Christmas Catch-up

After he finished up his exam the week before Christmas, Brandon had four days at home to celebrate the end of interview season and just enjoy having made it through Step 2......in theory.  In reality, he had a month's worth of correspondence and miscellaneous unattended matters to address, so it was more like four days of catch-up. We managed to relax a little, but he was still working hard on his vacation.

On Christmas Eve day, we drove over to West Des Moines to spend a few days with my sisters, their husbands and our collective six children at my parents' house.  It was a wonderful, chaotic, noisy, family-filled four days.  I don't see my sisters often these days, so I appreciated to the opportunity to spend some uninterrupted time together.  We attended an early, kid-friendly Christmas Eve service at West Des Moines United Methodist with my parents and the Weldon crew. The Vargas' flew in Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve - Becca, Brandon, Jonah, Grandma, Josh, Grandpa, Daniel, Joe, Katie, Patrick

All the boys wore argyle for Christmas :)

We didn't have much on the agenda for our time in WDM, other than enjoying each other's company. We did some cookie decorating (the cookies Jonah helped make during our previous trip home), LOTS of playing in the snow - including a massive snowman and several sledding trips, and tons of time with Jonah's cousins from Colorado and Texas.  I was surprised by how much Jonah and Patrick interacted and played together. They are just two months apart and quite the pair. Jonah tends to eat a pretty early lunch (plus the Weldons are on Mountain Time), so he could usually be found sitting at the table by himself before noon. Patrick quickly learned that if he hung around the table while Jonah ate, Jonah was eager to hand him bites of food from his plate :)

The cookie decorating crew. They came up with some interesting designs...but they all tasted delicious!

Christmas morning breakfast in our pj's! No need to get dressed when there's no place to go :)

Jonah got outside in the snow just about every day we were there. Lots of playing in the snow in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard, plus a few trips to the elementary school to do some sledding. Jonah cannot get enough of the snow and being outside.

Josh pulling Jonah and Patrick around the yard

Brandon and Josh used up most of the snow in the yard to make this massive snowman!!

Burying Josh in the snow

The Weldon boys enjoying snowy Iowa

Sledding!!

Jonah loved going down the hill by himself. He always looked so serious on the ride down, but as soon as he finished, he would break out in a big smile and beg to do it "again, again!!"

Dad and his creepy 'stache

Layla, hanging out inside where it was warm!!

 One morning, Jonah and Patrick spent a good 30 minutes hanging out by the fireplace, and intermittently running across the room to the couch, and then back. And occasionally pausing to hug it out.

Patrick has perfected the one-eyed, crooked smile, cheesy grin :)

Grandma's toy stash was a big hit. And they (mostly) shared nicely.

For our lodging, each family got one bedroom (including the 5 Weldons!). Somehow, we ended up being the only ones who didn't have to share our room with a child. Maybe they felt sorry for the pregnant lady?? Jonah spent his nights in a pack-n-play in Grandma and Grandpa's closet. This had the added bonus (for us) of allowing Grandma and Grandpa to get up with Jonah each morning. Bummer for them that our early-riser was probably the first one up each morning!

Tight quarters!

Technology. Daniel and Josh each got a Kindle for Christmas, and they spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa's house watching movies and playing games on their new devices. My technology-loving toddler did surprisingly well with looking-but-not-touching alongside his cousins (and the older boys were very patient when Jonah scootched right up next to them to check things out!). There were also plenty of iPads to go around for the littler boys to get their technology fill - though we tried to limit this, as well.

Even the Texans got out to enjoy the snow!

I took advantage of being in Des Moines and met up with some girlfriends from high school. We met at a fun "small plate" restaurant where we shared a number of yummy dishes - there was even a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table to facilitate sharing :)  It was a fun evening of catching up, laughing and enjoying the company of friends I don't often get to see.

F: Becca, Tori, Lizz   B: Christine, Katie, Allie, Kelly

Brandon took the opportunity to take in a movie with my dad (The Hobbit, in IMAX! - which my dad said kind of defeated the purpose...because hobbits are supposed to be small), while my awesome mom and sisters fed and bathed Jonah and put him to bed! (While also feeding and bathing their own children - rock stars!)  After our time in West Des Moines, the whole crew loaded up in three vehicles and headed for McGregor to meet up with my brothers (and crew), as well as some time with extended family on both the Strutt and Henkes sides. We sure squeezed a lot of family into a short week :)  More on that a bit later...