Our Holiday Extravaganza in 25 Snapshots

10 days of vacation for Trevor

9 awesome aunts, uncles, & cousins

8 grandparents (4 grandparents + 4 great-grandparents)

7 thru 3 of all the fun we could pack in...Christmas, New Years & More!

2 destination states (KY & TN)

1 star of the show (can you guess who it is?)

25 days of vacation for J & Mama

Here it is--our holiday extravaganza--in 25 photos!

1. The Drive

After we celebrated Christmas in our little Wisconsin apartment, we packed our bags and went to bed early so we could head South at 5am on the 23rd--just ahead of the next northern blizzard.

We ended up getting on the road at 6am (not too shabby!) and made it to Kentucky in only 11 hours (it took us 13 hours on our original trek) with only a few stops and only one fast food stop.

J did AMAZINGLY well on the drive. We didn't have to get out his bag of toys until the last few hours! He enjoyed watching the snow levels shrink as we got closer to our destination. Here's his latest "cheeeeeeez" face:

2. Our 1st stop: Possum Trot

We spent the first part of our trip visiting Trevor's family in Kentucky. It is so great to be able to see SO MANY family members in one stop! We were able to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents and more. It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas in Possum Trot & enjoy the sunshine!

3. The Boys

J had a blast running around with his cousins and Papa. Before we left he was saying "Bapa" around every corner and knew where the real fun was: in Papa's garage (the ultimate grandkid play area!). The cousins were so great helping J around and letting us know if he was getting into something he shouldn't.

4. Kentucky Blue

J loved walking around wearing Papa's Kentucky hats while we were there. KY pride is alive & well with this toddler!

5. Southern Feasts

The Southern meals...mmmMmmmmMmmmm.

Southern women know how to cook (except me. I'm still learning, gimme a break!). When we celebrate with family we always enjoy amazing food. We enjoyed many delicious meals during our visits in Kentucky.

Nana was always willing to make us pancakes for breakfast (her pancakes are famous: seriously awesome) which made us feel so special (we very rarely make big breakfasts for ourselves). She made several delicious dinners & hosted a fantastic Christmas day feast that was SO.GOOD.

We also enjoyed Granny Rose's Christmas Eve feast (and later, Trevor's favorite: a biscuit & country ham breakfast on our way out of town)--she makes all of the food for the whole family & amazing desserts.

Here we are after the Christmas Eve feast with Granny Rose:

6. Three Generations

We usually try to get the four generation photos but they just didn't happen this time. It was great to watch J interact with his grandparents & great-grandparents during our visit. It is humbling to be able to spend time with so many family members and feel the love they have for our little man. J is very lucky to have so many grandparents & great-grandparents to love!

Here they are, 3 of the H men:

Papa, Daddy, & J

7. The Red Team

We couldn't resist getting some pictures with Uncle Tyler (Trevor's brother) who shares J's dashing good looks. See any resemblance?

:)

We love J's red hair, and he gets lots of attention from it. People constantly ask "where does it come from??"

I have almost given up on the truth--it comes from both of us (both parents have to have the red hair gene to get a red head), because most people just want a name of a person in the family who also has red hair.

So, the short answer is--"his uncle Tyler has red hair."

Side note: Tyler will be entering the MTC on February 10th to prepare to serve a 2 year full-time mission for our Church. He will be speaking Spanish & serving in the Arcadia,

California mission. We are so proud of you, Tyler!

8. Christmas Day 2009

We were so blessed to spend Christmas with our Kentucky family. A heartfelt thanks to each of you for making it so special for us. J loved spending time with everyone and...of course...opening all of his presents--it was thrilling to watch him!

He also ADORED all of the Christmas decorations around Nana's house--the Santa's were all a hit ("ho ho ho"), and the nativity scenes kept him captivated (we are so glad none of them got broken!).

9. Snuggies

All of the girls got Snuggies from Santa! I was so excited to get mine & try it out. It will be perfect for the rest of our Wisconsin winter. We had a movie night with everyone who could come--a perfect chance to pull out the snuggie!

It was great to spend some down time with my sis-in-laws. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the three of us in our snuggies (it was the plan in my head, just didn't happen!)--you can imagine how cute we 3 would be all snuggled up! Here we are, Katie & I:

10. Christmas Caroling Around the Piano

After Christmas dinner, we enjoyed listening to Christmas carols sung by Nana, Grannymother, and Leigh Ann. (So this is Trevor's sister, mother, & maternal grandmother) Leigh Ann remembers way more from her piano lesson days than I do, it's great when she plays for us! I love how music can really set the mood, especially during the holidays!

Trevor's family is very musically talented. His mother & sisters have strong, beautiful voices and Tyler plays the violin. Both his sisters Leigh Ann & Katie are going to be trying out for America's Got Talent this weekend! Good luck to both of you!!

11. Superman Statue

I figure this will be a regular pit stop during our visits to Kentucky (though, this is across the river in Illinois)--it's only a few miles from Trevor's family's home & it's just too fun for kids! J was absolutely enthralled by the giant superman statue (and I love that Superman is wearing a huge Santa hat!).

Katie & her husband are working on remodeling a home not far from the statue, so we stopped by to check it out. The remodel project reminded Trevor of the hours, days, and months he spent remodeling our first home (it was his great-grandparents' home). It is a darling place that will be so cute when they're finished.

12. "Wanna Ride"

When I was a little girl, I would say "wanna ride!" when we visited my grandparents house--my granddaddy had a golf cart & he would drive me around his farm.

