Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 will definitely go down in the books as one to remember. First thing in the morning I went to school with Lacey to have my very own viewing of the Grand Lunch, a performance they put on twice a year. Since we were leaving and Lacey didn't know, she still had the chance to perform. She sang her little heart out and was so adorable. That afternoon the little girls and I ran over to the school to watch Julia's Christmas Concert. She too sung her heart out. It was so fun watching both girls interact with their classmates and show me around. After Julia's concert she took us to her classroom and served us cookies and juice.  It was such a fun day. After school I had asked my neighbor to watch the little girls while Kevin and Julia were in Catch Kids, an afternoon exercise program. We all got home at the same time and much to our surprise, our elf, Christopher, had left us a note on the door telling us that Santa had come. Thankfully we caught the pure joy on our video camera and I also snapped a few pictures. Julia went running into the living room and screamed, "Santa, I LOVE YOU!!!" Kevin had a permanent look of shock and exhaustion on his face (we found out later that he had had a rotten day at school and was exhausted), Lacey and Elena didn't have a clue what was going on and were just along for the ride.
Santa delivered and each child got just what they were asking for. Minus Kevin, he asked for a baby brother, and sadly, it's not in the cards. But, I think he completely forgot when he opened his new iPad. He was elated and shocked!!  The "shock" didn't end there. The last present the kids opened had a piece of paper in it that said, "Jump in the Acadia, we are going to Idaho!"
Julia did the honors of reading to us and once it registered in her brain what she had read, she fell to her knees and screamed, "I love GRANNNNY!" Kevin looked at us with his jaw on the floor and said, 'No sir! Really?"  I then explained that the Acadia was all packed. We ran around in a flurry and put on everyone's pajamas and we were out the door by 5. Which was a serious record, considering we got home just a bit after 4. I drove the suburban to drop it off at the airport on our way out of town and Cody was in the Acadia. He called me about 20 minutes from the airport to tell me that the power steering (that we had replaced a few weeks before) had gone out. I told him to say a prayer because we were on our way. The kids settled down about half way through New York State and slept, only stirring when we stopped for gas, until about 6:50 am. I drank a little bit of a diet coke and was wired the whole night. Cody and I had a very good time chatting and it was actually a pleasant night. We drove the whole day on the 18th (Cody's birthday) and decided to quite a bit earlier than planned and stopped in Omaha Nebraska at 5 pm. Our hotel served dinner and breakfast and it was a perfect evening. We took a little swim, had build your own subs for dinner, and sang Cody, "Happy Birthday" with five Snicker Ice Cream Bars as his cake. The kids were passed out in record time and we all slept through the night and we were back on the road a few minutes after 7 the morning of the 19th. There was nothing exciting this day, except a 50-70 mph head wind. YUCK! Cody worked in the car and I drove a good portion of the day. We accidently missed our turn for Soda Springs, Idaho and added an extra hour to our trip going up through Utah, but we survived and pulled into my parents driveway about 10:45 pm. We had ten tons of fun and ran our kids' legs off. We made it to every family Christmas party, get together, and play date. We even managed to sneak out in the evenings a couple of times. We took our car to the Car Doctor the beginning of the week and found out that the entire power steering pump and line had to be redone. Thankfully it was covered under warranty. We also ended up replacing the Water Pump and getting an alignment. Did I mention, the morning after we got to Idaho, the dang car wouldn't even start. I think we ran her ragged. Once it was back from the car doctor we listed it for sell. It was a hot commodity. We ended up in a really good position and got exactly what we were asking, which was $2,000. more than we were asking in New Hampshire. Not to mention, it sold the last full day we were in Idaho. It was perfectly perfect, and could not have worked out better. It was so nice being able to spend time with our families. Experiences like this one are a true testament to us that we were doing what we needed to be doing and the Lord blessed us beyond measure. We had the opportunity to go out and visit both Dawson and Trevor Hudson's graves, and enjoyed some much needed time with our families. We had to drag our kids away kicking and screaming and they can hardly wait until June when Cody's family will be here. (My Mom is also coming in February, but I haven't told them, I can't take all the questions leading up to her arrival!)

This trip will definitely go down as a favorite. Thank you to our families for hosting us and entertaining us to the max!
We love you all! XOXO