Christmas # 3 of 3

The title of this post really should be "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't." This was the year we were going with my parents to Shannon & Brad's in Temple to have the Enright Family Christmas. The plan was to get on the road first thing on the 26th. Well throughout the day on the 25th, Tate started with his bad asthma cough. It just got worse through the day and night, so we postponed leaving town until we knew he was OK. Then we got news that my grandmother had fallen and broken her pelvis, so my mom was by the phone around the clock. Pretty much all morning it was up in the air as to what we were going to do. Finally we all decided to get in the car and just go. So at 5:00 we arrived and let the fun begin.

Will and his 1st Christmas stocking from Mimi.

We gave Mallory & Morgan the Disney Princess Barbies. Pretty exciting stuff.
And Wade got a new Mellow Johnny's hat, which is always exciting.
Wonder who gave this onesie to Shannon & Brad's Baby Max (coming in April)?
We draw names for the adults. I drew my Dad's name. He is either the easiest person to buy for if you just get him a shirt. Or he becomes the most difficult person to buy for if you go with something different. I was PUMPED when I found this device that transfers old vinyl records to MP3 files. Dad still has boxes and boxes of old records, so I just KNEW that this may be the BEST gift ever. But no. He has one already! So he is again officially the hardest person to buy for. :)
Tate was loving the Batmobile.
And Brad got a sweater. His Christmas was now complete.
And Uncle Brad really seemed to enjoy encouraging Tate to play with the princess Barbies. Tate decided his favorite was Belle.
And a big memory for Tate was his first "cousin sleepover." They all three slept in their new sleeping bags in the same room. Amazingly, they all three also slept through the night!
And again to just prove that I was there.
The not-so-fun memory of this trip is that while we were there, Will was acting much fussier than normal. He would even fall asleep while I was holding him, which never happens anymore. Hmmmm? Who knew that Will's belated Christmas gift (and one we would accidentally leave with Morgan) was RSV. Boo.

But the good thing is that while we were there, everyone was feeling good and the cousins had a great time together as always.

And that concludes the Christmas Extravaganza.

I'm reminding myself that Christmas seasons won't always feel like this. Rushed, hurried, hectic, all of which make parenting even more challenging than it already is. But Christmas seasons also won't always be as sweet as they are at this stage. I wish it was slower. I wish there were more opportunities to learn why we celebrate. I wish, I wish, I wish. Trying hard to soak it all in and not wish it all away. I'm thankful for the Savior that was born and the blessing of wonderful family and friends that surrounded me this Christmas season!