A Christmas to Remember

Our Christmas went exactly according to plan--the following plan:
(All times approximate.)

December 22
7:00 p.m.: Kick-off Christmas early during Family Home Evening with the nativity play at Megan's parents starring Kaitlyn as Mary, Alison as a wise man/person, Michael as narrator, Grant as Joseph, Gavin as a wise man/person, and Kaitlyn's doll as the baby Jesus. In this version of the story, make sure Mary takes the baby with her to Bethlehem because she won't let go of the baby doll. (Note the pensive Mary.)

December 23
7:30 a.m.: Celebrate Christmas early as a family. (Ensure only gifts that are larger than a suitcase are given--despite the certain resulting inquiries from the children: "Didn't I ask Santa for this? Will he know that you already got it for me? Will I get two of these?")

December 24
4:00 a.m.: Wake-up. Get ready. Load the suit cases in the car (including a mostly empty one--hopefully Santa got the message that we wouldn't be able to take--er, bring back--gifts exceeding a certain size).

11:30 a.m.: Arrive in Utah. Discover that Grandmother has the stomach flu. Cancel plans to visit her. Quickly make alternate plans to visit Megan's sister's family for a few hours in the afternoon.

3:00 p.m.: Enjoy a wonderful (yet brief) visit with Nathan, Melissa, Maddy, Jenna, Holly, Bonnie, Benjamin, Amy, Ammon, a new house, and about 2 feet of recent snow.

7:00 p.m.: Arrive at my Grandpa's house and enjoy a wonderful reuniting with my family. Explain to them that the white stuff on the ground outside is called "snow." They don't have it in Arizona.


11:00 p.m.: Finish with the final preparations for Christmas and go to bed, exhausted.

1:00 a.m.: Notice that the space heaters aren't on and that the room is getting cold. Head out to the garage to find the breaker box to flip the circuits back on so the heaters will work.

December 25
6:15 a.m.: Talk to brother on mission in Taiwan.

8:00 a.m.: Feel two excited daughters (and one slightly confused son) waking us up again. Race upstairs (in a controlled manner so that we can appropriately take pictures and video record) to see if Santa came.

8:01 a.m.: Tear through presents as quickly as possible, sparing as little time as possible for such things as reading cards, obligatory thank you hugs and cleaning up shredded wrapping paper and packaging. Wear whatever can be worn.


10:00 a.m.: Watch Josh propose marriage to my sister Michelle while we all watch, in awe and surprise, and as Mary Lee videotapes the entire thing. (Congratulations Michelle and Josh! We love you guys!)

3:00 p.m.: Visit Grandmother--stomach flu or not. Spread Christmas cheer.

5:00 p.m.: Leave to drive up to Idaho.

5:15 p.m.: Try to stop for a quick bite to eat since we probably won't make it up to Idaho in time for Christmas dinner with Dad's family.

5:16 p.m.: Realize that there is nothing open anywhere in the entire Salt Lake valley because it's Christmas Day.

6:15 p.m.: Make it as far as Bountiful before being caught in a Christmas blizzard obscuring the lines on the road (and dumping several inches of snow within an hour). Turn around to make our way back to Grandpa's house at 20 MPH. Make sure the blizzard enworsens as each 15 minutes passes.

7:15 p.m.: Try to drive up the hill to get to Grandpa's house. Go nowhere. Slide back down the hill. Wonder how you're going to get home. Drive to grocery store parking lot to await Grandpa's return (with his 4-wheel drive vehicle).

7:30 p.m.: Attempt an alternate route to Grandpa's house. Make some progress. Then, hit a steeper hill and go nowhere. Slide back down the hill.

7:35 p.m.: Switch drivers.

7:45 p.m.: Watch Dad attempt to drive up the steeper hill only to go nowhere, rotate 180 degrees and then slide into a snow bank.

8:10 p.m.: Finish digging car out of snow bank with the assistance of shovels owned by the people whose snow bank you slide into as well as two mystery strangers who see your predicament.

8:15 p.m.: Park rental car back at the grocery store parking lot. Switch luggage, car seats and children to Dad's car assuming it will make it since they were successfully able to get to the house while you waited at the parking lot at 7:15 p.m.

