The title of this blog pretty much sums up our Christmas vacation, but I wanted to document what it was like for our holiday travels, Our Christmas, and Our New years. It was anything but short of crazy goodness that I can't believe was accomplished over a two week time span.
I am warning you now, that this post is long and loaded with Pictures. In fact probably too long to be doing it all in one post, but I have other things to blog about and wanted to get this one done so I can get 2013's blog book printed. So here we go.
Our Christmas Vacation
2013's Christmas was supposed to be simple. It was the Lancaster year, but we had just seen Dan's family in July and it is super super expensive to fly up to Canada, especially since now we have a two year old we are paying for as well. So we made the decision to just stay home in our little comfort of home, snuggle with our newborn and lay low this year.... I should have known. When have I ever been the type to lay low?!?
The thought of traveling to our houses for Christmas really crossed our minds the Day after Thanksgiving. We were out shopping and just started talking about Christmas and how much time Dan had off work... We also were really talking about how this is to be my parent's last Christmas for 4 years while they are away serving as mission presidents. (*NOTE: If you know me at all, you know I am a little too sentimental at times... Remember that.) The thought of not seeing my parents house all decorated and the excitement of coming home made me a little home sick. So the thought stuck of maybe going to my house for Christmas. We had done that drive before and knew it wasn't that bad.
Then came the big Idea of driving up to Canada, then down to Idaho. Dan realized that he had two full weeks off of work and the ideal road trip of being at both families was set into place.
There was no going back from that day. Our plan was to spend Christmas up with the Lancaster's and then drive down to my house for New years. We mapped our way across the states and up to Canada.
It would be a 3 day drive, reading in at 28 hours just up to Canada. Then 12 down to Idaho, another 24 hours back to Texas. We had always thought it would be fun to do a massive road trip like this. Dan and I really do enjoy long road trips, so it wasn't the hours that bothered us, it was the fact that we were driving so long with two very small children.... Well that never has slowed us down before, why should it now.
Challenge accepted.
Plans were put into place and we took off on December 19th at 4am.
OK. It was more like 4:30am by the time we got the kids loaded in the car.
Our adventure began.
We had soooo much stuff. I can't believe we fit it all in the car. There wasn't a spare inch for anything else. We laughed because we felt we had packed our entire house with us. Just so. much. stuff.
The morning was a little rough, with it being so dark, and Dan and I not getting into bed until midnight, but we knew we wanted to get as much road behind us as possible and once the sun came up we felt much better.
Yes. Range came too.
We had many, many rest stops. Between a baby needing to be fed every two hours and a little girl needing a potty break, we just made the best of it and used it as an opportunity to get gas and stretch our legs.
We tried to make our stops short, and then only have a couple long stops. Half hour or longer. We had to change the kids out of pajamas, get lunch and really get settled in to get some good miles behind us.
We arrived in Denver Colorado 15 hours later... and grateful to get out and be in a hotel for a night. June was able to run around for a bit and get the wiggles out, while Owen stretched out his little body on the bed. We had dinner and played around until it was time to get some sleep.
The next morning we attempted to be out the door by 8... It was more like 8:30 (Dang that half hour)
Loading up the car day 2
Day two was a bit more smoother of a drive. We were slowly starting to get the hang of being in the car for countless hours. We seemed to stop a little bit less and keep ourselves a little more entertained. Dan and I listened to Harry Potter on Tape, and lots of different Podcasts from our phones.
June slept and played with toys and she also played and watched movies on her I-pad. Owen Mostly stared out the window or slept. Both of them did so well through the whole trip. I seriously couldn't believe we didn't have any melt downs or tantrums with getting back in the car. Our biggest fear was on the second day neither of them would want to sit in the car again, but both kids did fantastic! Thank Heavens!!
From Denver we headed north to Montana. The roads got pretty bad through Wyoming, and we were only going 45 for about an hour and a half and then they seemed to clear up. We saw a lot of cars slide off the road, so we took our time. Our goal was to make it up to Billings, but once we got to the city, we felt good enough to keep going so we made it to Great Falls, Montana in about 12 hours.
