The day after school got out, we headed to Washington.
We stayed the first night at my grandparent's house in Selah.
My kids loved the Christmas village at my grandparents' house.
I really want one at our house.
My kids were so excited to play outside. They love my grandparents' huge yard. I do too.
The drive over the pass to my parents' house the next day was a little dicey.
But the scenery was so beautiful.
The kids were so excited to be out of the car finally.
We got to my parents' house on the afternoon of December 22nd.
The next day we wanted to just relax since we were all exhausted from two days of traveling.
So my mom and I walked the kids down the street to Flower World to go see the animals.
And then that night we walked around my parents neighborhood giving out Christmas gifts.
The next day was Christmas Eve.
We went to Church that morning and then came home
and did all our tradition Christmas Eve activities.
We have a tradition that on Christmas Eve our kids get to open one gift.
And that gift is from one of their siblings.
The kids all get so excited about the sibling gift exchange.
Here are my attempts to get a picture of all of the kids with their sibling gifts.
They were too excited to care about looking at the camera.
All the kids wanted to help Ty open his gift.
Eli had Ty's name and he picked out a car transporter for him.
Avery got Ruby a bath Barbie. Ruby LOVED it.
Lexi got Eli just what he had been asking for, a toy VW Bus.
He has wanted one ever since he saw the last Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
In the movie the "Beardo" family drives one.
And Eli just loved it.
Ty got Avery a Lil Woodzeez family that she had been hoping for.
And Ruby got Lexi the Lil Woodzeez family that she had been hoping for.
Here's the tree all ready for the kids to see on Christmas morning.
Here are my kids ready to go on Christmas morning.
Ruby had developed a cough and runny nose
and wasn't sure what the hype was all about and wasn't in the mood for pictures of people.
The kids were so excited to find their Santa presents.
Lexi got a new doll from Santa.
Avery also got a new doll from Santa.
Santa gave Eli a new toy dump truck.
Ruby got a jeep for her dolls from Santa.
And Santa got Ty some new baby toys.
Ruby cheered up once she figured out what was going on.
She was so excited when she opened up her mermaid bath Barbies.
After that she just wanted a bath though.
Avery got the number one thing on her wish list. A doll kitchen!
Lexi got the doll sewing set she had been asking for.
Eli got some new bath toys. A ferry boat and sea plane.
He was so excited to take a bath after that.
My dad got a Samsung Galaxy 8. He was so touched that he cried.
The girls were so excited to start playing with their new toys.
They took a break from opening presents to play.
My parent's got Sean this shirt. It's so him.
I'll be honest it was a little emotional watching my dad on Christmas morning.
You have to remember that a few weeks before this
we thought that he wouldn't be alive for Christmas.
My mom got the craziest mask for the pool. We all couldn't stop laughing about it.
Every year I make my dad a personalized picture with our pictures.
Eli has been wanting an art kit like his sisters for months.
Honestly this is his most used gift.
He uses it everyday.
After opening gifts we had a laid back day.
And it even snowed.
That night Ty started coughing in his sleep.
A deep, gross croup like cough.
Sean and I couldn't sleep after that.
We both knew that we couldn't stay at my parents house anymore.
My dad has respiratory issues and we couldn't risk getting him sick.
So the next morning we packed up our van and left.
It was a very emotional goodbye.
And a very quick and difficult way to end our trip.
I cried saying goodbye to both of my parents. They cried too.
And least we have the memory of Christmas morning together.
That's what I'm going to choose to remember from this trip.
