Chirstmas vacation

Well our Christmas vacation started with a LONG day at the airport flying first from Monterey to LA then to Dallas and then finally landing in Wichita. Now that wouldn't have been so horrible if we didn't have 2 kids with us who 1. hate being held down to one spot 2. are still in diapers 3. doesn't nap well anywhere other than her crib, and 4. really HATE the landing part of flying because it hurts her ears. Oh and also we couldn't sit by each other because there are not enough oxygen masks in each row for two lap children, that also wouldn't have been as bad if we could have at least been put across the isle from each other but for the longest flight of the 3 we were actually 4 or 5 rows apart which was pretty annoying. On that flight I had one of the stewardesses tell me that she smells poopy diaper so I needed to change my child; Now don't you think that I would know if my child had pooped considering she was on my lap the whole time. Anyways, I got up and went to change Ellie (who was not poopy and the problem was that the bathroom (or an adult sitting near by, who know) was what stunk). I had to go up by Justin who had the diaper bag and as we were heading up the rows Elliette started blowing kisses to everyone cause she thought we were leaving. She wasn't exactly excited when we ended up going back to our seats. They both did really well considering though and Elliette only really cried while landing so that wasn't to bad.

While we were in KS we had a whole lot of fun with Justins family watching movies at the WORLD'S COOLEST theater, playing games, and just hanging out. Thanks to everyone there Justin and I were actually able to spend some time together without the girls which was so muc fun since it has been quite a while since we have seen a movie together. On Christmas Eve the Sis. Missionaries came over for dinner and we had a German meal of brats, potato pancakes, and schmokle (don't know how to spell it but it is a sweet/tart red cabbage dish). After dinner we sang Christmas Carols and reenacted the nativity, Justin, Camryn, and I were Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus and Elliette got to be a sheep complete with the baa sound. That night the grandkids got some cute new Christmas pajamas from Grandma and Granpa (thanks again). Christmas morning we did our stockings and ornament exchange which was fun and even though we had our family Christmas before we left we were still spoiled out there (thank you everyone). On the morning of the 26th we were also able to bless Camryn and ALL of Justin's family was able to be there and participate (thanks for staying Brit and Dan) which was really an awesome moment. During the blessing I had Ellie sitting on my lap but as mentioned previously she HATES being held in one spot so in order to keep her quiet so I could hear I let her get down towards the end, she ran right over and snuck her self right into the center of the circle and watched from there. Camryn was also having the time of her life thinking that she was being played with and cooed, talked, and smiled through the whole thing
We did end up cutting the trip short because in the hustle bustle of the season Justin and I managed to go out just looking around and ended up buying a Hyundai Sonata since it was cheaper to buy in KS than in CA and it was just such a good deal we couldn't pass it up. The morning that we left we all ate at a small diner in Wichita that was on Diners Drive-ins and Dives which was fun and pretty dang yummy. After breakfast we took off and drove to Denver for the night. The next day we jumped back in the car and drove all the way to my parents house in UT. On the way there we found out that Elliette gets carsick and threw up twice on that trip (3rd time since we had bought the car - oxyclean is AMAZING by the way).

When we got to my parents no one other than my mom and dad knew we were coming and we were excited to run in and surprise everyone but since Ellie puked just a few minutes from their house we ran in and straight to the bathroom to clean her up but it was still fun and a BIG surprise. We didn't have a whole lot of time in UT since that wasn't exactly in the plans at the beginning but we were able to spend a few days with the fam. My dad got an SLR camera for Christmas so we did play a lot with that and we were able to dress Ellie up in her snow clothes and make a snowman. Ryan took some pics of the girls for me in their Christmas dresses and then touched them up a bit for me (thanks again).

On New Years Day we went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch and told them my moms birthday was coming up so they made her get on the saddle, she was SUPER embarrassed and refused at first till they had everyone chanting "saddle, saddle" so that was HILARIOUS (side note: I was not specifically banned from putting those pics on the blog, sorry mom but I just couldn't pass it up)!

We ended up packing the kids up that night and driving all through the night in hopes that they would sleep and Ellie wouldn't be so sick and it worked, thank heavens. Justin drove the whole way and I got to sleep a little bit but we were all worn out for about 3 days after we got back. All in all it was a long mostly relaxing break where we had a TON of fun hanging out with family and learned that we can clean up throw-up without adding to it. Oh and we were able to continue our anniversary tradition of eating dinner at Wingers with one of my siblings and their spouse and watching a movie and then talking about going to the Heinz Mansion for the night but deciding that maybe we will make it next year. FUN STUFF! (I have a million more cute pics from the trip but they are on a cd and I don't have a cd drive for this computer yet, sorry family).