The third day was going to be a lot shorter since we made it further distance the day before. We knew it was about 6 to 7 hours to Dan's house, so even though it was a shorter distance, we still had a good drive a head of us.
We drove and drove some more. Stopping about every 2 to 3 hours and switching drivers. We made our final switch right before the boarder. I don't like being the one driving crossing over to a different Country. I get nervous and I am always so worried about acting suspicious even though we have nothing to hide! Haha. The guards just make me nervous!
Our stop at the boarder was only 10 minutes! I think that's a record for us! Super fast. We were glad to get through quickly and continue on with our drive. It felt really good to finally hit Canada and realize that we were really close to being at our final destination... Well at least for 5 days anyway.
WE FINALLY ARRIVED!! We got to Dan's house on the 21st around 6pm! All in all it took us about 38 hours to get up there, with all the stops and lunch/dinner breaks we added a good 10 hours through 3 days onto our trip. It really didn't feel that long.
Now it was time to really enjoy the holiday season. Dan's Brother Dave and his wife were already at his mom and dads. So it was fun to already have siblings there.
We just hung out, unloaded the million and one things we brought with us, and stretched our legs.
June zonked out pretty fast after we got there. She ate a quick dinner, had a calm down bath, and we tucked her in for the night. I don't think she even batted any eye that she wasn't in her own bed.
I was so excited that we made it up there before Church on Sunday. I love the Christmas program at church! Singing all the Christmas hymns, and hearing about the Saviors birth. Plus it's fun to dress the kids up in Christmas outfits.
We make really cute children!
It was a great Sunday. June even went to Nursery and stayed by herself. It took her a while, so Dan stayed in there with her for a bit, but in the end she stayed all by herself. The cute Nursery leaders gave them little books all wrapped up! June loved unwrapping it, but was sad once it was unwrapped. Dan's other brother Michael, his wife, and two kids came to stay at the house for a few days until they left for Becky's family for Christmas.
The next day was the fabulous day of my Birthday. My Nephew was born too on the 23rd so we celebrated his one year birthday during the day, and then Dan and I left little June behind, but brought Owen, and went out in the city... Dan even manhandled the baby backpack so that I could go clothes shopping. That was all I wanted for my birthday this year was to buy a bunch of new clothes! Pregnancy just makes all your old clothes feel like Bla! And I was tired of feeling Bla! Perfect birthday present!
Later that night we met up with our friends Adam and Nicole, at the Calgary Tower for dinner. It was great seeing them and celebrating my birthday with friends. Dinner was great, It was a rotating restaurant, so you are able to see the whole city while eating dinner. You couldn't concentrate to hard on the fact that you are moving, or you got a little motion sickness, but it was still a really fun dinner for my birthday!
We got back that night and mostly just talked and slowly drifted off to sleep
Christmas eve, Owen turned 2 months. Crazy how fast time is going! We all woke up and spent the day just hanging around. We took out the little kids to play in the snow for a while in the back yard. It was fun to watch June play in the snow and really get a feel for the wet stuff. I really miss the snow... Really just for the holidays and playing in it.
Hanging out with Grandpa in the Snow
We even brought Owen out to enjoy some of the fresh crisp air
We came back inside, hung out and played games then got ready for dinner.
Crossfield, the town Dan's parents live, has a tradition where Santa comes and visits on Christmas eve. It really is the volunteer fire fighters, but still I think it's a really fun tradition! In fact we have the exact same picture with June, when she pretty darn close to the exact same age. You can see her HERE
from Christmas 2011.
We had the tradition of opening Pajamas... Well it actually only ended up being our little family who did pajamas, but no matter what we will definitely keep this tradition going! Dan's Dad read from Luke 2, and we watched the Nativity. We never got to actually acting out the Nativity... Not sure what happened since we were planning on it, but with tired kids and wanting to get them to bed, we decided to forgo that part of the night.
