One of the hardest things about being all the way out here in Cleveland, is that we are so very far away from our families. One of my favorite things growing up, was getting together at my grandparents house for holidays so that we could see all our cousins and celebrate together. As we got older and started having kids of our own that happened less and less; but then we started getting together with our siblings and their kids and started our own traditions. Then everyone started moving away. In the 7 years that we have been away, we have only been with family on Christmas twice before. That has been hard for me, but it has also allowed us to have our own little family traditions. This year my oldest brother and his family had moved to Alabama, a lot closer than they had been before, and they decided to come up and spend Christmas with us!! I can not even tell you how wonderful it was to have them here!!!! I had been on bed rest for a month and I was getting so depressed and frustrated. When my brother told me they were coming, I literally started crying I was so excited and happy!! And let me tell you, the visit did NOT disappoint!!! We ALL had SO MUCH fun, my kids are STILL talking about what a great visit it was!! The two weeks went by WAY too fast for us! They got here Saturday night, after driving 16 1/2 hours straight. Sunday we went to church and then went over to the Historic Kirtland visitors center to see the nativity display. They had a fun room for the kids to dress up in and Ben got this picture of them all, minus the two littlest ones.
Christmas Eve was filled with good food, fun and of course the opening of one present, which is usually pj's or something of that sort. Ben and Angela's kids got slippers which was great because it was COLD when they were here!
The kids were so excited they could hardly sleep! They all got to sleep together and that made it even more fun!
We held my parents tradition of waking the kids up early to the sound of bells and then Christmas music.
After Christmas, the weather got nice for a day in between storms, and we headed over to Kirtland to see the Temple and the other church history sites. I just love seeing these cousins together!!
All of us on the steps of the Kirtland Temple.
Kids at the Whitney Store
Inside the store listening to the missionaries.
Emily and Evie had so much fun together! I had worried how Evie would do with another kid her age, lets face it Evie has been pretty spoiled, but she did pretty good and was really sad when her little buddy left her.
Meal times with all these kids was always interesting, but so much fun!
They had so much fun!
We even had some major snow while they were here, and Ben and Nate took all the kids sledding. (They are brave and awesome for doing that!!) The snow was pretty but the temperatures got into the -20's at times so it was dry and didn't pack well. That didn't stop the kids from trying though!!
This vacation will go down as one of the best ever! We all had so much fun and Angela was a LIFE SAVOR! She cooked, cleaned, entertained, and it was so nice not to have to worry! Having both Ben and Angela here really helped me and lifted my spirits and I don't think they will ever know just how much there visit meant to all of us!! THANKS guys for coming and making this Christmas one to remember!!!
2 comments:
Thank you SO much Andrea! We had SUCH a good time and I hope we can repeat the fun together this summer!
So exciting to see your family and how loving and doting the kids are on their new baby sister. I am so glad to hear that things are going well and that everything has worked out for the best with your darling little baby Nora. Love to you and the family.
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