Well here it is...a long and lengthy travel log with a million pictures. As Matt would say "you will feel like you were there" :) What can I say, I don't want to forget one moment of our wonderful trip. We haven't been home for Christmas for YEARS! I want to say about 4 or 5 years. So it was long overdue and I am so glad we did it. The kids loved every minute of it.
Usually I wouldn't go into details about my medical/personal information, especially one that I wanted to remain private about, but this is one of those "Tender Mercies" that the Lord blessed me with that I want to always remember and since this is my journal/scrapbook, well then here you go...let me go back to the night before Halloween. I found out that we were pregnant that night and was THRILLED! We have been trying for a while and the kids have been getting very impatient with me because they want us to have a new baby NOW. This was perfect because we thought we could surprise our families and break the news at Christmas time when we went out West. Well a couple of weeks ago I had an ultrasound and I could tell by the tech's expression and body language that things weren't normal. LONG story short, I found out that I had a blighted ovum. This is when a fertilized egg develops a placenta and membrane but there is no embryo. I was of course heart broken, and frustrated because I was still very much nauseous and feeling pregnant. My doctor gave me the option of having a surgical procedure (a D and C), or I could take medicine to help my body speed up the process, or I could let my body naturally take care of the problem. I decided to let my body do it's job. Well...we were scheduled to fly out of Orlando on Thursday Dec. 17th. Well on Wednesday night we went carolling with the youth and then they all came to my house for hot chocolate. Suddenly I started to have some major clotting. I couldn't even go downstairs to join the youth at my own house! My problems continued every 1/2 hour from about 8:00 pm until 4:00 am Thursday morning and I was starting to get a little light headed!!!! YIKES! I was supposed to be leaving at 5:00 am to be heading to the airport. We called a nurse help line to get some advice and she told us to go to the emergency room. YIKES! I knew I couldn't get on a plane in my condition. I was in tears as I thought of how this might make us miss the Rose family Christmas party that we were so excited about. Matt offered to give me a blessing and in it he told me I would know if I could get on the plane or if I needed to go to the hospital. After the blessing I took a shower and started to get ready. In my mind I made a deal that if I was still have problems after my shower that I needed to go to the hospital. I got ready and nothing. We got to the airport and NOTHING....the whole flight NO PROBLEMS!!!!! Oh I love the power of the Priesthood! Right after we got off the plane and I hugged my parents, we walked to baggage claim and I HAD PROBLEMS! So right from the airport we headed to the hospital. So that pushed us back a bit, we were supposed to head directly to Idaho. My cute sister really helped us out, she knows a big wig doctor at LDS hospital and he called and got me right into the ER AND had one of the OB's that he knows well come down to take care of me. I felt very pampered (THANKS HEIDI). So there you go, probably more information then you would like to know, but it was such a blessing that I knew it was coming so it wasn't so hard emotionally, and I am SOOOOO grateful I was able to get to Utah! Thank you Heavenly Father for that tender mercy!
So then our trip started. My mom and dad had the kids during all the drama and they were so excited to see the snow that they immediately were out playing in it and they built the littlest, cutest snow man with the tiny amount of snow that my parents had in their bushes :) That night we were on our way to Matt's parents house in Idaho. Friday morning we took the kids skiing at Pomerelle. I was AMAZED at what a great job they did! Luke snow boarded and Emma and Gavin skied. Gavin looked like Randy from The Christmas Story and could hardly put his hands to his side. Each of them were in private lessons and it was hilarious to see little Gavin, each time his instructor told him to stop and make his pizza, he had to practically go into the Chinese splits! Then he would hop, hop and put his ski's back into "french fries" and there he would go sliding down the little mountain. Emma was a little speed demon going down the hill and both she and Gavin got to ride the chair lift and they went with their instructors down the real slope. Luke was such a trooper and NEVER gave up at snow boarding! He was exhausted by the end, but his hard work paid off because his last 2 runs down the bunny hill he stayed up both times all the way down! I was sooo proud of him!
Luke and Emma got to go and stay at Matt's sister Lori's house that night after our skiing adventure and they were loving life being able to spend time with their cool cousins Kate, Todd and Jack!
