Great Wolf Lodge

The kids recently had both Friday and Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, so we coordinated with Jeremy and Kylene and family to stay at the brand new Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs, to beat off some of those winter blues!

We've obviously stayed at a GWL before in Charlotte, NC, so the kids (as well as myself) were totally excited! You could check-in at 1 p.m., so we got there right on time so we could have as much time as possible to play at the water park. The lobby had this gorgeous panoramic view of Pikes Peak off in the distance. I just love Colorado Springs!

As soon as our room was ready we dropped off our stuff and quickly changed into our swimming suits. This little girl didn't remember the GWL from NC of course, but she totally fed off of Zach and Lucy's enthusiasm. She couldn't wait to get her little puddle jumper on and hit the kiddie slides!

There was a HUMONGOUS splash-pad-jungle-gym-thingy that I couldn't keep Lizzie away from. There was a huge bucket that dumped water about every 20 minutes or so, and I had to pay some serious attention to the little warning bell that would ring right before it did so we didn't both get waterboarded by it.

We found a much more kid-friendly splash pad over by the kiddie pool. Much more her speed!

Although the water was heated, it still felt pretty chilly-- and those little kids would freeze running in and out of the water and I'd have to wrap up the little Shorty in towels every so often to get rid of those blue lips! 

Lucy and Zach mostly stuck to the slides you can see in the background. They have some super fun ones, with the pies de resistance being the "Wolf Tail," thanks to its death-defying drop and speed. It's no joke!! You start by standing up, in a little tiny tube with a door (almost like a coffin), and then they push a button which counts down from "3, 2, 1" and then the bottom completely drops out from underneath you.  It's a nearly vertical 20 foot free-fall, followed immediately by a 360 degree high-speed loop and speaking from personal experience, it's CRAZY. We'd count from up at the top and it took no more than 7 seconds for the rider to get from the top to the bottom.  Proud to say, by the end of our stay BOTH Lucy and Zach tried it. They are little dare-devils!!

We swam all afternoon, and then stopped by the Dunkin Donuts in the lobby for a treat on the way back to our room to change.  Those kids were starving!

To kill some time before Jon could meet us down there (he was working until 6 p.m.) we wandered around the other stuff they had to do, and wound up meeting one of the wolf mascots, Violet.

They had a fun tree-fort to climb on, miniature golf, bowling, a huge arcade, lots of restaurants, and a ropes course you could pay to do.

After a not-so-nutritious pizza dinner, things got a bit complicated as Jon finally arrived, but I had to head back to Parker in order to teach the 100th release of Body Pump the next morning (it was an international Launch date and kind of a big deal in the Les Mills world). I took Lizzie with me, figuring she'd sleep much better in her own bed, the kids would certainly sleep better at the hotel, and Jon would only have 3 kids to watch the next morning until I could come back. They watched the "Bedtime Story" show that night right before bed.

The Launch went great, everyone slept well, and we reunited with the family as quickly as we could in order to spend the rest of the day at the water park!

These guys were the "Three Amigos" and if you found one, you could find the others. They looked like little ducklings following whichever adult was in charge of them. They LOVED the wave pool!

We decided to just get lunch at the water park so we didn't have to leave and come back, which as you know with wet kids and wet clothes would be a huge ordeal. Surprisingly the food was really good! Jon and I shared a burger and it was delish.

By mid-afternoon the littles ones were winding down and I caught this cute picture of Leah and Sophie watching a movie together. While Zach and Lucy, and the adults took turns riding some more water slides, we slowly got changed, packed up, and ready to hit the road back to Parker. The kids were exhausted from their two days of swimming and playing, but so happy we'd gotten to have a little staycation! We can't wait to go back!

Ringing in the New Year!

The week after Christmas continues to bring lots of fun celebrations-- including our wedding anniversary on the 30th. Can you believe we've been married 12 years??

It's fun to pull out old photographs of when we were dating-- the kids think it's hilarious that Jon once had hair, and of course that I was young and beautiful, without the current bags under my eyes and fly-away gray hairs, ha, ha. We sure had some good times back in Provo!