J isn't saying 2 word phrases yet but I imagined this is what he was thinking when we placed him in Uncle Spencer's trike basket for a ride around the neighborhood. J has absolutely loved the time he's been able to spend with Uncle Spencer in TN. They feed off of each other & make each other laugh, it's hilarious.

13. New Year's Eve Smorgasbord

Traditionally, Christmas and/or New Years includes a smorgasbord in my family. My Dad served a 2 year LDS mission in Sweden, thus the Swedish smorgasbord. We typically have plates serving various cheeses, meats, breads, crackers, and dips/jellies/toppings, and the ever-popular homemade Swedish meatballs.

Thanks to IKEA, this year included a new addition to the smorgasbord event, a traditional Swedish Christmas drink:

14. New Year: 2010

We were so happy to be able to spend New Years in TN with my family--but we missed everyone who were celebrating other places this year (Joe, Jen, & Ian were on Cape Cod with Jen's family and Ben & SharaK were in Wyoming with her family)!

10 years ago on New Years Eve, we all sat around a Monopoly table & each filled out a 3 page questionnaire (about our life then, expectations for the future, etc). We placed each of our answers into a time capsule & have been saving it every year since! I have been so excited to open it this year...just to read what my 19 year-old self was thinking!

It was hilarious to read all of our ideas, dreams, and thoughts. It was fascinating how much I am the same, and how much I am different from that 19 year old. (Incidentally, that was the year that I met Trevor. He didn't make it into the time capsule pages, though)

15. Hair-raising fun

After almost a week in Kentucky, J was ready to start over again getting to know a house (with lots of non-baby-proof areas/items!) and enjoy the attention of another set of grandparents. The way my parents' house is set up, he can get into a lot of trouble pretty fast. We designated a time out corner pretty quickly and it has been apart of every day since then, really.

Besides those moments, most of the time J is enjoying the magical playland of Grandmama's house! He has been enjoying music time, dance time, outside time, and all the other fun in between. One night Granddaddy pulled him around the house inside a laundry hamper & he absolutely LOVED it! Check out the hair-raising fun:

16. Monkey On Your Back?

Trevor had to leave to head back to Wisconsin after 5 days of New Years celebrating in TN. We were sad to see him leave, but were grateful to be able to stay and hang out a bit longer (I found a cheap flight from Nashville to Milwaukee, so we were able to stay for 2 more weeks!)

During the day he keeps us all busy (me, Grandmama, & Uncle Spencer) and when Granddaddy gets home the games begin all over again!

17, 18, 19, 20: Time Out With Friends!

Having both sets of family live within a 4 hour distance provides a fantastic benefit for making holiday visits more convenient. Another perk that we get to enjoy, is that we have dear friends in both states that we can see when we're in town for a visit!

We were able to see and visit with our Church friends in Paducah on the Sunday after Christmas, and I also met up with some of the ladies at Flamingo Row (one of my favorite Paducah restaurants!) for a lunch:
Later I met up with my friend Allie in Nashville for an afternoon of shopping & girl time:
Last weekend J & I went up to Murray for a fabulous weekend visiting with friends from Church there and also close friends that I worked with at MSU. It was wonderful to be able to see so many of my favorite people in one weekend! (There will be more pics on FB, for those of you wondering where your pic is...)

We stayed with my friend JJ & her family (thanks so much!!) --here's a shot of JJ & I right before we left (stopped by her work on our way out of town):
This week I was able to meet up with one of my BFFs from middle/high school. Jennie lives in Chattanooga but her parents live in town so it was a convenient visit for her also! :) She brought her little guy & we met at a local park--so much fun!

21. Backseat Boys

J just loved all the attention he got from EVERYONE during our entire trip (including the waitresses & strangers he flirted with). In TN, one of his favorite giggling partners has been Uncle Spencer. J giggles, then Spencer starts, and before you know it they are both making the rest of us laugh!

This photo doesn't really show off any of that *fun energy*...but, it's still cute:

22. New Babies

My cousin Lisa lives in Nashville with her darling family while her husband works on his PhD...and they recently added this darling girl to their bunch: Ellie Beth. Not only is this baby beautiful and low key, doesn't mama Lisa look AMAZING!?

Yes, yes she does. It was awesome to visit with these girls (and Lisa's Mama Verla) yesterday.

23. The Bus

Since we have been on vacation, J has learned alot of new things (25 days is a whole growth spurt for a toddler!).

Some new words he has learned:

-Papa

-Nana

-blink (he does a hand-blinking action)

-"go go go" (this is what we say when we go up/down the stairs)

-chin, cheeks, and shoulders (he can point to them now, in addition to his repertoire of other body parts he can identify)

-and...BUS! (for awhile he pronounced it "but", but he's got it down now!)

24. Family Waffle Night

So, you can't stay at my parents house without at least one good waffle dinner. We grew up with waffles every Sunday evening. His specialty waffle these days is the sausage & cheese waffle (YUM. O!), this was the dinner we had before Trevor left:
In addition to the waffle dinners & smorgasbord by Granddaddy, we have enjoyed many delicious lunches & dinners by Grandmama! Thanks for helping us ring in the New Year in style and being so flexible with our extended January stay!

25. It's Been Great...

All of it!

The family time in Kentucky, the family time in Tennessee, the friend time in between...we feel so blessed to have been able to hang out in the South for 25 days! And now, it comes to an end...I'm busy today with laundry and packing, tomorrow we fly home!

Thank you to each of you who made this trip a memorable one!

We are so excited to get home and give Daddy big hugs...do you think he'll recognize J?

See you soon, Daddy!