Will we ever drive again? Over my dead body. Or I should say, over my SORE-GETTING-OLD-30-YEAR-OLD-BODY.
The girls actually did very well. We had tons of movies and an endless supply of snacks and toys. We made sure to stop every 150-200 miles for a 20 minute break. That seemed to help a lot. Aside from colds and Kaycee's pink eye...we survived.
So here is a semi shortened version of our 2 week Christmas vacation:
We had a great time in Montana. It was beautiful, but it was COLD! As I said before, the lowest temp we saw while we were there was negative 27 degrees. The kiddos were able to go outside and play for about 10 minutes. I was kinda sad that we couldn't do more outside (snowmen, sledding, etc. ) because it was so cold, but there is always next year.
Andy's entire family was able to be there: Nathan (Andy's older brother),his wife Kimberly, and their three girls Sarah, Heather, and Molly came from up from San Diego. Lisa (Andy's younger sister, her husband, Jerred, their daughter Madison, and baby-boy-on-the-way made the trip from Shreveport, Louisiana. Andy's younger brother, Luke, dad, mom, grandpa, grandma, and Uncle Dave completed the houseful to make a grand total of 18 people under one roof.
Tammi Richards BRAVELY took our family pictures and did a great job. She graciously allowed me to post them on my blog. These have not been edited or cropped or anything and I think they still look great! (Thanks, Tammi)
It was crazy, but lots of fun. The girls all had a great time together.
They had hot chocolate and tea parties with grandma...
Visited the Children's Museum....
Went on a sleigh ride at Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky...
Helped grandpa set up and decorate the tree...
Got all dressed up church...
Celebrated Christmas a few days early (Kaycee got to read the Christmas story)...
As an added bonus, we got to spend a few hours with my dad's side of the family. We had a pizza lunch at my uncle and aunt's house. It was so much fun to see everyone and enjoy spending time with family. Kaycee and Haylee missed Nana a lot!
Next, we headed back down towards Colorado with a short stop in Casper, Wyoming have lunch with my grandpa and aunt and uncle.
We finally made it back to dad and mom's house in Windsor, Colorado on Christmas Eve. My sister, Staci, her husband Jarid, and their two kiddos, Ben and Kaiya, were able to come up from Phoenix. Colorado was warmer, but didn't have much snow. We tried to make the most of what was left in dad and moms back yard...the kids thought it was great! We had family pictures taken, but they are not back yet. Here is a temporary one of all of us....
We had a nice Christmas morning. Staci found a cool story to read about the true meaning of Christmas. Unfortunately, it was only exciting for about the first 2 minutes as the two youngest could hardly contain themselves with the anticipation of opening presents.
We had so much fun :
Playing with Ben and Kaiya...
Playing the Wii....
Going on another sleigh ride in Estes Park...
Bowling with Grandpa...
Taking a trip to "Jumpin'"...
Singin' with grandma....
Playin' in the snow...
Playin' with ears.... (at age 7, she still loves ears. Got a double whammy here!)
We also had a great time playing Settler's of Catan. I wasn't sure at first because I'm not really into strategy games, but it actually wasn't too bad. I won 4 games! Oh ok...I only one 1, but who's counting? We also went to Casa Bonita's in Denver. It's a fun Mexican restaurant with cliff divers, magic shows, plays, etc. The girls loved it! Kaycee got called out of the audience to help the magician with a toilet paper trick. She was so excited!!
Here are just a few more random pics to enjoy....
Montana sunrise
Colorado sunset
So that's our trip in a nutshell. Ok, well maybe not a nutshell. It turned out to be a little longer than I planned. Hope you all enjoy the pictures. We had a lot of fun and we're so thankful for our families who we were able to share these special times with.
(Make sure to check out Jerred and Lisa's, Nathan and Kimberly's, and Jarid and Staci's blogs for more pictures.)
1 comment:
look at all the fun that was had!! SOOOO bummed we missed you all. Glad you are back and safe and sound. We just arrived home tonight. Hugs!
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