June did make reindeer food and we went out and sprinkled out on the back porch, along with leaving Santa a glass of Milk and a plate of cookies. Yes, I am aware that she is two and doesn't quite get it, but someday she will, and I want her to feel as much magic in Christmas as possible, just like I did growing up.
She went to bed and it was time for Santa to come. Us adults stayed up and some of the family played "Settlers" and talked.
Then it was time to really play Santa and get everything set up. Oh man, I thought Christmas as a kid was fun, but it is WAY MORE FUN with Children. I could NOT wait to wake up in the morning to see June's expression in the morning with all her new toys!
Christmas morning always goes way to fast! But June's face was priceless when she saw what Santa had left her and baby Owen. I think she was more excited that Baby Owen got toys too, than what she got. It was pretty adorable.
June got a La La loopsy play set, and a bunch of other toys as well. Along with clothes and essentials she needed. Owen got a glow night sea horse that sings, more toys and more clothes.
Towards the end, June just got up and walked away. She had had enough of unwrapping presents and wanted to play with her toys. We of course went overboard with Christmas like we do every year, but I have told myself that I am done worrying about that and to enjoy and be grateful that we can spoil our children every once in a while. No, I don't think because of a spoiled Christmas they will feel entitled or feel they deserve things. So each year we will probably continue to spoil them, and enjoy those happy faces.
Dan got two new golf clubs, and I got a new Lulu Lemon Jacket and new kitchen appliances. I decided that this Christmas was my first true adult Christmas. I got a lot of new things for my Kitchen, things that children would find boring, but I was beyond excited to unwrap what now feels like a whole new kitchen and it just kept getting better, but more on that later on in the post...
We spent the day in our pajamas chomping down on Christmas candy and playing games. Later that day we had wonderful Christmas dinner and enjoyed the company of family. Totally worth the 38 hour drive.
Sadly that is the end of pictures since my phone was full and I couldn't delete any until I got back in the states with 3G to drop them in dropbox.
We did the traditional Canada, Boxing Day shopping, but didn't last to long. It was crazy crowded and having two kids in that crazy crowed of people was enough to drive anyone crazy. Dave and Vanessa headed home that day, and we spent the remainder of the night talking, and packing up, and getting ready to head to Idaho for another 5 days.
We woke up about 4am and was out the door by 5am. The drive was beautiful! Oh man, Montana is a beautiful place. Who knows maybe someday we will live there. Dan and I used to do that drive all the time when we lived in Rexburg going to College, but I forgot, or took for granted just how beautiful the North really is. It really made me miss it and I think it kind of hit me that it would be ok to live just a little bit closer to family... someday. Not now though... I still would like all my children to be born in Texas!
It took us about 12 hours to make the drive down to Rexburg. The kids did great and we were surprised that we did the drive so fast. It was fun to pull into the little town of Rexburg with the Christmas lights on the trees and a little bit of snow falling. I love my small little home town.
Once we got to my parents house, we had dinner, unpacked our million and one things once again and settled in for another 5 days. My sister Michelle and her two girls came down that night too, and my sister Meg and Sammi came down from the Cabin the next day!
We woke up that morning and instantly got going! We wanted to take all the kids sledding at Smith park where we spent many winter's sledding down that hill that once seemed so large....
The girls were already to go. Patiently waiting for Papa to fill the sledding tubes and load them in the car.
June LOVED sledding! She went down the hill once with Dan and laughed the whole way. She then wanted to go down by herself. I was a little shocked that she wanted to go by herself but she just kept going and going down the hill. She couldn't get enough.
Sledding was a lot of fun. I honestly haven't done it in years. We all had fun taking turns going down the hill.
We came home and got ready for the day. Put some of the kids down for naps and then us girls went out and did our usual little shopping around Rexburg.
Sage and Owen
After two months, June finally wanted to hold Owen and she pulled through. Usually she gets a little scared of him on her lap, but this time she was fine with it. I love being a mom of two.
