Our family schedule for 2013
landed us in Portland for Christmas. It was wonderful and as Brewer gets older
each trip gets a little easier. We opted to fly out of Salt Lake for a few
reasons and the kids, especially Boyd, were excited. That would have been
enough for a Christmas present. Everything about flying was fascinating for a 5
and almost 2 year old. A few days before we flew, while we were having
breakfast, I asked Boyd if he was excited to fly on an airplane. He responded
with a great big smile and an exuberant, "YES!!" Phil, however, asked
Boyd what would happen if the plane crashed. He's such a stinker. Boyd's
enthusiasm completely deflated. All of his excitement left until he realized
that Phil was teasing. The funniest thing was that a plane crashing would
simply take the fun out of flying because we simply would not be able to fly
anymore, not the fact that we would all die. Thankfully that didn't cross his
mind.
The airport was busy and in the
rush of getting our bags checked on the curb I left my phone in the car.
uuuuuugh. Which meant I had no way to call Phil and let him know that he should
grab it while he was parking the car. It didn't occur to me to ask someone to
borrow his or her phone for quite some time. Eventually we all made it to the
gate and I even ended up with my phone thanks to Phil. The kids loved watching
the planes take off and land. Phil and I loved watching them soak everything
in.
As always, it was so good to be
with family. We were able to do quite a few things all together. Unfortunately,
the Neff's were plagued with illness and missed a few activities. On our way home from the airport we grabbed some lunch at Lardo downtown. Grandma was able to met us there too. It was very yummy. I am still thinking about their "dirty fries." On our way out we grabbed a milkshake before we headed to Justin's house. There we just settled in and Jade's family came over for a little while too. Phil slipped away to get a haircut for himself and for Brewer and before too long we had to get ready to have an adult dinner at The Melting Pot. It was
fabulous. We had our own section and because of how the meal was served we had
plenty of time to chat and catch up. We even got to experience the thrill of
playing Russian roulette with the $600+ bill. Yikes. And thanks Jade and Ashton
for the yummy meal. ;) Saturday a few of us took the kids to see frozen. I wish
my picture of the row of boys had turned out. It was pretty cute: Trenton, Max,
Ike, Boyd, & Brek. They all loved the movie. Phil opted to not take Brewer and ran a few errands with him while we were at the movie.
Sunday we were all at church
together. Grandma and Grandpa Thelin even came to the Skyline ward so everyone
could be together. Later we headed up to Jeremy's to watch the Seahawk's game.
Brewer loved seeing Max again and Boyd loved playing with his older boy cousins
too. That evening we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Thelin's for dinner
with Jade and Ashton as well. It was really nice to have a gathering with just
a few families. Dinner was amazing and we were able to spend some time with
Mutti who wasn't doing very well. We thought that she had suffered another
mini-stroke. Even though she didn't say much it was wonderful to be there and
to sing songs and hold her hand. She's a beautiful woman and has had such a
profound impact on my life.
Monday was Christmas Eve Eve.
Phil had already given me my Christmas present and had to cash in on it that
day. It was a Mac makeup lesson downtown. Kristin went with me and it was amazing.
I was a little apprehensive at first, but it ended up being great and Kristin
and I had a really good time together. Later that night we all got together to
do our formal Christmas dinner. It took the pressure off Christmas day and
Justin's family was going to be busy getting ready to go to Hawaii for 10 days.
Again dinner was amazing. Boyd ran around with his cousins and we hardly ever
saw him. Brewer on the other hand stayed close by. The bigger and louder the
crowd is, the more anxious and clingy he becomes. After dinner we did a little
Christmas program for the kids and they exchanged their presents for one
another. It was really sweet watching them open their presents.
Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we had
our Christmas breakfast, rice cereal. Everyone met at Uncle Jade's for brunch
we enjoyed what our old tradition offered: rice cereal, stollen, postum, hot
chocolate and Clementine’s. It was so good. As our tradition goes, someone gets
an almond in their bowl, which means that they will have good luck for the
following year. This year, the uncles decided to put "nuts" in each
of the kids' bowls so they could be part of the fun too. However, the
"nut" was actually a piece of dog food. A few weeks later when we
were back home I made some cream of wheat for breakfast. Boyd asked me what it
was and I told him and explained to him that he's had it before and that he
liked it. Then he said, "Is it the stuff with dog food in it?"
Apparently that had a lasting impact on him. After brunch, we dressed up the
kids for the nativity and had Grandpa narrate the story of Jesus' birth.
Followed by a traumatic appearance of the donkey. Sorry Charlotte. After the
nativity Grandma and Grandpa passed out their present to each of the kids. The
adults even got some German chocolate. In the evening we had dinner with
Justin's family, who also invited Jade's family and Grandma and Grandpa over.
It was a great evening and Justin and Ashley had some neat ideas to invite the
Spirit and focus on the real meaning of Christmas, Christ.
Wednesday, Santa came in all
his glory and all the kids were in heaven with their gifts. Boyd got a new boy
and arrow, a dinosaur ornament, puzzle and book as well as a new coat, shoes
and beanie. He loves dinosaurs right now. Brewer also got a new coat, shoes as
well as gloves, some learning letters and a train set. He really loves trains. Phil got a laser trace for his gun and a Coin. And I got an apron, leggings, and wallet along with my make up. In the evening everyone, except Justin's family, gathered at Jeremy's for a
relaxed evening. We all contributed a few finger foods and hang a really good
time relaxing. It was a great way to end the day. Jeremy even put on a magic
show for the kids. It was pretty amusing to watch Boyd during the magic show.
He was enthralled and I think Uncle Jeremy will be his favorite forever.
Thursday we took it easy and
ran a few last minutes errands before we had to head home. Our small family
headed down to Voodoo Doughnuts downtown Portland. It was a quick little trip,
but always fun to go downtown and the doughnuts are all so yummy! We even got
the famous Voodoo this time! Thursday night we all ventured out together to the
zoo to go to Zoo Lights. It was fun, but pretty cold. Afterward we grabbed some
dinner and said our farewells. It was a fun and very packed trip!!
PS Our flights were all so good. The kids did really well on them and Brewer even slept during both flights!!
