Our Christmas Drama

Well, Christmas didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, but we have so much to be thankful for! Thursday afternoon my mother-in-law arrived from Wisconsin for the holiday, and we were all so excited, making plans for the next few days to visit Santa at the Bass Pro Shop, drive around and look at Christmas lights, and view the live nativity at the local zoo. As it turned out though, Thursday night I was admitted to the hospital in severe abdominal pain. By the end of the night, the doctors had decided that I needed to have my gall bladder removed, due to several gallstones that had blocked my duct and caused a nasty case of infection. After doses of IV antibiotics, the surgeon took my gallbladder out yesterday (Christmas Eve), and I was thankfully able to get home just in time to open presents mid-morning (on Christmas day) with the kids.

While it wasn't exactly the Christmas I had planned. My mother-in-law has been a HUGE help and a trooper helping take care of the kids and cook most of Christmas dinner by herself. I am so thankful that I was able to make it home Christmas morning to be with my family! I had some sad little children, whose faces lit up with joy at the sight of mommy coming through the door just in time to open presents!

Hope you and your families had a fabulous holiday!!

Our Thanksgiving Holiday - The Rest of the Story

So after visiting my parents in Tennessee, we headed to Indiana where we celebrated a birthday with my cousin's stepson, helped my Nanny decorate for the holidays, visited with the Stults, saw our first snow of the season, and baked Christmas cookies! We didn't have much time, but we crammed as much fun as we could in what time we had!

Lunch at the Stults - Caitlyn and Issac

John David and Sam

Kylie and Gracie

Cutie Patootie Micah

Birthday Fun with Joey

I think Luke thought the new scooter was for him! :)

Todd, Jeremy, and Uncle Mike - talking guy talk

Tami and Rocky

Just the girls - Me, Tami, Angie, Vicki, and Lacy

It's Snowing - You can't really see it, but it is... I promise!

Kylie thought Nanny's old fashioned crank cookie press was pretty cool.

Yummy cookies!

More cookies!

Thank you Nanny!

Lastly it was off to Ohio, where we visited with two of my aunts and uncles, one of which we hadn't seen since Kylie was a newborn!

Uncle Mike and Mary Lu

The kids and Kramer

We were definitely happy to be home when we returned, but are looking forward to the next visit!

Our Thanksgiving Holiday

I have been so busy with all the holiday hoopla, that I totally forgot to tell you all about our fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. You may not remember, but we were out of town for several days, and visited family in three different states.

First stop was Tennessee, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents and siblings, as well as their spouses, and my niece and nephew. It was a full house, but we started the trip off with a bang when all the adults went to a NHL hockey game in Nashville for a grown-ups only night out. It's something we've never done before, and I think we all appreciated the fun without the kids! :) My brother and brother-in-law got an extra bonus at the game when they were picked for an on-ice game in between periods. They had to race across the ice in these inflatable hamster balls. It was hilarious! Go Preds!

Thanksgiving day it was evident there was a storm blowing in and the wind was blustery. My dad had a great idea to go to a nearby Dollar General and pick up kites to fly with the kids, After checking to make sure they were even open, my brother ran over to pick up several kites, and experienced his own Thanksgiving miracle! The kits all rang up for only $0.01 each! We had lots of fun flying the kites, and surprisingly John David did better than anyone, including the adults.

There were kites everywhere!

Looks like Aunt Rea and Aunt Crystal were strugglin'. :D

Look at John David go!

Poppy helping Kylie get her kite in the air

The cousins

Want some pie with that Cool Whip?

Hi Poppy!

Uncle Drew and Aunt Crystal

Aunt Rea and Uncle Clay

Before we left to head to Indiana, the kids and Jeremy and I celebrated Christmas with my parents, since we will be at home this Christmas. The kiddos got some really great gifts, including a Handy Manny that talks for Luke, and they were very surprised and excited. Thank you Grandma and Poppy!

While we were at my parents' house, the kids discovered an old Light Brite in the upstairs closet. They thought this was the best toy ever!

Soon we were off to Indiana, and I'll tell you all about that tomorrow! :)