8:16 p.m.: Kaitlyn says she is about to have an accident in the car--she can't hold it. Nothing is open. Pull Kaitlyn out of the car and tell her to go right there. Watch Kaitlyn freak out and say she can't go.

8:17 p.m.: Put Kaitlyn back in the car. Kaitlyn again says she is about to have an accident in the car--she can't hold it. Did I mention nothing is open? Pull Kaitlyn out of the car and tell her to go right there. Watch Kaitlyn freak out and say she can't go.

8:18 p.m.: Put Kaitlyn back into the car. By this time Kaitlyn should be hysterical and say she is about to throw up. Pull Kaitlyn out of the car and help her get in control of herself. Successfully avoid all accidents.

8:18:30 p.m.: Make sure all dependents gently and patiently remind you that they are starving and sweetly ask when they will eat again.

8:19 p.m.: Remain calm.

8:20 p.m.: Send Megan and the kids with Dad and wait in the rental car in the parking lot for him to return and shuttle you up to the house as well.

8:29 p.m.: Get picked up by Grandpa in his 4-wheel drive and head back up to his house.

8:35 p.m.: Drive past some poor saps in a sedan sliding down the hill in a non-4-wheel drive vehicle. Realize it's Dad and the kids and that they haven't been able to get up the hill. Turn around and meet them back in the grocery store parking lot.

8:59 p.m.: Switch luggage, car seats and children into Grandpa's 4-wheel drive and send them home. (They make it!)

9:00 p.m.: Try yet another alternate route in Dad's car and finally make it back to Grandpa's house.

9:51 p.m.: Make sure Megan and the kids are OK as well as fed. (They are all content.)

10:03 p.m.: Eat.

1:00 a.m.: Notice that the space heaters aren't on and that the room is getting cold. Head out to the garage to find the breaker box to flip the circuits back on so the heaters will work.

December 26
12:00 p.m.: Refuse to drive the rental car in the snow anymore. Borrow uncle's Honda CRV for trip to Idaho. Drive to Idaho in 5.5 hours (normal duration: 3.75 hours) due to icy road conditions. Be grateful for CRV.

8:00 p.m.: Have a wonderful time with family getting all of the dirt on how each couple met, got engaged, and got grilled by Grandma and Grandpa.

December 27
10:00 a.m.: Celebrate Christmas with Dad's side of the family.


10:15 a.m.: Start celebrating Kaitlyn's birthday.

11:00 a.m.: Get nice 4-generation picture of Max with his Dad (Nathan) with his Dad with his Dad (also named Max); there's 4 good looking gentlemen.

11:00 p.m: Play games and set up Grandpa and Grandma's new flat-screen TV.

December 28
9:00 a.m.: Attend Grandpa and Grandma's ward.

12:15 p.m.: Help push Grandpa and Grandma's car out of the snow so we can leave church.

1:00 p.m.: Get family pictures taken with Dad and Mary Lee's nice new SLR camera--the kind Megan wanted for Christmas.

2:00 p.m.: Drive back to Utah.

5:00 p.m.: Have Max throw up in the car just minutes after leaving Malad for a restroom break. Make sure that the next exit is no fewer than 27 miles away.

5:15 p.m.: Have Max throw up again for good measure.

December 29
Spend a wonderful day with all of our Utah friends. Play Wii. Play Giant Killer Spoons. Eat junk food. Stay up late. Send wives on shopping trip to Gap, Shade, Christmas Wrapping Paper Clearance Outlet Express, and to other feminine stores. Ensure husbands go to Best Buy to check out big TV's and Dick's Sporting Goods to hit golf balls (since the courses are all closed for the winter).

December 30
9:30 a.m.: Get family pictures taken professionally.

11:00 a.m.: Go out to breakfast at Magelby's Fresh. Order endless waffles and overeat.

12:30 a.m.: Leave to return to Grandpa's house. The day should be beautiful and sunny. (It is.)

1:00 p.m.: Get rear-ended in rental car on the freeway in stop-and-go traffic. Ensure that you are hit at 30+ MPH so you can be sandwiched between the Mitsubishi that hits you and a Chevy SUV in front of you.

(The car that hit us:)

(The car we hit:)

1:05 p.m.: Be grateful that no one is seriously injured and that the EMT's respond quickly.

