Tuesday, December 23rd, we packed up and headed to Wichita to spend Christmas with our Keathley family. We had the car all packed up and were pulling out of the driveway when we just happened to hear on the radio that I-70 was closed. So, we decided to take the southern route.
Kellen hadn't let this phone leave his side since he got it (he even slept with it). He said, "look, Mama, mine phone is on mine head!" Anything to amuse yourself on a long car trip!
It was so incredibly windy the whole trip! I can't even say how many tumble weeds we saw! This picture does not even do the situation justice.
Then we came to this area with this barrier. They would hit the barrier and then fly up into the air! We had a pretty good trip, got into town and ate a quick dinner.
Then, I went out to get together with a few of my high school friends that live in town. Most of us were unable to make it to our 20 year reunion in the fall, so I asked if anyone could get together while I was in town for Christmas. I was impressed that we were able to get this many of us together!
We had a really great time. Four of us were left standing at 12:30 am, then two of us went home. And, these two crazy girls went out to Walmart and didn't get back until almost 3 am! I love it so much! These friends of mine lived right next door to each other growing up - so fun that they are still so close.
Christmas eve, I was able to have lunch with my friend Natalie - the first friend I ever had. We had a great time. In the afternoon, Dad, Mom, Matt, Leslie, and the four of us went to a Christmas eve service then had a yummy BBQ dinner.
Then the kids wanted to open a gift. Jenna and Kellen got new PJs from us.
They loved these new towels/washcloths from Grandpa and Grandma.
And they loved this Frozen Trouble game from Grandpa & Grandma, too.
After we got the kids to bed, Matt, Leslie, Kevin and I watched Elf.
Christmas morning was fun!
So much excitement with just the stocking stuff! In the foreground of this picture is Kellen's other most favorite gift this Christmas - a Batman flashlight. It has discs that you can insert and then shine the images on the wall.
Kellen imitating the face of his new little puppy.
Kevin imitating the face of Kellen's new puppy.
A cool "make your own straw" set.
I'm glad Kevin thought to get this video - the excitement is so much fun! (See video 1162 in "Christmas '14" folder.)
Bow and arrow sets from Santa
Elsa from Daddy and Mama
An Olaf puzzle that you can color from Jenna
A snow cone maker from Grandpa & Grandma
And art sets from Grandpa & Grandma
A crystal growing set from Kellen - I love how he's telling her all about it!
A yummy Christmas breakfast with the fun new straws
A cuddle with Aunt Leslie
and funny faces!
After the excitement of Christmas morning and presents, the rest of Christmas day was spent getting ready for the next day's Christmas family dinner. All of a sudden, there was an urgent knock at the door and a stranger telling us "Your fence is on fire!" Dad said, "No, that's just the smoke from my turkey I'm smoking." And the stranger said, "No, your fence is on fire." Sure enough!
Smoking turkey + 60 mph winds + a pile of leaves nearby = fire!
So glad that the stranger happened to be driving by when he did and that he stopped and let us know! The damage could have been a lot worse. But, we have an exciting story to add to our Christmas memories of 2014.
Jenna spent a lot of our time at Grandma's house playing Christmas songs on the piano. She and Aunt Leslie made up a secret code language called "blop." It's kind of like pig latin, but uses "blop" instead. For example: erry mblop hristmas cblop. Guess it's not so secret now.
And they both had a lot of fun trying out their new bow and arrows!
Christmas afternoon, we watched Elf again - this time with the kids. "First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."
David & Katie arrived Christmas evening. We had a fun time with them, then put the kids to bed, then had our grown-up gift exchange.
On the 26th, we had a mid-day Christmas meal with all of us and the Wards. Then, the kids had more gifts to open from Uncles, Aunts, Grandpa, & Grandma.
These Rudolph noses were really fun from Uncle Matt & Aunt Leslie!
They light up and blink!
Remote control cars from Uncle David & Aunt Katie - so fun!
Frozen magnetic dolls . . .
and books . . .
and Legos from Grandpa & Grandma.
Sweet girls, sweet desserts!
Despicable Me from Uncle Matt & Aunt Leslie! A favorite movie in our family.
The evening of the 26th, Mom, David, Katie, Matt, Leslie, Jenna, and I ventured out to the Botanica Illuminations. It was cold, but pretty.
My favorite gingerbread girl.
Katie was a great chauffeur and took us to see some more Christmas lights on the way home. Leslie, Jenna, and I had fun singing Christmas carols in the back seat of the van. Thanks Matt, for taking this great picture!
David and Katie had to leave in the evening of the 27th, but we managed to squeeze in a lunch at Genghis Grill and a nice family picture.
We did some silly ones, too! In this one, Matt had pressed the timer button and then "tripped" on the way to join the picture. The camera took the picture as he was recovering from the trip. So hilarious!
This one's pretty great, too!
And, this is the selfie the Kevin was taking during the silly picture. Love Kellen's "blue steel" pose!
Jenna made this list of "plans" for fun with her Aunts and packed as many of them as she could into her last afternoon with them. She has awesome Aunts and loves them so much!
Sunday, the 28th, we enjoyed church and lunch with Matt and Leslie before they had to leave. Then, Grandma and I took the kids to a special kids event at the art museum. There were all kinds of crafts for the kids to do. They loved it! Before we left, we went to see this great exhibit of Dale Chihuly's blown glass art. This chandelier was incredible!
And all of these pieces were under glass that you could walk on. After the museum, Jenna and Kellen introduced Grandma to Despicable Me. And, Monday morning, we made the drive back home.
We had a great Christmas with our Keathley family. So glad that we could all be together!
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