So next thing you know, we're in Georgia! It was a balmy 60 degrees, which was very nice. Only my mom knew we were coming, so we were able to have a lot of fun surprising the rest of our family. We went to my Grandmother's house and just barged in the front door. We tracked down Chris' sister Shannon in Target and snuck up on her -- I wish I had taken the camera to get a picture of her face when she walked around the corner and saw Chris standing there! Later we drove out to his mom's and barged in on her as well. That was really a lot of fun.
We had a busy few days. Bradley's birthday was Sunday, so we had a big birthday party for him at mom's. The house was packed with relatives; surprisingly the neighbors did not call the cops. It was wild but lots of fun!
Bradley about to blow out his candles! What a big 5 year old! How time flies! He's growing up so fast and never ceases to amaze me with what he knows. Unlike his older brother, he has not wanted me to teach him to read, but finally in the past few months he's picking that up like lightning. He's very smart in a quieter way, which is great. It is so funny to see how different siblings can be.
Lindsey being shy with Pa (Chris' dad). She had to re-get to know everyone.
Chris goofs off with his mom, sister (Aimee), and brother-in-law (Bill).
Now the good part -- opening gifts! A little cash from Granny!
Surrounded by cousins -- he was in hog heaven!
Christmas Eve day we celebrated with Chris' family, since Pa had to work on Christmas Day. Lindsey was quite happy with her new tea (hot chocolate) set.
Chris made Harry Potter wands for all 3 of our kids. They couldn't believe it. They are really cool -- he did an amazing job crafting them -- but I know someone's gonna lose an eye!
Back at Marmee's, they opened their tradional Christmas Eve jammies -- I was so exhausted and out of it that I didn't manage to get a photo of all 3 of them in thier new duds. But here's Lindsey in hers. She's about to open a new copy of "T'was the Night Before Christmas" from my good friend Katie.
Finally, Christmas morning! Would you believe these kids were so tired and so off schedule that we had to wake them up! And it wasn't easy! By 10 in the morning they were still conked, and Marmee couldn't take the suspense any longer! So we wrestled them up. Nathaniel went straight for the Wii games.
Bradley got a cool laptop from Santa.
Lindsey was very excited to see that Santa left her a new Cabbage Patch baby, and she had that thing stripped in no time!
Nathaniel and Bradley received Heelys from Uncle Josh and Aunt Karol -- Nathaniel was so happy, as he's been begging for them for at least a year!
He also got this cool remote control dragonfly. Looks like fun!
Thursday Chris took the kids back out to the farm while I did all the laundry and packing for our trip home. Bradley had been having a fit to get on a horse, and finally he got the chance, with a little help from Two-E. This picture cracks me up, with Lindsey peeking around her brother.
Pa lends a hand to this most handsome of cowboys.
While no one was looking, Lindsey got into Two-E's makeup and drew herself a giant unibrow. You can see she was none too happy about being caught.
Here's the little dare-devil sliding down the pole at the firestation where Pa works.
Last few hours on the farm. Bradley says hello to the pig.
Bradley and his cousin, Kyle. Two good-looking farm hands.
Lindsey with cousin Kaitlyn. Best buddies.
My nephew Nick got -- of all things -- a baby bull for Christmas. (Only in GA!) Here Lindsey and Nathaniel take their turns feeding him milk from a giant bottle.
Well, that's our trip. It was wild and crazy, but so much fun. I'm so thankful to mom for making it possible, for giving us the opportunity to spend this special holiday with loved ones. For letting us take over and dirty up her house for the week. For letting us have the noisiest birthday party in history there as well! It means so much that she wanted us there enough to make the sacrifices she made. I love you, mom!
I remember sitting here on Thanksgiving Day, longing to be with my family, and who would have guessed that by Christmas I would be with them! It was just like I dreamed -- Granny's dressing and tons of delicious food! Uncles sitting in front of the TV watching football. The Aunts buzzing around the kitchen. Then we sat around together playing board games -- my favorite part! The only negative was missing the many family members who were unable to be there; there were several who couldn't come who we missed very much.
We were also able to visit the cemetery where Adam and my Grandfather are buried. It was hard for me, extremely hard. But I was strengthened by the spirit of Christmas, the knowledge that our Savior came to earth to save us all and to give us eternal life. I'm so happy for a sure knowledge that I will see Adam and Grandpa again, as well as all those who we must spend time separtated from during this life. I'm thankful for Christmas as a time for reassurance of those wonderful blessings.
Thanks to a wonderful family for a wonderful experience!