My parent's got June a little tea set since she loves playing "Tea Party" with her la la loopsy's but having real cousins there to play with was even better. The girls had a really fun time pretending and my dear mom got excited too and had a real "Hot Chocolate" party with them. She took the mini tea cups and filled them with hot chocolate and had toast on the plates. It was pretty adorable and the girls loved it!
That night my mom had the little ones help frost my birthday cake to celebrate my birthday the next day! I love angel food cake. In fact its really the only cake I like, so every year, even if its already past my birthday, my mom still makes me a birthday cake.
A rare thing when June falls asleep in someones arms. Nana just has that special touch
After the kids went down for bed, we all played games and chowed down on more food. At this point I think I gained 10 pounds, but I just couldn't stop shoveling food in my face.
The next day was Sunday. It was fun to go to my homeward and see familiar faces. We used to go to campus with my parents but since they are now home preparing for their mission, we got to go to the homeward. It was great to see friends and familiar faces who I haven't seen in ages!
Future President Mendenhall just peacefully studying his scriptures before everyone was awake. I was lucky enough to sneak upstairs and take a pic of the calmness. Love my dad and his example!
All dressed up for church
Oh Grandpa!
June is growing up so fast and I love how she just goes and plays with her cousins. It's kind of bitter sweet.
The next couple days before New years we were able to finish up errands around Rexburg, and go visit my Grandma and Grandpa. It's always so nice to go and visit with them. I love having them close. Though with my parents leaving for 3 years I'm not sure when we will be in Rexburg again, so it was definitely good to go see them!
Had Lunch with my parents and Sister Meg
New Year's eve day we packed up the car and got ready to head out the next day. So we wouldn't have to worry about it after being up so late.
My Dad entertaining OD while we got ready for the night
We got ready to go down to Idaho Falls to my brothers house to bring in the New year. We did fondue and had LOADS OF FOOD! Oh man It was so good and again, no self control and just kept eating. I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS! hahaha
June and Trey
My mom with the new little babe's. Owen and his cousin Austin are exactly 2 weeks apart. Austin is older, but Owen is much larger.
We played games and the wii and celebrated the new year with Sparkling Cider and lots of cheering. It was a really fun night and a great way to spend our last night with Family.
The next day we woke up, finished loadng up the car and said our goodbyes. I am so glad that I will be able to go home at least one more time before my parents leave on their mission. I am so beyond excited for them, but still its very sad to know I won't be in my home for 3 years.
And back in the car...
The plan was to take 3 days to get home, but we were very ambitious and really wanted to make it as far as we could. We made it all the way to Colorado the first night.
The roads were absolutely horrible, and I have never experienced black ice like that before. We went about 25 for a good two hours and it was exhausting. Owen and June did great so we kept going and made it to our destination for the night.
We stayed in the exact same hotel and the exact same room that we stayed in coming down. It was funny.
The next day we loaded up the car and we took a little detour to my parents mission home to see where they would be living for 3 years. We were right down the road from the house, so it was easy to go see and really fun to see where they would be living and where we will get to come visit. A really nice home, so it was fun to go see.
We became very ambitious and decided to just keep driving until we got home. We knew it would be late but we really wanted to get home and not unload into another hotel room. It was a long drive home. Especially with little June peeing her panties and Owen having a massive blowout, we had stops more often than we would have liked, but we made the best of it, and finally made it home about 12:30am.
We all slept in until about 10 the next morning. Even June and Owen slept pretty soundly. It was very nice and very much needed. We spent the day cleaning and putting everything away including the Christmas decorations.
So all in all we drove 78 hours, over 4000 miles and were in 8 different states and 1 province. It was a lot of traveling, but we really had a fantastic time and honestly I think we would do it again.
It feels good to have all Christmas put away and to really get ready for Dan to get back to work and get back to a regular routine. I am really excited for 2014 and all the many things it has to offer!
1 comment:
What a fun but busy Holiday. I'm glad you were able to visit your parents before they leave.
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