the time on the clock is 11:10 PM!! Unfortunately, sleep was not a priority for Aubrey while we were at her house.

This is my niece, Gabriella, feeling a little silly. :-)

(This is what Santa left the kids)

After the unwrapping festivities, we headed back to Jay and Kathy's house for brunch and Christmas day fun with the Collins family. Kathy had prepared a SPREAD and we stuffed ourselves on biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, fruit, homemade cinnamon rolls, and scrambled eggs. When we all were finally able to roll ourselves away from the table, the kids opened more presents. Jay and Kathy (and Aunt Cora) were very sweet to include gifts for our kids and Katey is loving her candy ring maker while Seth loves his new pirate ship!
Now, this sounds like a great day, right? But it isn't even half over yet! Next on the list was Survivor/Amazing Race for the grown-up kids - Shannon, Jason, Erin, Puff, Mike and Jen. Kathy planned out adventures for us in the house. Girls vs. boys and we had to play some pool (Jen ruled!), find the # of items in a room, play a round of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader", try some bizarre Norwegian spiked pudding (started out sweet but BURNED after it went down), sorted coins with gloves on and put on a talent show. I must say that the girls DOMINATED at this game, but the final round came down to luck and the boys won.
The last event of the day was the dice game. Instead of the adults exchanging gifts, the Collins family has a tradition of bringing small gifts, pre-wrapped, ranging from $1 to $20 in value. They play a dice game and everyone ends up with a varied # of gifts. When the game is done, everyone opens their treasures. Our big scores were a car washing kit and some $25 gift cards (Kathy likes to hide them in little gifts just for fun). Good times!

Our last event of the Ohio trip was spending Saturday at Grandma Brown's house with Jen's Dad and family. Grandma is an amazing cook and we all ooh and ahh and drool over her home-cookin'. This year did not disappoint (of course, no year ever has)! After we are all completely stuffed the kids open presents and the adults try to keep the chaos to a minimum, what with 10 kids running around! We had our share of crying, yelling, running, laughing, jumping and playing. Being with the cousins is always a fun time. It is especially fun for the grown-up cousins as we hadn't been all together for several years. We not only got to catch up with life in general, but Kim and Ron and I got to exchange "driving to Ohio on the I-77 WV turnpike on Saturday" stories. Bonus!

(Sorry, no pictures from then - I took my camera to Grandma's and never once pulled it out to use. Bad me!)

We headed home on Sunday - this time Jen made sure not to be in a car alone with the kids. I actually was with Mom the entire drive so we got to spend some nice time catching up and talking about our favorite (and not-so-favorite) parts of the trip.

Oh, and I can't let this post end without a big shout-out to my dad. As of December 26th he is officially a non-smoker for 2 weeks! He has smoked for 40 years. I am so proud of you, Dad! I know you can do it!!!