Christmas In Georgia

Over the river and through the woods to Nana's house we go !!!  This is how we roll...

When we drive up to Georgia to visit Chris' parents, we have found that the best time for us to leave is at 4:00 am.  We have tried every other time imaginable, but 4:00 am always seems to be the best.  The kids sleep the first few hours, then wake up and eat breakfast in their car seats, watch a movie, and then we are halfway there!  We stop and get lunch and gas and drive the rest of the way with more movies and toys and bribery :)  The whole trip takes us around 10 hours so we usually roll into Nana's house by 2 pm which is perfect.  We let the kids run around, unpack and have a nice dinner than they are tired out and ready for bed.  Plus, our strategic departure time helps us hit the major cities during their off rush hour traffic times which is a must!

The twins got new convertible car seats just in time for our big car trip!  The boys waaaaay exceeded their infant carrier car seats in both length and weight.  At their 9 month check up the dr was like, "Seriously?" I have loved those infant carriers, it has been so easy to get the boys in and out of the car/house/stroller in those things.  I miss them.  But, they twins are much more comfortable and much more safe too.  (Dax up top, Tyce at the bottom)

We made it to Nana's house!  YAY!!!  We were the first of all the kids/grandkids to arrive :) (Dax on the left)

We had a great Christmas in Georgia.  Here are a few of the things that we did that I actually captured with my camera...

First of all, I spent a TON of time shopping.  Really, TONS of time shopping.  It was awesome for me, but terrible for our bank account.  The first day we arrived I took Jada with me for a little shopping trip - I miss her since she's in school all day.  She used to be my best shopping buddy.

We rode this cute little train inside the mall.  And I bought her treats :)  We also bought some presents!  (Yes, my eyebrows look scary.  I got them colored in preparation for my sisters upcoming wedding and the gal who did them was over zealous in her tint job.  Oh well, it faded, eventually.  I try not to let superficial things like that rattle me, its not permanent after all!

One night, Steve and Linda wanted to take us all out to dinner for Hibachi.  Jada and her cousin Lexi thought they were so grown up sitting together at the restaurant at the end of the table...

Linda, Steve and Lindsay...

Me and my Kalle bug...

Chris and his mini-me Tyce...

Valentina and Tyler volunteered to have Dax eat by them.  I'm sure they'll remember not to do that again next time...

Cassie, Brandon and my only nephew - baby Rett (who is the perfect baby and totally edible and scrumptious!)

Dax and me.  I'm pretty sure he whomped his head on the table.  But the fire captivated his attention for awhile...

Chris and me with our boys...

We somehow survived the dinner!  And still had a few smiles to give when we got home.  Caitlin & Tyce, Dax & Jason...

Basically the moment we arrived in Georgia, both of my boys came down with nasty colds.  They had never been in cold weather before, ever.  Ugh.  A few other people in the family got colds and other illnesses and I am not sure but Tyce had this HORRIBLE red, dry, patchy rash all over his body but mostly on his face and tummy and I think it might have been a manifestation of strep throat.  Why I never took him to see a doctor is still a mystery to me.  I guess I was too preoccupied with Christmas and getting ready to go to Ohio for my sister's wedding.  Who knows.  But doesn't his face look so awful?  Poor kid.

Tyce is on the right.  His whole forehead was chapped and slightly swollen.  I think I just thought his skin was really dry everywhere from the weather.  Dax is on the left and he has such sensitive skin that if you touch his face it leaves a mark for a few hours.  He didn't have the rash, just a cold.

But they both still smiled with their daddy so sweetly, I just couldn't get enough of it!

Steve and Linda like to get one huge gift (along with tons of others) for all the kids to really enjoy while they are at their house.  Two years ago it was a race track and the brothers spent HOURS racing electric toy cars over and over.  This year the gift was a ping pong table.  They let the boys set it up before Christmas day so they could enjoy it the whole time they were there.  But setting it up proved to be somewhat difficult for them... haha...

