There's no place like home

Well, here we are.  Back from nine days in the states and a weeks worth of jet lag.  And before I get into our journey, let me just say that jet lag is our enemy.  It does horrible, nasty, unexpected things to you and your children.  No, I'm not naïve, I knew it would effect us somehow, just didn't know the extent. Now I know and will be much more prepared the next time.  Now, on with our Christmas vacation! Warning: there are a lot of pictures.

It was so good to be home and in some ways it felt like we never left- which in my book is a good thing. There is something very comforting about being able to pick up where you left off.   Mark's mom aka Nana was more than gracious by letting us storm through like a tornado for that week.  Just as in the summer, she stayed quite calm as the boys zoomed trucks and yelled like banshees when they weren't sleeping. And they didn't sleep much.  They woke up very early every morning, like 3 or 4am, stating that they were done with sleeping. Awesome. We couldn't actually blame them because Mark and I were awake as well.  Ahh...jet lag.  A big thank you to you Mrs. B for hosting our mini tornado- we love you.

Saturday morning the boys woke up to snow on the ground. At 4am, Henry started yelling, "Mom, Dad there is snow outside, it snowed, it snowed!!" Well, yes, it had snowed most likely a few days prior but they didn't know that. They wanted to go outside immediately and make snow angels, build snowmen, and go sledding.  It took a lot of convincing to wait until the sun cam up all the way.  They barely made it to 7:30am.  There we were, outside bundled up doing all of those things.

Everyone had to participate in snow angels- not sure how Mark got out of it though.  Oliver refused to give his brother more room- hence the "I have snow on my face!" look on Henry.

 

First snow man of our year! Complete with ski poles.

 

 

Saturday afternoon we visited with my sisters families and my Dad.  The kids were very excited to see everyone.  There was cookie making, a walk on the nice mild day and lots of silliness.  Then it was time for my kids to crash.  It was hard getting them to 6pm since it felt like the middle of the night but they did it- Mark and I were right behind them making it to the very late hour of 7:30. We tried.

 

 

 

Oh Lucy...you can't get cuter.

 

Monday consisted of 3 dentist appointments and gingerbread house making with the girls (and Adam & Craig). Of course lunch was complete with ballerina dresses and clown hair.

 

 

Thank you Rainelle for bringing ALL of the supplies needed for this undertaking.  We had so much fun!

 

 

 

 Christmas Eve was full of amazing food and lots of fun.  The boys were able to take naps that day so we could stretch them a little longer.  Small miracles do happen, especially at Christmastime. Speaking of small miracles...look at these precious faces.

 

 Our annual same pjs on the couch picture (I should get a better name for that).  I believe everyone is singing jingle bells, well, almost everyone. Bean!!!

 

 

 

The infamous kiddie table in full swing.

And then the dancing ensued.

 

 

The ladies and I enjoying one of our favorite foods...cheese.

I'm not sure if everyone knows about Christmas crackers but when a friend mentioned them to me in the UK this is how the conversation went:  Annie asked, "Do guys you have Christmas crackers as part of your tradition?" I said, "No, we don't. Are they good?".  She said, "well, they are fun to do at the table for Christmas dinner". Perplexed, I said, "Ok, but what do they taste like?" She burst out laughing and in-between her laughing proceeded to tell me what they were.

 

 

Christmas crackers are part of Christmas celebrations primarily in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Crackers are typically pulled at the Christmas dinner table or at parties. In one version of the cracker tradition, the person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tube and keeps them. In another each person will have their own cracker and will keep its contents regardless of whose end they were in. Typically these contents are a coloured paper hat; a small toy, small plastic model or other trinket and a motto, a joke, a riddle or piece of trivia on a small strip of paper.^[3] The paper hats, with the appearance of crowns, are usually worn when eating Christmas dinner. The tradition of wearing festive hats is believed to date back to Roman times, and the Saturnalia celebrations, which also involved decorative headgear. (wiki)

 

The aftermath of the Christmas crackers! 

The crackers we brought happened to have crowns and some silly masks that the kids, I mean, all of us, really enjoyed.

 

Brilliant and smashing time!  Craig and Stephanie, thank you so much for hosting. Your skills are impeccable!!  Dad, thank you for the endless amount of beer you supplied that my husband thoroughly enjoyed. Adam- a big thank you for your entertainment. Really, I don't know where you store the energy.

 

 

Christmas Day!! Just so happens that Nana emailed Santa to let him know that the boys were going to be at her house for US Christmas Day.  Lucky boys.

 

Then a short time later...the Bowers family came with smiles, laughs and A LOT of Christmas cheer.  You can tell by the lovely jumpers they are wearing.  Can you guess the theme?

 

 Jesse, you're back, we missed you! Sorry man, I had to post this. Welcome home!

 

The boys missed their older cousins a lot and had no problem getting in the mix of things.

 

The usual suspects gathered in the living room. Discussing world peace I'm sure.

 

Casey showing her extreme passion for Christmas- she wins!

 

Not to far behind her is her sister Cassidy. Way to represent girls.

 

 

 

I wasn't around for this scene but the boys had a really good time up on the shoulders of their uncles.

 

Jack, not sure what you are letting them watch on your phone (and I don't want to know) but thank you.

Manda and Nana, I love this picture of you so I had to post it.  Beautiful ladies!

 

The other annual family photo. This one has been a long time tradition and is Nana's mothers day gift every year.  Lots of love goes into getting this picture just right. This shot is just from Mark's camera. There is a small paparazzi next to him trying to get the perfect pic.  Don't think it won't happen.

 

 

The day flew by because of the fun we all had. To all of my nieces and nephews on the Bowers side, I sincerely thank you for all of the attention and love you gave the boys. They love being part of the "big kid" clan and you helped Mark and I more than you know.  If anyone has pictures of MaryAnne and John- please send. They can not escape this post that easily. Also, next year I will be taking more pictures. Mark was there- he really was. M -thanks (again) for taking all of our pictures!!

 

What a week! It was so much fun and it went by so fast but we were able to see all of our family and some friends as well- we couldn't ask for much more!  We miss everyone and can't wait to see those who have planned their trip over to see us this year. 

 

Happy Christmas (as they say in England) and have a safe and healthy 2014!