4:30 p.m.: Finish with police reports, auto-towing, insurance calls, pick up kids from sister's house (since they are able to come take the kids from the side of freeway back to their house while you deal with everything else--thanks Bryan for picking them up; you guys earned your place in our will!), and get new rental car.

7:00 p.m.: Go to Build-a-Bear-Workshop with Dad, Mary Lee, Camille and Michelle to celebrate Kaitlyn's birthday.

December 31

1:00 a.m.: Notice that the space heaters aren't on and that the room is getting cold. Head out to the garage to find the breaker box to flip the circuits back on so the heaters will work.

3:00 a.m.: Wake up. Get ready. Load car. Wonder how you're going to get all this stuff on the plane as carry-ons because you don't want to have to pay $15 to check each bag.

5:45 a.m.: Catch flight home.

1:00 p.m.: Arrive home.

7:00 p.m.: Be grateful that Megan's parents have a New Year's Eve Party for the grandkids. Celebrate New Year's early while dropping off the kids. Make sure Ali says, "Mom...you can come in, but once the party starts you have to leave."

9:00 p.m.: Update the budget from everything spent on the trip, and go to bed. Exhausted.

Phew. I need a vacation.

A Little Conversation with Alison

Today during Sacrament Meeting--

Alison: Mom, what is this thing on top of the 12 cows/oxen/animals?

Megan: That's a baptismal font from the temple. Everyone has to be baptized to live with Heavenly Father again, but some people don't get the chance to get baptized in this life. So, we go to the temple to be baptized for them and then they can choose if they want to accept that baptism or not.

Alison: So, it's like we're doing their homework for them?

Rejected Family Christmas Photos

Getting just the right family photo to send out with Christmas cards is no easy task with 2 non-grade school aged children at home in addition to 1 curmudgeonly father. Let's take a look at some of the pics and see if you can guess why they didn't make the cut:

Take 1:

• Nathan is angry for some reason.
• Family is missing.

Take 2:

• People in picture: 5.
• Chins in picture: More than 5.

Take 3:

• Kaitlyn fighting the power.
• Ball in mid-air that Max threw.

Take 4:

• Where'd Max go?

Take 5:

• Where'd the kids go? That's who people really want to see in the Christmas card anyway.

Take 6:

• When Max is finally looking at the camera, neither of the girls are.

Take 7:

• See no evil.
• Hear no evil.
• Speak no evil.

Take 8:

• Megan lobbied unsuccessfully for this one as the final. Where are those good-looking parents (or at least the good-looking mom)?

Take 9:

• Getting closer...but where is the top of Nathan's head? (Although that's about all the hair he actually has.)

Take 10:

• Fish lips.
• Licking lips.

Take 11 (actually it was take 66):

• Winner!

Phew! Fortunately we don't have to repeat this experience for another 12 months.

Family Reunion and Thanksgiving All Rolled Into One

It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The first of two days en route to Disneyworld, Florida. We had been on the road for maybe 6 or 7 hours when Ali yelled those words that every parent loves to hear when miles from a rest stop: "Kaitlyn's throwing up!" Fortunately, we were able to stop shortly and get her cleaned up and changed into her pajamas; she was good the rest of the day.

Sunday we attended church in Macon and then continued on our way to the self-proclaimed "happiest place on earth." (I personally dispute this claim. Have you seen our music room in the basement?)

Monday morning (read: early in the morning), I was awakened by Ali's gentle shaking of my shoulder. At first I was expecting her unbridled enthusiasm to get to Magic Kingdom that day as planned. Unfortunately, however, she informed me that her stomach hurt. As I became more fully awake, I realized my own stomach hurt as well. Somehow Ali and I acquired a 24-hour flu bug and spent the day lying in bed at the condo watching hours of Disney Channel on end. Megan took Kaitlyn and Max to Magic Kingdom anyway and tagged along with her sister and their family.



That evening, as Ali and I began to turn the corner and recover at home, Megan, Kaitlyn and Max were turning a corner on the monorail when Max shared his pre-consumed dinner with Megan's sister's blouse, an unknown woman next to her and the floor.

If you ever want to feel ostracized a pretty good way to do it is by contracting a flu while on an extended-family vacation.

