We decided to save money on a flight and have more space for gifts, so we drove from Dallas to Daniel's hometown of Jacksonville. It was projected to be a 12 hour drive, but we got there in 11 hours. Not bad at all.....for me and the girls since I slept in the backseat and the girls slept in their car seat the whole time. Kudos to Daniel for driving the whole 11 hours. I know I couldn't do it but I did get some major hip and leg pain post being crunched up in the backseat.
We arrived early Sunday morning at 5:30. Brielle was happy to be out of the car and stayed up the rest of the morning while Arizona needed some extra sleep. Apparently, my sleep in the back seat wasn't enough cause I went to bed and Daniel stayed up with Brielle. He wanted to and I wasn't going to argue with him on that. We went to church that morning and saw some friends and spent the afternoon/evening with family. The first signs of feeling ill for Brielle came on Monday night. She had a low fever and I thought it was just from teething. I was surprised when standing by the sink, she decided to throw up all over me. Thanks. The next few days after that were rough. Nights were hard and sleeping in the same room made me restless and Brielle woke very early every morning that week. I am not a morning person so having Daniel there to help take shifts was so helpful. She started feeling better by Christmas Adam and was her regular self. By regular self, I mean eats like a madwoman, is very needy, and wants momma 100% of the time. Like I said, normal self.
We had all of the family at my in laws by Christmas Eve. All 8 of Daniels brothers and sisters were there, 25 of the 27 grandchildren were there as well. It was a pretty packed house. Arizona loved being around her cousins and having so many kids around to play with.
Cherie had arranged a few days where the kids got together and decorated cookies and made Rice Krispies. The kids had a lot of fun and lots of treats.
Lily's creations. I personally liked the ninja best.
Apparently, this is the Thomas face.
25 of the 27 grandchildren were there. There were face cutouts of Rachel and Jonathan- they couldn't make it out. And yes, Brielle is that tall. Lol!
Brielle with my great niece. I honestly don't know the title between them two- it all gets complicated.
We are all gathered in the living room surrounded by gifts mom and dad got us all. Christmas Day is a lot of fun cause the kids are really excited to tear open their presents.
Christmas Eve family picture.
We had an amazing time with family. It's always fun to be around everyone and catch up. We all left in high spirits but unfortunately, many of us caught some major sicknesses. In the days that followed, Arizona and I got the stomach flu, 5 people got pneumonia, countless others got the same virus we had. It was not a great way to end the holidays but thankfully, we all feeling better. Here's to a Happy and Healthy New Year!!
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