The Nightmare Before (and also during and after) Christmas

Holy smokes... that was the Christmas from Hell. And I mean that in the most positive of ways.  Before I enter my ranting and raving mode, I must post a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: We really did have a wonderful Christmas.  Thank-you so much Laney and Taylor and Henry for hosting us. Thank-you so so much moms and dads and sisters and grandparents for the wonderful gifts.  We are spoiled and blessed and loved for sure!  

Not to mention we have every one of our temporal needs MORE than met and we have the amazing blessing and knowledge of the true meaning of Christmas- the Birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I really would consider myself one of the happiest and most blessed people on Earth.

And so back to our story of Christmas hell...

Our drive to Buffalo was very nice and quite quick. We've got it down to 4 hours and twenty minutes!  Once we arrived things started heading downhill. The night we arrived and started to unpack, both Kent and I began to feel a little under the weather. To be fair to Laney and Taylor and New York- I must admit that everything started before our arrival.  My psuedo pink eye (the precursor) was a few days ago- Kent's problems began on the drive- and our kids ALWAYS have issues.  By Christmas eve morning we had KILLER sore throats and Ike was having intense coughing/breathing issues.  In fact- we had gotten all dressed and ready to go the children's ER at about two AM that morning until Ike had some major sneezes and finally started breathing normally again.

On a happier note, all the cousins played together quite happily.  They had each other laughing and smiling for the majority of the time!  

Christmas Eve day was spent drugged up on excedrin, Ibu 800, and some lesser doses for the little rugrat. Ike's eyes were pathetic and red and goopy all day. My throat hurt like it hasn't hurt in ages.  Kent's too.

Luckily we took enough drugs to enjoy our traditional smorgasbord Christmas eve dinner.  We had a lot of delicious take-out.  Orange Chicken, turkey wraps, pizza, pizza poppers, egg rolls, and more.  This has got to be one of my favorite traditions ever.  It did make me really REALLY miss being with the rest of the family back in Utah, though. Or maybe it's just that I missed my dad paying for all of the food :)

During dinner, Kent commented that his ear had become plugged and starting to hurt a bit- but we didn't think much of it.

After dinner we got the little rugrats to sit and read the Christmas story with us (and pose for a few pictures) and then sent them to bed. Zeb was a little worried about Santa and the reindeer making it down the chimney- but after a quick peak up the chimney he decided things would probably work out and went to bed.

At this point Kent just lay on the couch silently as his head/ear pain worsened and worsened.  He said it was the worst localized pain he'd ever had. I couldn't even look at him because it made me feel so bad. He was so miserable and we couldn't do anything about it. 

Once the kiddos were in bed- we decided to call Utah and get started with our annual pixie pal gift exchange. We'd never done it via phone but it actually went rather smoothly. In our family you have to HANDmake a gift for one pre-selected secret person and that's the gift we open on Christmas Eve.  It's always the highlight of Christmas. Nothing will beat the year Kent made Laney a deformed sock monkey or the year dad made me the game "Deal or No deal?" and I won FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!  except maybe this year- because halfway through the guessing and announcing of who had whom, Kent's ear drum ruptured!!  It suddenly released all of the terrible pain and pressure (along with all sorts of strange mal colored fluids) that had been building.  I thought only babies and toddlers ear drums ruptured!?  apparently kent's does too. He said it was amazing to have the pain gone.  I was so grateful he felt better. Plus, I got some delicious hand dipped chocolate covered cinnamon bears from my pixie pal (daysa!).  Thanks, sis- I've been craving them forEVER.

Here's Kent draining his ear while holding sicko Ike. Don't they look pathetic?!

I guess Christmas is all about making memories- and I'm sure this is one we will never forget!  Even with all the sickness and pain it was so nice to be able to be with some family.  We are super duper blessed to have Laney and Taylor and Henry so close. Let's hope they take a job overseas when we do someday :)

 I'll have to post pictures of Christmas morning/day later today or tomorrow!