Christmas Travels

Well...due to a blizzard that decided to blow through the midwest smack dab in the middle of Christmas, plans were mixed around just a bit this year. We hadn't planned to travel until Wednesday morning. But, with reports of possibly not being able to go anywhere if one waited until then, at 5PM Tuesday night, we made the decision to leave for our Christmas Trek. I had not one thing packed, as I had been focused on Lainey's Christmas party that afternoon and our Christmas that we had had that week, etc. So, needless to say, the next couple hours were a flurry of activity. But, we managed to get things thrown together and had a safe drive Tuesday night. The worst part was wondering if the next mile was going to be the black ice they were reporting. But, God was with us, throughout all our travels and we made it to Kearney safely that night.

We started out Christmas with my family in Kearney.

Lainey, Sophie & Sawyer at the Christmas Eve Children's Mass. It was fun to see some classmates of mine after mass and catch up a little and see their beautiful families.

My sister-in-law, Mandy, and niece, Kinley, after mass.

Lainey and Sophie with their cousin, Aubrey. They had the most fun holding the babies, Aubrey and Kinley, this year whenever they could!


Sawyer and his cousin, Keaton, posing in their matching PJ's and rainboots.

Keaton, Sophie and Sawyer decorating the gingerbread house. Lainey was too busy playing the Wii. :)

The wonderful creation!

Due to the weather this year, we had Matt's family Christmas in Holdrege at Mike and Wendi's beautiful home on the 26th.

Sophie and Lainey with their cousin, Aldyn. They had the most fun together. What a little sweetheart she is!

Sawyer sportin' his new PJ's and slippers from Grammy and Grandpa Monte. He LOVES them!

Although the Sheffield-side Christmas was cancelled due to people being unable to travel, we were still able to spend some nice time with Great-Grandpa Hersh singing Christmas carols and visiting.

We had the Turnquist-side Christmas the evening of the 26th in Holdrege at Matt's Aunt Beth's and Uncle Brad's home.

Great-Grandma Elaine made Sawyer this cute little bag with his name on it.

Great-Grandma Elaine made the little girls these adorable doll quilts! The girls love theirs. By the time we tried to gather for the picture...it was getting a little late. :)

We were very lucky to have our good friends, The Maggio's, from Colorado, stay with us for a night on their way home from visiting their families in Indiana!!!

Sawyer and I went to Elmo Live on Saturday, January 3, with some friends. The girls were originally supposed to go, but their new little friend had a movie theater 'Princess and The Frog' birthday party which they chose instead. We also had my Keller-side Family Christmas that day...rescheduled from the previous weekend when they had 20" of snow up in Humphrey and treacherous roads. So, I took Sawyer to the concert, then drove up with just him to the Christmas...a little late. It was different not having everyone there...but then, what wasn't different about Christmas this year? :)

Sawyer was in AWE of the show. He waved and giggled the whole time. "Hi, Elmo!" "Big Bird!" He talked to all the characters and even today talks several times a day about Elmo Live. I'm SO glad we went!

Sawyer had no less than 15 suckers at the Keller Christmas this year. He just kept running to the table and grabbing them out of the candy can. :) I would find little sticks all over the place. :)

One of my favorite parts of Keller Christmas is the $10 gift exchange. I don't know how many are in the exchange now, but it grows every year. FUN!

I'm just so thankful for all the time we were able to have with family this year despite the weather. Had we not left Tuesday night, I'm not sure we would have had any time at all. Omaha got much more snow than central Nebraska where we were at. I just took the tree down last night and put the last bit of the Christmas decorations away. The time went way too fast as it always does. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm blogging 2010 Christmas, but I won't wish this year away...there are too many precious moments yet to happen.