Miraculously, Tuesday we were all fine and spent an enjoyable day at MGM/Hollywood Studios. The girls (a.k.a. Megan) loved watching the "High School Musical 3" parade. Kaitlyn enjoyed a nice handful of ice cream. And, Ali loved meeting the characters of "Bolt"--even though we haven't seen the movie yet. Max enjoyed drooling on my shoulder.


Wednesday, the first official day of the family reunion, we returned to Magic Kingdom--hoping it would be a bit more magical than Monday. Kaitlyn loved her uncle Michael. Ali did too. Unfortunately, neither of them loved Mickey's Philharmagic, the 3-D movie. (Kaitlyn refused to even go into the theater and, according to Ali, "Stuff isn't supposed to come out of the screen at you. It's supposed to stay on the screen!") I believe this was the first day we heard the request, "Can we leave Disneyworld early to go back to the hotel and swim with our cousins?" We did manage to enjoy Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And, what's Magic Kingdom without It's a Small World and Buzz Lightyear's Laser ride thing?



Thursday. Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time paying tolls to get down to the beach along with 5,000 other drivers. Once we got there, we actually did a have a good time. Ali and Megan had a blast wave-jumping in the cool ocean. ("Mom, what ocean is this again?" Ali asked several times.) Kaitlyn enjoyed collecting shells on the beach as well as playing with cousins. Max enjoyed eating sand--which translated into some interesting diaper experiences for the next 3 days. We had turkey breasts cooking in crockpots while we were gone and had an excellent Thanksgiving meal that evening.


Friday. We wore our official red family reunion t-shirts listing things we were grateful for (one contribution per family): friends and family, Disney, football, the beach, and capitalism. (We got lots of comments from people in line next to us about the capitalism.) We spent the day at Animal Kingdom and were almost attacked by giant man-eating birds of prey. We also went on a safari, rode a really great roller coaster called "Expedition Everest" and saw the musical of Finding Nemo (a.k.a. people in tights running around on stage holding fish puppets) and witnessed a miraculous cloud formation.


Saturday. Driving home. While Megan and Ali ran into a mall to return some items to Gap, I called Megan with those favorite words: "Kaitlyn's throwing up!" True story.

October

This is Megan. I know Nathan always does the post, and everyone loves his creative and witty style, but I wanted to add some pictures and info that Nathan forgot to add in his previous post. SO...

We began early October with a trip to "Apple Works." We actually went twice--once with friends and once with family. The weather could not have been more perfect, and there were plenty of fun things to do with the kids. Then the kids had a few days off of school for "Fall Break," so we invited friends over for a Halloween Cookie Decorating Party. My main motivation for doing this was because I wanted to try out my new Pampered Chef Cookie Press (a fun gift from my sister who was trying to get rid of junk in her kitchen). But the dang cookie press was horrible-- it so did not work! But, I went ahead and made do with a pumpkin cookie cutter and an angel cookie cutter that I creatively made into a ghost:) The cookie party was a big hit--cookies, frosting, sprinkles, and friends--what could be better! We had about 20 adults/kids/babies at the party, and the only place I found frosting (besides the kitchen) was on my hall banister--not bad.

And, of course, we ended the month with Halloween. Well, not really, Nathan and I took off right before trick-or-treating began, but we got a few pictures of the kids. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking the kids out to get candy.

Kaitlyn was a BYU cheerleader...again. I think she's wore this outfit every year. She has a great princess costume that she was going to wear, but a few days before Halloween she found the cheerleadering outfit and I couldn't convince her of anything else. Oh well--Go Cougs!

Alison insisted on being a basketball player--her shirt says something about sports, so she wanted that as her jersey. Talk about the cheapest costume in the land!
And Max was our tiger! He was so stinkin' cute. It was hard taking a picture of him because he was running around. Nathan mentioned that Max was walking, but it's more of a slow run.

And, of course, I need to mention why we bailed on our kids' Halloween...we went on a fun trip to Charlottesville--by ourselves!!! It was such a blast hanging out with my hubby all weekend! I read a book, I got to carry-on my bags, and I didn't cook or clean for 2 whole days! We got to eat out with Cville friends and go to a football game, I even went to Relief Society! I told Nathan that we needed more weekend-get-aways like this:)

And my parents and sister and brother-in-law were FABULOUS for taking the kids; they even survived all of sacrament meeting without having to take any of the 7 kids out. Yeah!