We packed the car the night before so all we had to do was get up, eat breakfast, and head out of town. The Lime got carsick when we drove to Utah and was very nervous that it would happen again. One tablet of Dramamine did the trick and knocked him out for the first half of the drive (love that stuff!).
Prior to him falling asleep, he witnessed a winter wonderland as we drove through the Sierras.
Any fears he had of driving were whisked away as he soaked in the magic of the snow. We told him there would be much more when we arrived in Idaho.
The weather absolutely worked in our favor as we drove across three states. We made a couple bathroom/meal stops and arrived safely to my parents' about 13 hours later. Thankfully their home was nice and toasty because it was freezing outside, literally.
It was our first time seeing their house in person, and while we've seen pictures, it was nice to see where they call "home".
We all crashed for the night, after my brother and his family came over for a visit, and slept better than we would all week.
Christmas Eve was spent playing with cousins and waiting for more to arrive. That night, we had our traditional spaghetti dinner, opened pajamas, my dad read from the scriptures, and we left milk and cookies for Santa.
The Lime woke up early and wanted to get started opening presents. We held out as long as we could, hoping more people would wake up and join us. After about an hour, we decided to get started with our Santa gifts and go from there. As we were opening them, everyone else joined us around the Christmas tree where gifts were given with love.
The morning was spent playing with toys, enjoying breakfast together, getting ready for the day, making prime rib, and homemade rolls. We were also looking forward to the arrival of the last two siblings and their families.
When we woke up Saturday morning, the party could officially begin; everyone was together! Since 1/2 of the families there don't live in the snow, they were out soaking it all in (even though it was still freezing).
After burning some energy off outside, we all gathered inside to finish exchanging gifts. It was crazy, happy chaos!
The next day, we attended church with my parents and brother. For dinner, he hosted everyone at his house for pizza and salad.
After our day of rest, we gathered together again in Rexburg for some food and fun. Our group took up the entire back room at Big Jud's, where we ate our weight in french fries (they were so good!) and the kids gorged on soda.
After lunch, we all tagged along with my sister and her family as they visited the fire station where her brother-in-law works. He was gracious enough to give us all a tour and let our rambunctious crew take over for an hour.
From there, some of us parted ways and went sledding while the other group went to do something indoors. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned so we headed back to town, after taking a detour to see the Rexburg temple.
We gave my mom a break from the noise and played at church before it was time to eat dinner. The boys played football and Nerf guns, while the girls danced. My awesome sister-in-law ran laps around the gym to keep up with her daily exercise. I love her dedication.
My brother owns a deli with his brother-in-law and I've only heard about it for the last nine years. It was nice to finally be able to see the place. Thankfully, they weren't very busy so our group of 31 didn't disrupt things too much. After we ate, we took some group photos. I should have read the manual to my new camera so I could have set the timer for the entire group photo. I'll just have to snag a copy from someone else.
Before we knew it, our trip had come to an end. We originally planned to drive down to Utah to visit friends and family for a couple days, but we all came down with colds and weren't wanting to share our germs with anyone else (27 people is our max). We packed the car up Monday night and headed out of town before the sun came up. The Lime bawled his eyes out, sad to leave all of his cousins that he had bonded with. It's a shame we don't live closer to most of them but we look forward to seeing them all again soon. I bawled my eyes out because I hate saying goodbye to my parents. With my dad's recent health problems, I wish I could spend most of my time with them. I was extremely grateful for their selflessness in making our Christmas happen.
We had a few outbursts from a certain little person on the way home but again, had a very uneventful drive. We were home in exactly 12 hours and we've all been sleeping ever since.
Merry Christmas!
