We rang in the New Year with Jeff's family, which means a 3 hour drive with 3 kids who decide not to sleep in the car no matter what time you leave. Ethan was making me crazy on Wednesday since he decided we were going to leave Thursday instead of Friday. He got out the suitcases and started packing, determined that the faster he packed, the faster we would be at grandma & grandpa's house. The car was packed and ready to go before Jeff got home from work but the only problem was...the battery was dead. The boys had left the interior lights on in the very back seat. Thankfully my dad and my uncle were able to come by and take care of that for me. Jeff got home and we started out, hopeful that the boys would eventually fall asleep. No one slept except Owen, and that was only for about 20 minutes. The entire way Ethan and Kamden were asking "Are we there yet?" "Can you see Grandma's house yet?" "How much longer?" "Now how much longer?"
It was awesome.
But, we made it...
It was like a second Christmas for the boys, they had gifts from Grandma & Grandpa Stoker as well as both sets of Great Grandparents.
We are so grateful to have such wonderful family on both sides who help make the holidays special for the boys.
On Saturday we were able to visit with Grandma & Grandpa Hurst when they stopped by in the afternoon. It was nice to be able to visit with them since we don't get to see them very often.
Ethan's birthday was on the 27th but his party was scheduled for the Sunday before. My mom ended up in the Emergency Room that evening so Ethan decided to wait and have his party the next night, hoping Grandma could be there. She had to have surgery Monday night, so Ethan wanted to save his cake and party for Declo. I was a bit worried about how to get the cake from our freezer and through a 3 hour car ride in one piece, but it turned out ok...even though the cake got a bit squished, it was still edible. He wanted a Star Wars cake this year, which I wasn't terribly excited about since he kept saying he wanted Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker fighting on the top of it. I couldn't come up with anything more creative than this, but Ethan liked it and it wasn't as time consuming as some of the other cakes I've done.
Then we had lots of snacks and played The Newlywed Game while we waited for 2011. Jeff and I lost, but that's only because Tyler and Jolynne weren't there. Just kidding, guys!
Anyway, it was a fun game and midnight came around faster than expected. The grandkids all stayed awake and were able to celebrate with party horns which were quickly confiscated at 12:01.
Jeff & I stayed up and played cards with Kelly & Mindy until 2am and at 10:30 Kelly made everyone delicious Buttermilk pancakes!
We just hung out at the house on Saturday and the grandkids drove everyone nuts with their noise and craziness. I'm very thankful that the boys are able to have fun and play with their cousins, even if they do get a little loud!
We attempted to get some pictures of the grandkids together, but that didn't quite go as planned, so you'll just have to imagine that Coltin is in the group picture. We will have to try again when it's warmer and can take the pictures outside.
The grandkids all exchanged gifts and had a fun time seeing what they each recieved. Then Jeff & I went with Mark & the boys to visit Grandma & Grandpa Stoker before the brothers & sisters-in-law also exchanged gifts. Then there was more card playing and more snacking!
We all got to bed late again that night and then Owen decided he just couldn't sleep, so I was up with him from 2-6 and Jeff was up with him before and after that. We had dinner with the entire family, then loaded up the car and headed home. Thankfully, though, all of the boys were worn out from the weekend so that made for a pretty quiet drive home.
It was fun to be together with everyone, but by the time the weekend was over, we were all exhausted!
No comments:
Post a Comment