Christmas - Part Two - Iowa!!

My wonderful husband finally got sick of all of my begging and pleading and pouting and we made it work (sort of last minute) to go to my parent's house for Christmas. We had a wonderful time and were reminded of all the reasons we love Iowa. The only sad part was that while were the there, the weather was super mild and we didn't get to see a single spec of snow! :) We did get to see a lot of my family though, so it was so so worth the craziness of a trip with three young kids.

I was still in that feeling sick and crummy all the time stage while we were there, so I didn't take very many pics of the fun things we did.....like the Nativity with the awesome costumes my mom made just for my kids, the fun meals we had, going with Grandpa to the park, movies out, playing on my parent's playground in their yard, throwing balls for the dogs, crafts, bowling, etc. Soooooo, I am waiting for my brother to send me all the ones he took. For now, these will do....I'll add more later.

Riding in the shuttle from the parking to the airport early Christmas Eve morning. The kids were so excited!

Christmas morning. Rebekah was so excited about all of her gifts! We don't get much for our kids, but when you have Christmas with this many people, you get a few more gifts. :) 

Kaitlyn was bored of present opening after about 15 minutes. She was happy with some snacks. 

I do think this was her favorite gift. A set of princesses that she can dress up.

You can't tell from this photo, but Alex was in heaven the entire time.

One of the highlights of our trip was having the Courtrights and the Hachtmans drive up from Iowa City to hang out with us for a few hours. I remembered the camera while the Courtrights were there, but didn't get it back out by the time the Hachtmans joined us. Sad. I wish I had gotten a big group photo. It does get pretty insane when you have 6 adults and 9 children 5 and under running around though. :)

I hope our kids always stay friends. It was so fun to see how ECSTATIC Alex and Alex were to see each other. It was like they had never been apart. From the second they pulled into the driveway, they were off and running. 

And my Nicole. Really, I think I have 7 sisters instead of 6. After being next door neighbors for 3 years, constantly borrowing things and loaning things, talking endlessly while our kids played, crying together, laughing together, hearing each others kids jumping and running through the walls, breaking up fights, talking and laughing some more....it doesn't get a whole lot closer to being real sisters than that. I wish we could always be neighbors. 

Watching an episode of Zaboomafoo. Enthralled.

One of Alex's favorite things in the world is Taekwon Do, so when I told him Uncle Nathan was a black belt, he really wanted to practice with him while we were there. They only did it once, but I am just happy they did it! Nate was a really good sport. It is a whole different ball game trying to teach martial arts to a 5 year old. 

The kids happiest moments are always getting one on one time with their grandparents. Rebekah adores her grandmas.....truly adores them.

I think one of the most meaningful gifts we got this year was a gift from Uncle Tim (my sister's husband) to Alex. Tim drew Alex's name for the gift exchange and you could tell he really wanted to do something special for Alex. Tim got Alex a real tool bag with real tools, some nails, and some wooden boards to practice his hammering. It was a gift he gave to his little brother when his brother was 5. It came with a beautiful note telling Alex about how the manger that Baby Jesus was laid in after his birth. I couldn't even read the note without getting all teary. Thank you Tim. This is such a special gift and he definitely loves practicing his hammering! :)

Who me?

Another favorite about being at Grandpa and Grandma's is the woods and the river down the hill from their house. My brother Nate brought his Australian Shepherd on the trip and the kids were in heaven running around the woods and on the beach, throwing sticks for Boots, and finding pebbles.

Boots makes me want an Australian Shepherd. He is the BEST dog and he tolerated so much loving and chasing and pulling from my kids. Alex is in love with him and still talks about him often. 

I caught on camera Alex inspecting Boot's paws. He just thought they were so interesting....and Boots just laid there and enjoyed the attention. 

 

My mom made the mistake of telling Alex she was afraid of snakes and that if he ever gets one she is NOT coming to visit. She was joking about the visiting part, but he took her very seriously and so took it upon himself to hold one saying, "Grandma, they aren't even slimy. How do you know if they are scary if you have never even tried to hold one?" Soooo, off we went to PetSmart to help Grandma get over her fear of snakes. Here she is holding a baby Ball Python. This is the kind of snake that Alex really wants. Way to go Grandma!! I asked her later if her opinion of snakes has changed...she said, "Well, I still can't say that I like them, but it was kind of neat to hold one. They are sooooo soft!"

You can't see it because it is curled up so tightly, but Rebekah is holding a little Ball Python here. She loves snakes too!

Here, Alex is holding a Corn Snake. The coloring of this one isn't as pretty as the orange and yellow ones, but these corn snakes are much more skittish than the ball pythons and harder to hold because they are so fast. Alex handled him really well though. 

Anyway, we did a whole bunch of other fun things while we were there, but again, no pics. :) The worst part was getting home without Joseph's help. I think I was so desperate to get home for Christmas this year that the whole flying home with three kids by myself while nauseous and pregnant didn't even cross my mind. It was hard, but we made it alive. The funny part is that the kids were pretty well behaved the entire time (especially for having driven 2 1/2 hours to the airport, following by 1 1/2 hours in the airport, following by a 4 1/2 hour flight) until we got to the Phoenix airport and Daddy arrived. Then....well, let's just say EVERYONE knew we were there. Actually, all the staring got so annoying after awhile that I actually said to a group of navy guys, "Take a picture it will last longer!" Dude! Don't stare....HELP! :) And on that note.....