Christmas wasn't that long ago right?!!

Since we are not yet halfway to Christmas of 2009 I think that it is still appropriate to post about Christmas of 2008 right? I'll just give a brief rundown of our trip.

Christmas being a season full of joy with little stress, brought us to make the decision that flying standby to Denver and then on to Salt Lake would run smoothly without any bumps ( not counting turbulence). December 14 came around and we rushed to the airport in hopes that we would make the morning flight. James was able to get on with Aubrey and Eli but Jaxon and I had to wait for the next flight. You'll never guess what happened next; James took off to Denver with mine and Jaxon's tickets in hand. Good thing we had a great flight agent who called Denver and made sure that they would send our tickets back on the next flight from Denver to Nashville. However, that made it so we couldn't try again until Sunday. So Jaxon and I called for a ride home and spent the night at home. Sunday again we rushed to the airport, the security guards asking us why we were back, and tried to make that flight. Well, that flight was full, the next flight ended up being full and monday looked horrible to even try. We decided last minute to try MOnday's afternoon flight because an ice storm was headed to Nashville. Luckily we got on and we ended up being seated in first class. Too bad with a two year old you can't recline the comfy seat and take a nap. He thought it was great!

So now we've made it to Denver excited to visit and we had a great time there, especially on Wednesday night when we had a get together with the fam and on thursday James got to go out to lunch with his old co-workers. Too bad Friday a couple of us came down with the flu. The flights from Denver to Salt Lake looked scary and I didn't dare try to fly on my own with 3 kids on standby. So we ended up buying tickets on sunday. WE made it to the flight on time ready to go and they told me security forgot to punch my card, so we had to wait for security to come. They took their sweet time getting there and the flight agent was going to send the plane on without us, but then tears started flowing and she felt sorry for me. So we barely made it. Kim picked us up at the airport and we went to her house for some delicious pizza and then headed toward St. George to meet Dad halfway. It was great to be home with the fam and Kirsti and Loren were there as well. We had fun hanging out with the fam and Aubrey still comments on the sledding trip. We had a great christmas there and started thinking about the trek home. Mom was even more nervous than I was about flying home to Nashville on standby tickets with 3 small children. She was coming up with all sorts of plans to get us home. IN the end the decision was made to drive on New Years Eve and meet James halfway. James laughs because he ended up going further than halfway. So for New years we spent the time in the car enjoying Mom and Dad and seeing where they lived 100 years ago (j/k). The Kids did really well and it was a good thing we had a small dvd player otherwise I don't think we would have made it. Thanks everybody for your hospitality. So Happy Late New Year to everyone!!!