Holidays with Family

Early Saturday morning, on the 26th, at 4:20am to be exact, we pulled the car out of the garage, crossed our fingers that we had everything, and set out for our 12 hr drive to Redding, CA. Not even 20 minutes into our trip we learn that Annie is really not cut out for the car. She puked all over her blanket. So, on the side of the 95 southbound we remember what we forgot, rags and paper towels. We got it all worked out and the next time she threw up, 2 hours or so later I was prepared and caught it in her bowl. Besides that, the trip was pretty uneventful. The kids did fabulous as always and only stopped to pee twice. We had packed food for breakfast and lunch (even milk in the cooler for breakfast which we later forgot was there and then we had a stinky problem at Dad's, but nevertheless,) and so didn't even have to stop for food and only refueled once. We rolled in to Dad's at 4:22 pm. Nice drivin' babe.
The most eventful part of the day, aside from Annie, was bath time. While I cleaned up dinner, Bill washed the kids and I hear, "Rachel..." I go to the bathroom to be confronted with Bill holding Olivia's tooth in his hand. Apparently he had been washing her face and possibly pushed a little too hard. Oh well. It had been loose for weeks. 2 down... plenty to go.
Sunday we all went to church at Redding 5th ward, all except the Reasbecks. (My dad's ward, the same ward I spent my entire childhood in.) It was good to be there. Bill gave me 1/2 hr of visit time but even if it had been 4 it would never be enough. Then we were off to lunch at Mom and Tiger's. Sam and Nikki and Josh and Cody were there as well as Bryan and DeAnn. It was good food as always, great company and fantastic gifts. Bill made the calendar for his mom this year and did a great job. He only left off Cody's birthday which wouldn't be too bad except that was also the one present that was left at my dad's. Poor Cody didn't get to play with his barking puppy. Good thing he's only 1 and couldn't tell the difference(We ended up dropping it off on his doorstep at 5am on our way back home to Vegas. We got Josh a Razor Scooter, that we know he will master before long. Josh and Aaron each got Leapsters from Grandma and Papa T and Livi got her Nintendo DS. Thankfully DeAnn had received one for Christmas too and was able to help Livi navigate her way through some basic ops. Sam and Nikki gave us an annual family ornament and Mom and Tiger gave us a new stereo, iron, & bike gear for me (one can never have enough). Bill gifted his signature piece, the Whitehouse Christmas tree ornament and we visited for the afternoon. Bryan was lots of fun and brought his Nintendo Wii over for the kids to play with. FUN!
Afterwards it was off to Papa's where everyone was meeting up for dinner and the gift exchange. We got dad a bowling shirt with his name embroidered in it (although because of the script, admittedly it looks more like "Dan" than "Don"). Aaron had Ethan and got him cowboy boots. Emily had Aaron and got him a baseball mitt, baseball and bat! (He loves his "real" bat.)
Livi had Emily and because my idea of making matching dresses for the girls didn't work (the dress turned out gorgeous, it just won't fit for a year or two), she game her a ball popper. Evan had Olivia and got her a hoola hoop, jump rope, and a handball. (Everything she needed.)
It was so much fun to see everyone. For Bill it had been a year since he's seen everyone. We couldn't believe how big the little ones had gotten. We loved Chase's "cheesy grin". You ask him for the "cheesy grin" and he gives it to ya! (He looks so much like Evan when he was little.) And Emmie's eyes, whoa, look out!

Angie, Garrett, Me, Bill, Livi, Matt

The evening was spent rocking out to Band Hero. Angie's boyfriend, Matt, and his son, Daxton, were able to join us too. SO MUCH FUN!

Even Kristi was able to breakaway from Abby (2 weeks old) and get in on the action. Thanks for the assist Bill.

Aaron(3), Logan(5), Daxton(3) and Livi(5)

We even let the kids have a turn, even though it was mostly the adults rockin' the stage. (Bill even tried out his vocals. You go babe!)
Sadly enough the picture taking pretty much stopped after this. We got 1 picture of Grandpa Ellison with the kids when we went down to Red Bluff for the afternoon on Tuesday. Bill got a gun vault, I got more bike stuff :), the kids got clothes, books, bird house kits (built by Grandpa) and an awesome homemade picnic table. (On the roof of the car it made for a loud 9 hours. The last 3 something shifted and we no longer could hear the incessant hum/roar of the wind ripping through the tie-downs.) Helen/Nana was given, for tradition, the Whitehouse ornament and we gave Grandpa a "knife" for his new lathe.

