After the Wedding.....

The day after the wedding was Sunday.  We went to church but the kids were all so tired and sick that we left after Sacrament meeting.  We needed a low key day....or two.  Monday morning we went to the mountains to spend some time in Leavenworth.  It was unusually cold up there.  And we spent the first night freezing and constantly feeding the fire because we had left a cabin window open without knowing it.  Jeremy didn't get much sleep at the cabin the two night we were there.  He was always checking the fire and checking the kids to be sure everyone was warm.

See Tommy crying on the sled?  He pretty much fussed, grumped, and cried all day in Leavenworth.  He didn't want to play in the snow.  He didn't want to ride the sled.  He just wanted to be grouchy.

After sledding for a while the girls got really cold.  We bought hot chocolate and Papa gave everyone a hand warmer packet.  Once we warmed up a bit, everyone was happier.  We decided to visit the nutcracker museum.  It was warm and the kids loved it.  There are hundreds of nutcrackers on display.  Tommy was captivated by some of them.  He would fixate on certain ones and be perfectly content to look at them for a long time.  Once the chill was off our bones, we were ready to venture outside again.  We did a little more sledding  and then had a great dinner in town.

It felt good to get back to the cabin that night, enjoy the fire, and eat leftover wedding cake.  Papa made some Jiffy Pop popcorn for the kids.  It was the first time they had ever seen it.  I love the surprised look on their faces!

The next day was much warmer.  We slept in - the girls ventured down to the Puna and Papa's camper to snuggle for a while.  We played on the property and rode snowmobiles.  Then it was time to pack up and go home.

We spent New Year's Eve in Washington.  Brady and Madison came back after a few days in Seattle and offered to watch the kids for us while we went to see Unbroken.  Lily got to try on Madison's veil and the kids had a blast in the tub together.  Brady and Madison had quite a night with the kids.  I think they won't be having any children for a long time.

We spent New Year's Day driving back home.  We had great roads, but the kids had some episodes of carsickness.  Nothing too bad.  We made it back in good time.  It felt good to be back in our own beds.  This was a long but wonderful trip.