Christmas Celebrations!

Well, here we are. It's almost May and I'm finally getting around to chronicling our Christmas vacation. We drove 12 hours to Portland, Oregon to visit my side of the family. It was one of the most relaxing vacations I've had in a long time. There was plenty of time for Thomas to take naps and for us to rest on the couch visiting. Don't be deceived. I enjoy playing hard with the best of them, but this time around everything was at a much slower pace.

We started by driving 6 hours to Boise where Ammon's sister lives. We stayed there for the night and then we were on our way. And here is a plug for Thomas. He didn't get out of the car once and only started fussing about half an hour before we got to Mona's house. The rest of the time he was easily entertained and soothed. Oh boy have we been blessed with an amazing child! The next day we ran into a little snow in the mountains, but nothing we would have needed to get chains out for. Thomas was just as calm as the day before, making the trip almost pleasant (some areas of Idaho and Oregon aren't the best to look at.)

When we got there we went straight to the Schneider family Christmas party. I chatted with a whole bunch of people I hadn't seen in years. Tommy enjoyed the singing part and the watching little kids part. That evening we went to the temple to do some family names I had researched. It was really neat doing work for those I knew a little more about. The feeling of appreciation was much more powerful.

The next couple days were relaxed. We spent most of it at Dad's house chatting, eating, watching movies, and puking. That's right, Ammon got sick with a 24 hour bug and stayed home from church on Sunday. Later that evening, Tommy started puking. And then as I was cleaning up the mess my family had made, I started hurling. I'm still not sure if that was because of the bug or morning sickness. I definitely didn't feel as retched as Ammon looked. Either way, it was a good thing that we didn't have anything too busy planned. We stayed home and rested so that by the time all of my sisters showed up we were well and they didn't catch whatever we had.

Christmas Eve, there was a party at my Nana and Grandpaw's house. Again I got to see a ton of people I hadn't seen in a long time. There was good food, good games, and good people. Nothing more I could have asked for.

Christmas was a Wednesday. I asked my dad Tuesday night if they had gotten anything for stockings. He said, "no," so I told him what I had planned for my little family and got down to work. Well, come Christmas morning there were a whole bunch of things in our stockings that I hadn't put there. I must still be a little girl to my dad, that he feels he has to be secretive about Santa and stay up later than me to do anything about it. Oh well, it's just one more thing I can chuckle about.

For Christmas, Thomas got lots of noisy toys. Oh, those wonderful, doting grandparents! We showed him how to open presents, but after each one he wanted to play with them. It took a while to finish with his gifts. Well worth the wait, though. He is so fun to watch.

Kylynn was there with us before Christmas. Ann, Melissa, Zack, Mara, and Michelle showed up the next day. We got right down to visiting, laughing, and playing games. It was wonderful having all of them in the same room. It has been too long.

One thing I have to mention. Ann has the monopoly on baby holding and cuddling. They just seem to like it when she holds them. Mara was with her at least 50% of the time while there. Well, not so with my little boy. Michelle was definitely the winner of little Tommy's heart. He loved being held by her and playing with her. He would lean over and reach for Michelle when Ann was holding him. He even did this a couple of times when I was holding him. Such a cutie!

One of the days we were there we went to Portland. We ate at the food carts, rode a tram that goes over part of the city, and visited a huge bookstore.

It all ended too soon. Before we knew it we were headed back to Boise and then on to home. I had a great time and can't wait to see them all again, come September.

Sorry for the lack of photos. We took a grand total of three while we were there.