Snow and Christmas

We decided to spend Christmas in Arizona this year with Loren parents and siblings.  We left the WRONG  day.  We left Tuesday during the storm that turned into a night mare. The roads were snowy and icy.  After seeing 20 cars in the snow banks, diesels stuck in the middle of the high way blocking traffic and snow plows going no where we gave up for the day.  We had been on the road for 4 1/2 hours and only made it to Fillmore. In normal weather we would have made it that far in under 2 hours.  We found a motel and spent the rest of the day and night.  The power had been out there since 6 a.m. and didn't come back on until about 4 p.m..  The motel had back up power, enough to run the heater and stay warm. Loren decided to go find something for lunch, to find out most places where closed. He came back with lost of different kinds of food from a gas station.  The children called it random food and asked if we were going to have to have it again for dinner.  Thankfully, places where open again by 6 p.m..  We hit the road again Wednesday morning in dense fog that lifted after about 30 minutes.  The rest of the trip was smooth sailing.  All of the children did well for the long car ride.  Hope would get fussy and we would get out a a baby genius movie and put it on for her and she would settle down.
It was great to walk through the door and be welcomed by Loren's parent and his siblings and their kids.  It is always fun to get together with family and eat good food and just relax.

I went to pull my camera out to get some pictures and guess what, It was covered in children's liquid ibuprofen.  I saw it sitting on the counter the morning we left and hurriedly through it in the bag of med's I was holding.  What a big mistake!!! I washed it off wet a wet cloth, just to have to wipe it off again a few minutes later cause it was oozing out of the buttons and cracks.  The battery compartment was filled and I wondered if it would work.  Loren surprised me by buying me a new one when he went shopping.  Thanks for the early Christmas present.

Christmas was a blast!! Hope couldn't figure out what was going on, but loved opening present and playing with everything.  The 3 oldest kids got laptops and where very quiet and entertained the rest of the stay. Ethan got DS games and lego sets, Parker got a DS and games, and Hope got the Fisher Price doll house and a talking tea pot.  Santa brought Loren an I pad and myself some sizzix dies.
We kept Christmas small because it all had to make it the the car for the ride home.

Putting on the nativity.

The children and their cousins put on the Nativity story Christmas eve. It was fun and quick since their are still small children.