Lucy and Zach were so sweet, they made us a special anniversary breakfast of an egg and cheese bagel sandwich, and leftover Christmas fudge. Don't forget the mayonnaise and applesauce on the side!

After Lizzie's ordeal on Christmas Eve, the poor little baby came down with a really nasty cold. She had a mild fever for about 3 days straight, lots of congestion, and just felt really yucky. We wanted her to get lots of rest, so we had to forgo most of our plans for that week so we could stay home and let her recuperate. By Friday night though, cabin fever was in full force so we got a babysitter for the older three kids (I still wasn't ready to leave Lizzie just yet), and Jon and I headed to Casa Mariachi for our anniversary dinner. Nothing says "I love you" like chips and salsa! 

Saturday night was New Year's Eve, so we invited Jeremy and Kylene + cousins over to help us celebrate. We did a potluck dinner-- I made Kings Hawaiian sliders, spinach dip, pina coladas, and an Oreo cheesecake (done in 45 minutes, thank you very much) in my new Instantpot which was a huge success.

The kids ran wild downstairs in the basement, while the adults played Settlers of Catan for old time's sake. At about 8:30 we caught the London NYE recorded celebration and toasted 2017's arrival!

And thus ensued an epic dance party! Woohoo! Happy New Year! These cousins have so much fun together.

Jon's office was closed on Monday, January 2nd (New Year's Day observed) and it was also the kids' last day of winter break. We knew we had to do something pretty big to celebrate the last day of true freedom before spring break-- which is still months away. We decided to check out the Denver Children's Museum--which incidentally, Jon's dental staff had all chipped in on to give our a family a pass for Christmas this year. 

They had a really fun baby area just right for Lizzie (and Leah apparently) to crawl around and explore.

Leah loved playing "dentist" to this little monkey, just like daddy does at work. The museum was super busy due to the holiday, so we didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but with our new pass we can go back any time we want!

We got lunch at a new pizzeria that was highly recommended by a friend, in downtown Denver called Pizzeria Locale. It was really good! Jon got a spicy Sicilian pizza all to himself.  

I got the Maize pizza which had white sauce, ham, and fresh corn and it was really yummy. It's a similar pizza concept to places like Mod Pizza, but the dough is lighter and fresher and makes a huge difference in the taste. I couldn't keep Elizabeth's hands off it!

And then school started back up, just like that... Christmas is officially over and January with all its windy and cold weather is well underway. I signed the kids up for basketball starting this month, and it's been a great success so far. They had their first games on Saturday morning, and lo and behold, they each scored a basket or two and LOVED learning the great game of b-ball.

I thought it was a pretty crazy coincidence that they both ended up pulling jersey number 10!

While I headed home after their games so Lizzie could nap, Jon took Lucy, Zach, and Leah ice skating (plus Lucy's friend Collette) at the new discovery trail right by the new library near our house. We're so excited to have ice skating so close to us! Yay! One more family-friendly thing to do here in Parker.

That night we decided to try a new place in Aurora that featured Australian food called the Great Australian Bite. They had meat pies, sausage rolls, and other authentic "tucker" and it truly felt like a meal the hobbits would have eaten and enjoyed on Lord of the Rings.

Jon is brave. He got the kangaroo pie, which was really weird tasting if you ask me. The kids shared a beef and cheese one, and I got the curry chicken pie which was super homey and flavorful. It was fun to be eating like those down "unda"!

Well, at least I thought it was... Leah obviously thought otherwise. She just wanted Chick fil A. We also tried a custard pie and Lamington which was a piece of vanilla cake dipped in chocolate and shredded coconut for dessert.

Mmmmm! Lizzie loved the custard pie, and I think that little face says it all. Cheers to 2017, mates!

