Home, Sweet Tundra!

We made it back home last night around 8pm. We left Goliad at 9am, and our original ETA (according to the Garmin) was 7:04...so we didn't lose much time. We should have arrived back in the driveway at 7:30. However, NW Arkansas received about 5 inches of snow Saturday night, so that's what we had to come home to. From the Bobby Hopper tunnel north, we had some sleet and slick spots, and then from Fayetteville home, traffic had slowed to a crawl. This is a good thing, because I hate it when people think they can drive normally in hazardous conditions, but it's also a very frustrating thing when you've been on the road for 10 hours, and the last half hour takes twice as long.

The kids were FANTASTIC on the trip back. They took good naps, and they we're pretty well entertained by the dvd's we brought and the music we played...oh, and the food that we fed them. Poor Emma was done by Fayetteville, though. She kept saying "come on!" like "let's get out of here already" and grabbing my finger and trying to get me to push the button that releases her car seat harness. We had to stop in town for milk, though, because we were out at home, and according to the weather forecast (in the teens and single digits all week, wind chills below zero and snow again on Wed and Thurs) I didn't know if we'd be making a trip to the store any time soon. But alas, FINALLY, we made it home. We all did a little happy dance, and the kids got reacquainted with all of their toys and things. Daddy made macaroni and cheese, and I got us unpacked as soon as humanly possible, because I hate having bags and boxes of stuff just cluttering everything up. I didn't get to everything, but I did enough.

Today, I have done a whole lot of nothing...other than hang out with my kids, and make them breakfast and lunch. I still have my pajamas on, and I don't care. :-) I have bags of laundry to do, gifts to sort through, Christmas decorations to take down, and a whole lot of china to put away...but again, I just decided to take an "enjoy being back in my house" day!

The reason I have a whole lot of china is that Aaron's G'ma Davis told us a few years ago that she wanted to bequeath to us some of her china. It is white and gold Haviland, and it originally belonged to her grandmother, Lucinda Elizabeth Tinnin. (She told me the name...I hope I've spelled it correctly.) Because Lucinda was concerned about the china being broken, she didn't want to use it everyday. Well, her husband believed that if you're going to have something nice, you might as well use it, and that he and his wife were the most important people who would ever eat off of it anyway...so, to allay her fears about pieces being broken, he purchased her a whole other "extra" set. I've shared the story because I think it's AS important as the china itself. Having a "story" is what makes us all unique! So, over the last two trips, we have attempted to move as much of the beautiful heirloom china as possible. We still have several pieces to bring back...but we're getting there! God willing, Alec and Emma (and Alec's wife) will be responsible and appreciative enough to warrant having these precious items passed down to them! Aaron and I feel incredibly blessed and honored to be the new stewards of such a special gift.

I know this post is getting really long, so if you need to take a bathroom break or a seventh inning stretch or something...feel free. :-) We were gone 10 days, and it feels like we've been away for a month! Probably because so much happened! So, now I will dazzle you with a recounting of our marvelous Christmas adventures:

Christmas Eve, we left for Enid, but as you probably read, we were unable to make it any further than Tulsa because of the blizzard conditions in pretty much all of Oklahoma. We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning at a Days Inn in Tulsa. Luckily, our children are too young to care! We had a scrumptious dinner of Arby's (one of the only places close by and open), and a hearty hotel breakfast of mini muffins and raisin bran. Actually, I was so glad that there was just food for us to eat in the near "white out!" Oh, I had a cooler full of all of the kids' food that we always travel with. Aaron and I could have eaten a Gerber graduate or some Chef Boyardee if it came down to it! The kids had fun running all over the hotel room, and playing on the spinning chair, and we watched Christmas movies on the hotel cable.

We decided to try to head out around 10am on C'mas day. We were the first to try to leave, and everyone thought we were nuts. All of the other people that were stuck there came and stood outside their rooms, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, to see if we would make it. Well, tires spun and we couldn't go anywhere...in 3rd gear. But, when we downshifted and punched the magical VTM-4 Lock button, enabling the 4 wheel drive, VOILA! Suddenly, it was like we were scaling mountains in a jeep. Well, getting out of the parking lot was the hardest part. We made it to a gas station, where a lady almost side-swiped us because she was impatient and decided she needed to turn into the station where not much of the snow was cleared and she slid toward us, narrowly missing the driver's side. Then we made it onto 412, where the 1.5-2 hr drive took us 3.5 to get to Enid.

A whole day later, it was nice to finally be at our destination. We enjoyed being with my parents and sister, niece and Nanny. We all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner and some very lovely gifts. It was a nice, laid back time. The kids really had fun with their cousin, Kylie, this time. They wanted to play with her nonstop!

On Sunday after lunch, we headed to Norman, to stay with our pseudo-family, the Lees. Kyle and Dave prepared a yummy shepherd's pie for us, and of course, Kathy made her famous cookies. We exchanged gifts, and played games, and had a really fun time.

Monday, we took off for Goliad. The 9 hour drive was not bad at all, and we made it to G'mas house by 5:30, I think. The 6 days that we spent there were wonderful. Both of his parents were off for the week. Andrew only had to work a little bit. Alex was out of school, of course. Aric, Bobi Jo and Cira were there until Friday. We had lots of opportunitites to visit with the Aunts and other Grandma, cousin Eli and several other relatives. It was just so nice to have a nice long visit, and not to have to try to cram everything into just a few days. We had Christmas with his family and G'ma Davis on Tuesday morning. Then Tuesday night, we had Christmas with his mother's side at Aunt Linda's house. All of us were blessed with so many nice gifts. The kids have a whole new wardrobe and library! The best present was just getting to be together!

The rest of the week, we made a few trips to Victoria to run errands and see G'ma at Homewood. We ate at Dragon Palace, of course. Friday afternoon, I left for Houston to prepare for the bridal shower I gave on Saturday. It was the first time I've ever spent the night away from my babies. It was hard...on me and Daddy, I think. But we made it through! I had a ton of work to do to keep my mind off of it, and Aaron and a lot of good help with g'ma, g'pa and the uncles. The shower for Veronica went smashingly, and we all had a super time.

I have a lot of pictures to post, but that will have to wait for another time. I need a break because this post has taken me a while! I hope that everyone reading this enjoyed their holidays. We just had such a fantastic time, but we are glad to be back home too!