Christmas Post

Enough procrastinating! Here's our blog entry for Christmas 2008. It might be long, so feel free to jump around the entry, just look at pictures, just comment about how long it was or whatever. I'm doing this entry to of course share with you all what we did, but mainly so we have a record of it.
Where do I even start...I'm dreading this...
Abby had her 1 year old vaccinations along with the chicken pox and flu vaccinations. To our surprise, we learned she was allergic to one of them. She broke out in an absolutely horrible rash and hives. When I took her to the doctor, the nurse was shocked to see how bad it was and even called her a "leopard". Great. We sure had a lot of stares that Sunday at church.


We were able to spend 3 weeks in Colorado and Idaho during the holidays! Dan worked from home some and he still had a good amount of vacation time left. It was awesome!


Our travels to Colorado were a nightmare! Our plane was to depart at 6:30am. We left for the airport at a decent time, but due to our luck, MA had a huge snowstorm and the roads were awful. We rented a car to the airport so we wouldn't have to make anyone take us at 4 am. We arrived at the airport and all was well. We waited in line to go through security which ended up being a total joke. The family behind us in the security line was flying out on the same plane as us. The minutes went by slowly. By 6:22, we finally were sending our stuff through the security check. Mckenzie, Abby and I went through security and waited for Dan. As I watched how slow everything was moving, I quickly grabbed the girls (I still hadn't put my shoes back on) and we ran down the terminal to see if there was a way to hold the plane for two families who were about to miss it. So, there I ran. Down the escalators, through 2 long corridors holding a 1 and 2 year old in my arms. At one point, I put Mckenzie down and tried to get her to run. Yea, you try getting a stubborn 2 year old to run at 6:28 am. In the spirit of Christmas, a wonderful man came up to me, grabbed Mckenzie and ran with us to the gate. I'm sure it's on some security video at the airport, but I'm glad I don't have a picture of it. We reached the gate and the representative said we missed it. The man (who carried Mckenzie) told the representative that he needed to do something for me and that it wasn't my fault since security was horrible. The representative replied "that's why we say to come to the airport early". UGH! Next to me, a young man stood trying to figure out what he was going to do since he missed his flight also. The representative told me he'd go and work something out. As I sat there waiting, I couldn't help but cry. I had just ran barefoot with two kids under the age of 3 through an airport to try and help two families make a flight home to spend Christmas with their families. Boy did I cry. The young man came over and started talking to me and Mckenzie. He had an incredible way of calming and comforting. After speaking with him for a moment, he said that he was on his way to serve a mission for his church. Yup, he was a brand new missionary heading for the the MTC and he missed his flight. I don't think that was a coincidence. That missionary has a gift; the gift of comforting and consoling. He'll be a great missionary! If I remember correctly, he's going to the Salt Lake South mission. So, if you're in that area, look for a missionary from Massachusetts and tell him hello from us. I know it's not a big thing that he did, but for a brief moment, my nerves were calmed and I knew it'd all work out. When Dan arrived at the gate, we realized that we had forgotten to leave the keys to the rental car. So, instead of paying $150 +, Dan ran back to Hertz and gave them the keys. By the time he got back, we were ready to board! I think back to our adventures in the airport and can't help but see the tender mercies of the Lord.

We finally arrived in Colorado and all was well. Before Christmas, we relaxed, Dan worked, finished shopping, got my haircut/colored, Abby had her FIRST haircut (no color), indoor skydiving (I need to get the pictures from my aunt) and we ate way too much good food.





As for Christmas Day, I didn't take many pictures from my camera, so when my mom sends me a cd copy of the pictures off her camera I'll post some. Christmas was fun. My aunt, uncle and cousins who live in California came for Christmas so it was great having everyone on my mom's side in one place for Christmas, except Max. My brother Max is serving a mission in Chile and we were able to talk to him that day. It was AWESOME. He's doing great and working hard. He's changed so much...for the better! We love him dearly! I'd post a picture of him, but he hasn't sent me any!!!

The next day, we flew up to Idaho to spend some time with Dan's family. Dan's brother Micah just got home from his mission and Jonathan is about to leave on his, so it was nice to see everyone together. Dan's family is BIG! So, one night we all went to the church and played.


We also went snowboarding at Targhee with Dan's brothers Jacob, Micah, Jonathan and our nephew David. It was a lot of fun, even if Jacob skied. We absolutely LOVE Targhee. In fact, it's where Dan proposed to me. We had great snow and a blue sky in the afternoon. Dan and I realized that we are getting old and are a bit rusty. Oh well, it made for a sore next day.
***I know there's a lot of pictures, guess I love Targhee too much***

Beautiful, huh?

Jonathan and Dan

This is near the place Dan proposed to me as I fell down the mountain (I have a post about that experience).

David and Jacob (Dan's nephew and brother)


I believe this was Jonathan.


I think this is Dan

Dan and Jessica relaxing on the lift

Jonathan and Micah (the one on the right is about to go on a mission and the one on the right just got home... anyone single?)

New Year's Eve was celebrated and Dan's brother Jacob's (that's also where we stayed while in Idaho...THANK YOU!). It was a lot of fun to spend it with the family. We played the Wii fit mostly. I put Mckenzie down to bed around 10 pm and thought I'd just take a little nap too. Yea, I was woken up by Dan at 11:58. Must have been exhausted. Oh well, I wasn't the only one...

Dan's brother Adam and two of his kids. I know one of them is Ellie, but I'm not sure which son that is.

We had lot's of yummy treats to eat!

The flight back to Colorado was an adventure. By the time we arrived, we had two incredibly bad diapers (with leaks) and a huge vomiting adventure. When we were packing up to get off the plane, the flight attendant started walking our way, then turned around walked to the other flight attendant and made a comment about how bad it smells. A bit embarrassing, but what all can I do on a plane?

The day after getting back to Colorado from Idaho, we went boarding with my brothers and sister to Keystone. They had received a good amount of snow and it was the perfect day! The backside of Keystone was sweet!

Spencer

Spencer and Lane. Lane wants to be the Burger King King

The rest of the trip was spent going to movies and relaxing at home while Dan worked. What a man! We had a great trip. It was wonderful to see so many of you. 3 weeks is a long time and although it was awesome, we're glad to be home.