Christmas in Iowa

Our first celebration of Christmas has begun! I think this year we have 6 Christmases to celebrate. May seem like a lot to some, but considering the first year Matt and I were married we had something like 11 to celebrate....6 seems just fine to me. Plus it spreads the love and joy out a little right?

First thing that morning we all hopped into the car and hit the road. We were headed to Matt's aunt and uncles farm that is located close to Marshalltown, Iowa. So its about a 3- 31/2 hour trip from where we are.

It began smooth enough, but then quickly turned nasty! Once we got near Des Moines we thought about turning around several times. It was sleeting rain and had some mixed snow in the bunch. Things seemed to get slick and yucky very quickly! We checked the radar several times (isn't technology and fancy cel phones great!!) and we made numerous calls to where we were headed to get advice. We decided that since we were more than half way there and the storm was supposed to be ending soon, we continued on.

However, shortly after that decision was made they closed the interstate. Matt and I still haven't exactly figured out why. We think there must have been a bad accident. Sure the roads weren't great, but we have driven in worse. On those times they didn't close the interstate. So we concluded there must have been a bad car accident. Hard to tell in this picture, but that is a line of cars being forced to exit.

So off the interstate we went and onto the country roads that had not even thought of being plowed. Life is always an adventure isn't it?

But we made it safely and didn't get stuck in a ditch! Whew!!

Sadly, there are some shoes missing. Andy, Marcie and Mason didn't make it. The roads for them were far worse and they had to turn around and go back to their home. We were really sad. We really wanted to see them. With that said, we are glad that they stayed safe!

After we finally made it there, we did our normal Christmas things. We ate...and ate....and ate.

Have I mentioned that Josh and Zach LOVE shrimp! They were very excited to see that shrimp was available! They must get that love from me. I LOVE shrimp too. I think I was just as excited to see the shrimp. :)

We piled our plates with all the yummy and delicious food and had a wonderful feast!!


That day we also got to meet the newest member of the family. Matt's cousins had a baby about 6 weeks ago. He was a good baby. He was passed around and I never heard him cry unless he was hungry. Welcome Brayden!!


After dinner, the kids played for a little while. They had new energy and started to wrestle. Sorry about that Rose. To me this didn't look like fun, but all the boys and guys seemed to think it was normal.



Patrick even joined in on the fun. Would you call that fun Patrick?

Eventually the wrestling stopped. I was shocked no one got hurt and nothing got broken. Another Christmas miracle? Then the desserts were brought out. You know, cause we hadn't had enough to eat yet. :)

After dessert, we opened presents.


On this side of the family the adults do a white elephant sort of exchange. This year the gifts were funny. I happened to get a pig nose, glasses, hair picks, and clementies. Of course it was a hit with the kids!

Zach L. Josh, Alex

The kids played with their new presents. Everyone seemed to be happy with what they got. Some of the adults even joined in on the fun.


Before everyone left, we got the traditional posed pictures.
Here is James with his kids:

James with almost all of the grandkids.

James with almost all of the great grand kids:


The drive home was uneventful. It was WAY better than the drive out. No issues at all. Thanks Cal and Rose for hosting. It was wonderful as always.

On a side note. Here is the picture I chose for Day 2 of my 7 Days photo project I am doing. Day 2 had a theme to it. The theme was treat. So I chose this picture. My boys are the best treat to me!