Annie had tons of fun with Dad's labs, Daisy and May. (It has not been easy for her not to have the land to roam here like she did there.

Thursday, New Year's Eve our kids spent the night at the Reasbecks, they got a sitter, the Claycamps got a sitter and all the adults went out for dinner at Guadalajara on Cypress and then back to Dad's for games. I encouraged Dad to have a lady friend that he's been chatting with join us so everyone had a date. Dad and Sue, the Reasbecks, the Claycamps (+ Abby, of course, and Emily, who's been a little clingy since the arrival of li'l sis), us, Angie and Matt, and Adam and Mauni. (Adam's girlfriend Mauni flew in to Redding that day from Salt Lake.) It was a great night and fabulous company. I don't pretend to know what will happen of developing relationships but Bill and I agreed that it was a little strange sitting at the kitchen table playing games, all 14 of us, thinking of the possibility of this one day being our family. I thought a lot about Mom and how she was having/getting to watch this from a different perspective... I could feel her smiling down on us. I know she would be pleased at the choices we all are making, no matter how difficult at times they may be.

Friday, New Year's Day we spent with Bill's dad's family. The Ellison gift exchange was at David and Debbie's this year. It was a lot of fun with fun conversation and a fabulous spaghetti lunch. Sandra was there to help host, along with Jim and Tenley, Dad and Helen, and Justin. Aaron and Olivia loved the attention given, as they were the only kids there. Aaron opened a gift that had been wrapped by Uncle Jim in an inflatable boat box. The expression of sheer joy on his face as he excitedly called to his sister to come see what he had got... quickly diminished as he discovered a plant stand on casters. We told him it was a skateboard. Livi made a beautiful purple bracelet that ended with Aunt Debbie and we also made a Christmas wreath that ended with Uncle David. The kids particularly enjoyed playing cards with Aunt Debbie and a treasure hunt with Aunt Tenley.
Friday night Bill and I, and our kids, along with Adam, Mauni, Matt and Angie all went to Angelo's Pizza. For Bill, Angie, Adam and I it was a bit of a chance to reminisce of the old days. Angelo's is where we always had our after city league sports pizza parties. Bill still hasn't found the pizza parlor here that fits this place in his mind. (I don't think he ever will. He'll always want to go back and play the same arcade games that have been there for over 20 years.) It was great nostalgic fun.

Saturday, Bill took Aaron down to his dad's to pick up the picnic table while I took Olivia to join the rest of the cousins at the movies. We saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks 2". It was a cute movie and Olivia loved it! Afterwards the 4 Ellisons went with Adam and Mauni up a canyon past Keswick Damn to shoot. Garrett and his boys were able to join us as well. We didn't have much time, it was getting dark and we were to meet Dad and Angie for "Monte Carlo" bowling that evening. All the kids got to shoot Bills gun, which they all thought was super cool. Garrett's boys even hung on to his casings. I shot Garrett's rifle that had "no kick". "No kick my ***" I said to Garrett as it blew me backwards. Good thing I was sitting in the bed of his truck. (We shot at bowling pins dad had picked up from the alley after a new shipment came in. Apparently this was Olivia's most favorite part of the whole trip.This is the story she wrote for her progress report assessment of what she did for winter break. At first glance I thought the bullet was heading for a simple human shape but then remembered, the bowling pins!

Bowling that night was fun. Livi and Aaron did really well just watching and later ended up bowling some frames of their own. I won $3, I think, Dad won $25 (?) and Mauni won $5(?). Bill had a chance several times but the pressure of winning a buck or fifty cents was just too great and he'd choke. :) It was a lot of fun. And even more fun/funny to see Dad in his element. He knew everyone there, and they all knew him. It was great.

Sunday morning we were up and out by 3:30am. We had to pick up a leapster kit at the Costco in Bakersfield because Aaron's had simply quit working. Bakersfield was the only store in all of California, Nevada, Utah that had one left. Turns out, it was the batteries... who'd have thought that the "rain bath" Aaron gave it to "clean my leapster" would've wrecked new batteries. I suppose it does make sense. !!!

Once again Bill was a fantastic driver... I try, I really do. I just can't stay awake, even with caffeine. Good thing I have a good man.