Miracle on Gallahadion Lane

So, where to begin, where to begin?? On Friday afternoon Lizzie was playing in the bedroom with Zach, when I heard from the kitchen, coughing and gagging and Zach yelling that Lizzie was choking. I ran in as fast as I could and did the baby Heimlich on her, and she ended up throwing up part of a chewed up pencil eraser. She of course was crying, but she seemed okay to me, and I called Jon who was out running errands to see if he though I should call 911. We decided she was most likely okay, and we'd just watch her really closely for the next 24 hours to make sure she hadn't accidentally inhaled part of it into her lungs. We ended up going to the new Star Wars movie because we'd already purchased the tickets, and the kids were SO excited to see it! We left Lizzie and Leah with a babysitter-- but being the worrier I am, the entire time during the movie I couldn't even concentrate because I kept having this nagging feeling that something wasn't right. I kept texting back and forth with the babysitter to make sure things were okay, in fact she probably thought I was nuts because Lizzie was acting just fine. As soon as the movie finished we rushed home so I could check on Lizzie (we'd planned to take Lucy and Zach to dinner afterwards), and I noticed a definite wheeze that hadn't been there earlier. By about 8:30 p.m. when it was time to put her to bed, I just couldn't shake the feeling that we needed to get her checked out, so I sent Jon to the ER in Parker, because "better to be safe than sorry" felt like the best thing to do. The doctors and specialists there could also hear a wheeze so they ended up taking a chest x-ray. Nothing really jumped out at them-- but since we knew it was most likely part of an eraser (which isn't very dense and might not show up well on an x-ray), the radiologist felt like there was definitely a possible "foreign body" in her top right lung. He wanted to have Jon take her to the Children's Hospital about 15 miles away in Aurora. It was really, really late at that point-- almost 1 a.m. and Lizzie was absolutely exhausted. After speaking to the ER doctor, who felt like Lizzie wasn't in any immediate danger, Jon decided it would probably be best to have her come home where she could get some rest. The doctor insisted though, that as soon as she woke up the next morning we had to take her back to the ER in Aurora....

Meanwhile, like I mentioned previously, we'd purchased tickets in Colorado Springs to ride the Christmas Express Train up Pikes Peak that morning. We'd done it last year for Christmas Eve, and the kids just loved it and had begged to make it a tradition. I can't even begin to tell you how torn I felt! We still weren't sure Lizzie hadn't just swallowed the eraser-- and I didn't want to make the other kids miss out on the train. We could either a) sit at home and wait for Jon to call from the ER to let us know what was going on with Lizzie, or b) ride the train (the tickets thankfully were the earliest possible at 9 a.m.) and come home right after that. So, we decided to divide and conquer: I'd take the kids to ride the train, and since Jon was already well versed on everything that had happened the night before, he'd take Lizzie to Aurora.  

Thank goodness for cell phones so Jon could text me periodic updates, otherwise I would have been a wreck (let's be honest though, I was still a wreck)!! The kids enjoyed the train, but overall I think they knew something was up and were worried about our little Lizzie too.  

Zach wearing the conductor's hat. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Cute kids SUPER excited about Santa coming that night, but also missing two important members of our family which was NOT so fun.... As soon as we finished at about 10 a.m. I started heading for home, which was about the same time that the Children's Hospital decided they needed to do a bronchoscopy to determine what was in Lizzie's lungs. They would need to anesthetize her in order to do that, so we had to wait 6 hours for her to have an empty stomach, which set the surgery for 2:30 p.m. Thankfully Jeremy and Kylene were home, and willing to let us drop off the other three kids so I could be there for the surgery, and I booked it out to the hospital as fast as I could. 

As soon as I got there she just lunged for me and cuddled until she fell asleep. They had just placed the IV, which took three tries, a papoose board, and about 20 years off of Jonathan's life. She was not a happy camper. Poor baby!! 

They wrapped up her arm so she couldn't pull out the IV, and when she woke up from her little nap they took us back to the pre-surgery waiting room which (blessedly) had toys! Up until that point she'd been trapped in an ER room waiting with nothing.  We met with the surgeon Dr. Allen, whom we immediately liked and felt good about, as well as the anesthesiologist who was very kind and reassuring as well. All of the nurses and staff at the Children's Hospital were beyond fantastic-- and let's remember that all of this was happening on Christmas Eve, when all of these people were away from their families, working long hours to help families like us.  We are so very thankful for them!! We felt like from the moment we walked in, we were in good hands. How incredibly lucky we are to live so close to such an amazing, top-rated Children's Hospital where everything for the procedure was designed and catered just to her!