Saturday we headed to Park Valley to the Rose family Christmas party. Our Brother-in-law DJ rode with us and so it was so fun to catch up and chat the whole ride there. This party is a big deal and I think Matt and I are the only grand kids that don't come each year. It is an all day event and it is PACKED with fun. There's tons of food, games, the acting out of the nativity, a talent show, a gift exchange, Matt's Grandma and Grandpa Rose give EVERYONE pajamas (We are talking about like 60 pairs of pajamas, if not more), and tons of fun visiting and laughing. Gavin was cracking me up because he would just walk up to anyone there and say "Hey what's your name?" He was not shy. Luke played the piano for everyone and even got up with some of his cousins to sing. Emma had her cousin Reagan play Away in A Manger and she danced, and then Gavin got up to the piano and acted like he knew how to play. In the nativity Emma was lucky enough to be Mary and got to hold a real baby. Luke was a wise man and Gavin was the cutest little sheep. It was such a great day.
Sunday was church and a fun gift exchange/party with Matt's sisters and parents. The cousins all drew names and got to give their gifts and then they were spoiled by Matt's parents. Luke got a sleeping bag that he slept in most of the trip after that, Gavin got a cute little truck with a horse trailer that he hasn't stopped playing with, and Emma got the cutest magnet board that Matt's mom made and I am VERY proud to say that it was one of our carry on's and it made it home safely!!!!!! Matt and I got the most beautiful picture of the temple. I am soooo excited about it. Matt's cute little niece Reagan had each of the grand kids write a memory or something they love about their grandparents and she put each of them in a box for Matt's parents. Talk about a thoughtful gift! How sweet!
Monday we got to go to Matt's Grandma Johnson's house for a very nice visit, and then to his sister Cindy's house. The kids played and played and didn't want to leave. Then it was back to Blackfoot and we stopped at Rupe's for dinner.
Tuesday we left Idaho and made our way to Utah. We stopped in Logan to see Matt's sister Julie and her husband Stanton was kind enough to work on all my kids teeth! (he is the BEST pediatric dentist). I don't think I will ever be able to repay him. Poor little Luke had 3 cavities (this totally makes me sound like mother of the year), and so he was majorly drugged and was like a drunk afterward! It was so funny. He could hardly stand up after and so I had to hold onto him for quite a while after. Matt had his phone and videoed the funniest little interview with him. And of course Luke bit his lip when it was numb (AGAIN) and so he had a fat lip the majority of the trip. Emma had one cavity taken care of and was numb but no fat lip for her :)
Then we met up with Matt's friend Cole, who he knew in High School and college, actually it was his first friend when he started at Bear River High School. We got to meet his cute little boy who is 2 and see his wife PJ. What a fun night. Then it was on to my mom's house.
Wednesday Tyler and Anna and their kids came to mom's and so that night we went to the lights. Talk about FREEZING! It was fun though, I always feel more in the Christmasy when we go to the Temple Square lights!
Thursday we rode Trax downtown and went to the Planetarium and watched the cutest 3D Christmas show called Santa vs. The Snowman. Very fun, and then we had a BEAUTIFUL dinner at my sister Heidi's house. I even had to take a picture of the table it looked so pretty. Then the kids acted our the nativity. It was so funny because Gavin was Joseph and my niece Ella was Mary. Gavin kept getting distracted with the dog and Ella would whisper loudly "Pst, Joesph!" So he would come back to the seat for a minute and then he was off again. Emma was an angel and Luke was a wise man. We sang Christmas songs and then it was off to bed so Santa could make his debut.
Christmas morning was magical, how can it not be with kids around??? Luke was so excited that he woke up at 3:30 am, and again at 4:30 am and couldn't sleep. Emma was up at 4:30 too and so I finally went and laid down with them. I fell asleep weird and woke up with a kinked neck! So I couldn't even look around! The gift I was most excited about was the one that I gave Matt. He is a big time Steelers fan and I knew he had always wanted a jersey. I found one for him and I knew I was sure to surprise him...sure enough he was VERY excited! We had a nice breakfast and enjoyed the day relaxing and playing with new toys. Grandma and Grandpa of course spoiled us...Luke got some spy gear from them and a very cool Nerf dart gun. Emma got a very cute outfit and a beautiful porcelain Belle doll. Gavin got a cute robot and some play army tanks/helicopter/jeep. Santa brought Luke more spy gear stuff, bases for baseball, & video games. Emma got an Easy Bake oven, a Barbie head that she can do the hair on, a little puppy that walks, and video games. Gavin got a transformer, a puppy that barks, and his favorite was a cheap/loud laser gun that my dad tried to pay me to take away because the laser noise got old fast :) It's always the loudest toys that are the kids favorites!
