The Christmas 2008 Journey

We had a great trip to my parents house! We are also happy to be home. For no other reason then there is no place like home. Jakob walked in the door and his face lit up as he said, "I sure missed our house, did you miss it too?" I missed our soft Memory Foam mattress pad;).

Now it's time to give a run down of the events and fun memories:) There are many!

One of my favorite parts of a road trip is the chance we have to listen to a book on CD. On the Christmas road trips we always listen to Christmas themed books. This year was a series of three books by Donna VanLiere called The Christmas Shoes, The Christmas Blessing, and The Christmas Hope. They were tear jerkers. But they all had a great moral to them and filled us with the Christmas Spirit.

The whole trip was filled with Christmas parties and gathering and TONS of food! Jakob was also able to participate in the Nativity during primary in my parents ward. He was a wise man. He acted more like a "wise guy"! It was one of those moments as a mother when you wish you could either crawl in a hole, or rewind time and threaten your child with his life if he doesn't show his best self. Jakob decided that once he got up to the baby Jesus (in front of everyone) that he wanted to play guns with the other wise men. In our family, that was/is not acceptable in the church! So, Leif and I were not impressed and made sure we had a good talk with Jakob after the program. Ahh, the joys of raising boys:)

Jakob and Grandpa had a great time together! Grandpa even played play dough with him. Jakob was in Heaven! It was nice to see him play and interact with Grandma and Grandpa Hunt. He loves to spend time with them! We also got to spend time with Uncle Jared and his girlfriend Rachel. As well as Uncle Jason and his girlfriend Hannah. It was nice to have a few more people around that were willing to throw Jakob around a bit and hold Caleb. - Thanks Everyone!!!! -

We took the chance to go out with just our little family to ride the TRAX to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. We also walked through the huge Conference Center. Luckily we were bundled up because it was cold. But it was a beautiful site and a fun memory. Jakob loved the train the most, of course. However, he loved to see the temple again and talk about the fact that Leif and I were married there.

On Christmas Eve my mom made a yummy dinner for all of us. There was only one major kitchen drama. The marshmallows on top of the yams started on fire. They were REALLY on fire and though I felt bad, I had to throw a glass of water on them to get the fire out. It was actually pretty funny. My mom is a great cook though, she was able to save the yams some how and no one could tell they had been such a mess at one point.

Christmas morning was fun as usual. Of course Jakob kind of thought the world revolved around him. But that was okay.:) It kind of did... We stuck with the three gift tradition. But somehow Santa didn't get the message. Next year we will really follow the plan. REALLY!:) I got spoiled too!! I got pearl earrings, books, aprons, and RAM for my computer! I was able to keep Leif's gifts a complete secret. This was not easy because he found a receipt for the gifts. Luckily he found the return receipt. I found his gift for a cheaper price online, so I returned the one I bought at the store. So he was clueless until Christmas morning when my brother brought in a big heavy package. It was the Collectors Edition of Calvin and Hobbs. - Thanks for helping me find a good deal Heather and Ty! - I also gave Leif a gift certificate for a massage at a spa. He deserves it! We tried really hard to help Jakob understand the true meaning of Christmas this year. I think he got the message. That makes everything worth it!

A couple of days before we left for home we FINALLY went to visit my grandpa Hunt and Grandma Pat. It was the first time that Jakob was really able to comprehend that they were his grandparents too. It had been WAY too long since we had visited them!! - I'm so sorry about that!! - We had a wonderful visit. My Grandpa has the gift of writing. He read us a few of his poems and letters to his family. We also took pictures and visited for a long time. We also loved to go out and see all of the Christmas lights that cover their house and yard every Christmas. Sometimes we put the most important things off in our life and don't even realize it until it's almost too late...

When the girls were in the hospital, Leif and I decided that we would start a family tradition. We decided that on the Christmas years that we were near the hospital that we stayed in, we would take a gift or two for some of the families that had babies in the NICU. We did that this year. It was a sweet experience. We took two Willow Tree Healing Angel figurines. We took the kids with us and presented them to the NICU nurse. We asked them to decide who might benefit from them the most. I hope that it brings the comfort to them that we intended. It brought us comfort and peace...

In between all of these fun times and memories we had a lot of snow and some sickness. But we didn't let that stop us from using the gift that my brother Jared gave us.

He gave Leif and I tickets to the Jazz game. We took Caleb with us and left Jakob to have special time with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time! - Thanks so much Jared! -

- Thanks everyone for the great time!! We had a Westwood family party. It was fun to finally meet you Steph. We really missed all of you who were snowed in!!! Hopefully we'll catch up with you sooner or later. Are any of you planning a trip out to Missouri this summer? Please let us know if you are! We're thinking of driving out if the gas prices stay low. -