CHRISTMAS!!!

We went on a little trip down to Utah to spend Christmas with Emily's family. We hit the road shortly after I got off work on the 22nd, and were actually making some pretty good time until we got a nail in one of the tires. We pulled over so I could fill it with enough air to make it to the next gas station.  At the gas station I got out to assess the tire, and the nail had already come out and I could hear the air coming out of the hole. After patching it up, we were back on the road. We made it as far as La Grande, and decided to stop for the night. 

The next morning Cambri woke up crying pre-6am, so we decided to get up and going.

We arrived to Bountiful in the afternoon, overall it was a pretty good drive.

Hadley wasted no time showing Aunt Sarah how to avoid the oil spills on MarioKart. 

Cambri continued to be a little fussy, and cried way more than usual. It was that, and the fact she wasn't smiling that told us that something was really bothering her. We gave her some Tylenol and she got in some pretty good naps. For a while she'd be fine and back to her old self, but then all of a sudden she'd go back to being cranky.  We spent quite a bit of time together downstairs to escape the noise and chaos of all the other grandkids upstairs. 

For my birthday, Emily made me a Mtn Dew Baja Blast cake. It turned out super moist and delicious.

Emily's dad was out of town on a flight, so the Christmas celebrations waited until he got home.  So for dinner on the 26th, Emily's mom made a few pizzas, the kids decorated some sugar cookies, and we played a card game while the kids destroyed the basement. Good times. 

On the morning of the 27th the girls woke up ready to tear into some presents.  However, since Cambri still wasn't feeling well, she watched for the first little bit as Hadley carefully and methodically unwrapped her gifts. 

Cambri became super fussy again, and since it was time for her to have a bottle, we retreated downstairs where after her bottle she took a monster nap.  When she woke up, she was feeling much better.

We decided enough was enough, and took her to an emergent care clinic down the road to see if she had an ear infection. And sure enough, she did.  She was prescribed some Amoxicillin and we kept up with the Tylenol and Motrin. Before long she had regained her usual, happy self. 

One of the days we all got our swimsuits on and headed over to the rec center, which has an indoor pool, lazy river, and slides.  Hadley loved it, Cambri kind of just chilled, and the adults sat around as the kids wore themselves out.

When all the family gets together it means pictures are to be taken. I set up the camera on the tripod and we tried our darndest to get everyone to look at the camera with a smile. This was the best we got, and realistically it's probably better than we could've hoped for.  

Hadley was not happy to be taking pictures, though.

Our initial plan was to go see Gma and Gpa Christensen on Christmas Day, but because Cambri had a fever we didn't end up having the chance.  Since she was feeling better now, we were able to swing by for a quick "hello" through their window on the 30th because they were still in lockdown. It was good to see them again, but wish we could've actually sat down with them at least.  We then drove up to see Sherry, Larry, and TJ for a little bit, which is always fun.  

The drive home was pretty easy-going, really. It was supposed to rain and snow a lot, which it didn't really end up doing. We were able to get home in time for dinner on New Year's Eve. We all went to bed way before midnight.