The surgery took about 30 minutes start to finish, and Dr. Allen was able to fish out this little tiny 2mm piece of eraser she'd inhaled the day before. Had it not been found, best case scenario is that it would have abscessed in her lung, she would have developed pneumonia, and most likely taken a trip to the ICU as one very, very sick baby-- which is pretty grim, but I don't want to think about the worst case scenario... The waiting was AWFUL, and we both commented that when we saw the doctor come out and give us a thumb's up, we knew they'd gotten it and our relief was palpable!  The surgeon said the fact that the radiologist at Parker ER had seen something enough to concern him on that x-ray was a "one in a million catch." Our prayers were definitely heard and answered!

!

As soon as she started coming out of the anesthesia, she was one cranky, feisty, HUNGRY little baby who had no idea what was going on! The post-surgery nurse was awesome and got us discharged and on our way home in almost no time, so we could have everyone together for Christmas Eve! Leaving the hospital was one of the best, but also most conflicting feelings I've ever had. I was so thankful to be leaving with my baby, but my heart about broke into pieces seeing all of those little families with their sick children staying in the hospital for Christmas with much, much worse outlooks than ours. It certainly put things into perspective.

I headed home with the baby, Jon picked up the other three, and we immediately tried to salvage our normal Christmas Eve traditions! The kids were ELATED to see Lizzie home and doing so well! We changed into our Christmas jammies first.

Then we got everything set up for our Holy Supper.

This is our favorite way to spend Christmas Eve-- and I love that the focus is on Christ, where it should be.

Everything still felt a bit discombobulated from our traumatic 24 hours, but the main thing is we were home together and Jon and I had plenty of time (if not any energy, ha, ha) to play Santa and get things set up for the kids. Lucy got her karaoke machine, Zach got his monster truck, Leah got her princess dolls, and Lizzie got a little scooter to push around. It was a very merry Christmas for one and all.

Christmas morning was all such a daze!! I think the stress and anxiety and lack of sleep had caught up to both Jon and I, so I'm thankful I at least remembered to take pictures so I can sort of re-live it now. I do love Zach's face in this picture though! 

These were some happy kiddos that Santa had come!

We did all of our Santa presents, and then moved on to the presents under the tree. We didn't have church until 1 p.m., so we didn't have to rush Christmas morning too much which was nice.

Our Christmas brunch-- egg nog french toast casserole, cinnamon bun hot chocolate, deviled egg casserole, shrimp cocktail, sausages, and Martinelli's.

I LOVE Christmas brunch. My favorite part of the whole shebang. 

We spent the rest of the day playing with toys, doing puzzles, calling family, attending Sacrament meeting, and watching the new "Finding Dory" movie that Santa brought. At 5 p.m. we headed over to Jeremy and Kylene's for Christmas dinner.

We decided together to do a Harry Potter themed dinner, so we had roast ham, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, green beans, and butter beer for the main course. Kylene bought Christmas crackers which are a British tradition, and each one has a crown and little prize inside. 

Zach looks like the king of Christmas with that mustache! 

Leah has loved all things Christmas this year. She kept telling me how it was the best day ever, and that she wished Christmas could be every day.

For dessert, I did Mrs. Weasley's Christmas fudge, pumpkin pasties, and Lucy helped me make those cute golden snitches with the feathers and Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Kylene made an English trifle, cauldron cakes, and cockroach clusters. It was a magical feast indeed! Looking back now, I feel like the whole thing was just a whirlwind, but I can't get over the fact of how abundantly blessed we were to all be together for Christmas. Also, the simple gratitude I felt for the fact of our Savior's birth and how it changed the world was so profound this year.  We are so extremely grateful for that tiny baby born in a manger so many years ago! This was definitely a Christmas like no other. 

Merry Christmas 2016!