Merry Christmas!

Christmas was a little bit different for us this year.  I had planned to do a more simplified celebration because we are busy getting packed, closing a loan, showing our current house to renters and organizing our move.  What I didn't know was that it was going to be even simpler then planned.  On Sunday afternoon I got sick and that evening Lilah got sick and by the morning Madeline wasn't feeling so well either.  Mike's cold from 3 weeks ago was getting worse.  On Monday Anna Elise got sick and everyone was getting worse, not better.  We all had some kind of stomach flu.  Mike made lots of trips to the store for medicine, gatoraide, crackers, and anything else that we needed.  By Tuesday Calvin was sick as well.  We were not able to go to the zoo for the Live Nativity, we skipped our 'baking day' and didn't make very many goodies or cookies, we didn't deliver goody plates to friends and neighbors, we had to postpone our Christmas Eve party, and we all just laid around the whole week!  We did watch Christmas movies and shows and whoever felt well enough, did some Christmas crafts.  On Christmas morning we felt pretty good.  We were able to open presents and we all felt like eating and had our traditional breakfast of Monkey Bread, scrambled eggs and sausage.  Unfortunately that afternoon Celeste finally succumbed and Mike was getting worse.  On Thursday Mike ended up at Patient First and came home with a diagnosis of severe bronchitis.  The Dr gave him a breathing treatment and 4 prescriptions.  I'm glad that the chest x-rays and blood work came back negative for pneumonia!  On Friday morning I woke up with a severe sinus infection that included the normal congestion and pressure but also had body aches.  It lasted several days.  Lilah was taken down with round 2 as well and eventually Anna Elise also got sick, again.  It was not a pleasant week as far as our health was concerned - however, we still managed to celebrate Christmas, have some fun, and spend lots of time together as a family.  Before we got sick we made a gingerbread train station, saw the downtown lights, went to the Nutcracker, and while sick we had our postponed Christmas Eve party, played with presents, Skyped with and talked on the phone to extended family, and got lots and lots of rest!  
For our Christmas dinner we switched up our normal dinner time family questions.  We asked everyone what their favorite present was and what they planned on giving  Jesus this year.  I'm so thankful that Calvin was the first one to go and that he took the questions seriously and gave the perfect answers.  He said he was going to give Jesus the gift of trying to break a bad habit that he has been working on.  The rest of the kids followed his example and all of them picked some personal habit or characteristic that they were working on changing.  It was a nice ending to a special day. 

 On our way to the Nutcracker

Our train and train station gingerbread kit!

 Mom did a lot of the building

 Celeste took good care of the candy =)

 Everyone had fun decorating

Almost done!

 Christmas morning!

 

Celeste eating breakfast in her new dress up and with her new dress up shoes - she carried them around with her all day!  (ignore the lovely picture of me)