The rest of the weekend was parties and more parties. In fact we had a lunch party with my dad's sister Pat and all my cousins on that side, and then that same night we had a party at my mom's sister Jeri and all my cousins on that side. Both were white elephant parties (which are some of my favorite). Some of the funny gifts were: a box of batteries with a note that said "Toy not included"; a life size cardboard cut out of Rambo which my cute little nephew Tanner got; Matt got 3XL pajama pants and then proceeded to to the "Hammer dance"; Luke got old used Tupperware; and I got a sign that had snow flakes and said "All my best friends are flakes". It was great to see all my cousins I haven't seen for YEARS!
I loved going to my parents ward and seeing all the familiar faces. I even got to hear my mom teach a beautiful RS lesson. Then Sunday evening was another party with our old family friends the Madsens. That was complete with gift exchange, Bingo, a Christmas story, and catching up. We have had a Christmas party with them for years. When we were little we used to try to sneak in the Madsen car when they were leaving our house. One time they even made it all the way to their house before we were discovered. I don't think our parents were too amused. We continued to try it every time and they would humor us and pretend they didn't know we were back there.
Monday we went to the adorable movie The Princess & The Frog. Oh but first we had a little drama...Luke was sitting there at the lunch table and opened his Root Beer and cut his finger. It started to bleed and he had me get him a band aid. He was freaked out a little bit because the blood was oozing a bit. I put a band aid on and went to finish doing my hair. A minute later I hear my sister gasp and then a thud. I ran in and there was Luke passed out on the floor! I realize now that I need to work on remaining calm in a stressful situation! I freaked which caused Emma to majorly freak out! She thought he was dead and was screaming and crying! He was out for a bit and when he came to I asked him if he remembered what happened and he replied "I got beat up". Poor thing! I never knew blood made him so woozy.
That night Matt and I were able to go out with some of his mission friends. There were 6 couples and we had a great time visiting. There was Russ & Britney Nelson, Chris & Mark Pingree, Jodi & Jim Nichols, Mike & Olia Vanpatten, Ben & Jan Richey. What a great group.
Our last day of the trip we went tubing/sledding! What a GREAT memory! It was snowing a bit and not THAT cold (relatively speaking). The kids had a blast and whined and moaned when we had to leave. Scott and Becky and their kids and Heidi and Jeff and their kids were there and they were so awesome. Every time I looked down it was a different one of my nieces or nephews carrying Gavin back up the hill. Gavin was a crack up, he would run and slip on his stomach with Danny or Devin or Tyson or whoever. He would ride any tube or sled, he was just up for anything. Luke was king of the sled and hit many a bumps and caught air many times. Emma was buddy buddy with Karissa and had a great time going down with her. What a fun day.
THEN THE SAD MOMENT OF DEPARTURE. Thank you family for a wonderful and unforgettable trip! We love you all and miss you like crazy! You will all be surprised to know that all of our Christmas gifts fit in our luggage and it all made it back in one piece!
Only the Saviors birth could make a time of the year feel so exciting, peaceful, and joyous and it was so fun to be able to spend it with family.
Luke helped Grandpa shovel the walks
Skiing at Pomerelle.....
Our little rodeo queen :)
Grandma Johnson
Gavin felt VERY comfortable at Matt's parents house...he was always helping himself to the fridge :)
Dinner with Cole & PJ
Luke and Emma couldn't help themselves...when they saw snow they had to get in it :)
The kids were all singing "Gavin got ran over by a reindeer" :) Too funny!
Cute little Mary and Joseph
Christmas Morning!!!!!!!!
Brynlie saved her OWN money and bought each of her little cousins a Webkinz! We exchanged names and so she didn't need to give to all of them but she has such a big heart she surprised them all! How sweet!
Gavin and Grandpa asleep for a Christmas day nap! Gavin thought Grandma and Grandpa's bed was his own. Each morning he would throw their pillows off and watch a movie in their bed :)