The girls were the cheer squad!  And yes that is a golf cart, another beloved adventure at Nana's house.  (Don't worry about the ping pong table.  Reinforcements were finally called in - aka Cassie - and she was able to show the boys how to assemble the table properly!  Oh, and she was also the one who ended up setting up the racetrack two years ago also.  Thank goodness for Cassie!!)

 The ping pong table was a huge hit with the Wernli brothers of course.  They had an on going tournament and I'm not sure it ever produced a clear victor ;-)  But there were two others who enjoyed the game whenever the paddles weren't claimed, it was Lexi and Jada.  They were hilarious and they just giggled and giggled and imitated their daddy's.  Sooooo precious!
Steve spent days in the kitchen cooking and baking.  He is an awesome chef! 

One of his specialties (and my personal favorite) are his cinnamon rolls.  I think he made over 100 for friends and family in one day...

The twins spent a LOT of time in theses highchairs.  They seem to be bottomless pits... (Dax on the left again)

My adorable nephew Rett.  Wonderbaby.  He was such a peach!  He spent a lot of this trip doing this...

Unfortunately, this is my baby swing we brought up for him to use and the motor decided to die the first day.  After 6 years I guess it just gave up.  We loved that swing and all four of our kids used it for hours on end!  Linda gave it to me at my baby shower for Jada :)  What a great gift!  Anyways, someone inventive decided to tie a string onto the side of the swing and sit next to the swing and just pull it.  It actually worked out pretty well, mostly because Rett is such a fantastic baby :) Different people took turns pulling the rope swing, and someone got this great idea to tie the rope to your toe... (every boy was more than willing to sit down, beat each others' records in Tetris and be in charge of the rope swing ;-)

Dax was cruising all over the room, even in his long pants and (gasp) socks! 

 Now its Christmas Eve and time for some fun family traditions, starting with opening one gift - matching Christmas PJs!

 My little boys/reindeer/elves...

 Chris hated these booties.  I loved them!

 The girls...

 Kalle drew pictures for of Santa (I made the hat, but the rest was all her :)

 Jada wrote a letter to Santa requesting a Go Go Puppy...

 We sprinkled some "reindeer food" out on the lawn...

Decorated Gingerbread houses...
Got a little slap happy...(Uncle Brandon)...

Aunt Lindsay built the BEST fort ever in the basement!  And we actually let the four little girls sleep in it!  We're crazy.  Here's Lexi and Jada...

Inside the fort...

The girls spent hours coloring their fort...

Seriously, isn't my nephew precious??  He's only a few weeks old!

'Twas the night before Christmas...

... and Nana is nailing a sheet to the wall in front the family room to prevent the kids from seeing their Christmas presents because Christmas was on a Sunday and we decided to go to church first, then come home and open all the presents.  I love this picture... 
 The girls somehow managed to fall asleep after HOURS of giggling in the fort in the dark.  They were really having way too much fun.  I kind of hating it, but I mostly loved it :)  And the girls even heard Santa's sleigh bells outside their window ;-)  It was a magical thing to overhear (not the sleigh bells, but the little sweet girls' reaction to hearing the bells).

The following morning, the girls must've been tired because none of them really resisted foregoing present opening for church attendance.  IT WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!  (my favorite part was that Cassie's family of 5 and my family of 6 were the only Wernli's on time to church that morning, oh wait Lindsay was on time too, the poor thing had to speak!)

The hardest part was making the girls wait while we tried to snap some pictures of them in their dresses AFTER church.  They were SOOOO ready to be opening those presents!  And then we even made them change back into their Christmas PJs.  Wow, I feel like we're sounding like terrible parents!  Oh well.  We made up for it in gifts I'm sure. 

The grandkids (minus baby Rett)...

The Grand-daughters...

Finally!  Present opening time!  Here's Jada and her new GoGo Puppy from Santa...

And Kalle and her new walking baby doll from Santa...

Another Christmas miracle, Jada lost her very first tooth ever ON Christmas day!!

We basically put the boys down for a nap right after church and they completely slept through almost all of Christmas.  Oh well.  I don't think they really truly cared.  When they woke up we let them play with a few new toys...

Tyce and Dax... (they still look half asleep)

Overall Christmas was amazing.