Christmas Part 2: Stickley/Matus Week

We headed up to the Toledo area on Saturday to spend a few days with Cris' sister and fam. Juneau and Nova absolutely adore their cousins, Alex, Lyndsey and Brent. The kids had endless energy, and our girls were in heaven running around in the basement, playing basketball, and being crazy.

{nova and aunt coral playing}

On Sunday morning we headed out to church. Juneau and Nova hadn't yet worn the Christmas dresses i bought last year, so i put them in their cute little polka dot dresses. They looked super cute.

{juneau looks like she is really taking this piano playing seriously!}

{there was much ice cream to be enjoyed at the Matus house!}

{nova and juneau's craziness fit in perfectly with their cousin's craziness!}

{nova thought Brent was HILARIOUS! I can see why!}

On Monday morning we had a huge scare. Apparently Denali had found some mouse poison in the garage. We aren't exactly sure how much he ate, but we quickly called the vet. We fed the poor little guy a bunch of hydrogen peroxide until he puked everything up, and then headed to the vet. She gave us some vitamin K, and gave us some hope that since we had caught it pretty early he had a really good chance of being ok. Cris has been watching him like a hawk since the incident, and so far he is doing just fine.

Later in the day we headed over to a portrait studio to get some pics made of the kids. They came out super cute!

{Alex and Lyndsey}

{Brent with his very cool lego truck. The kid is seriously a lego genius!}

{O-H-I-O ...notice how proud Juneau looks to be a part of the big kid picture!}

{cousins}

{Alex, Lyndsey, and Brent}

{hmmmm..not sure why this one is sideways!}

{JBug and NovaJo}

As you can see from the above picture, Nova has been in a bit of a funk lately. She is fixated on being held constantly. Whenever I am around she doesn't want to play or to do anything other than be held by mom. I think i heard "mommy hold you please?" about 1 MILLION times over the last 2 weeks. I'm sure it is just a phase, but i am very anxious for her to get over it, and to start being independant again!

Tuesday was the big event of the week...The Harlem Globetrotters! Coral and Ed had gotten some amazing tickets, and we were literally steps away from the basketball court. Juneau LOVED the game....and the popcorn....and the cotton candy! I wish i had some pics of the game (and of the girls in their ridulous Globetrotters Sweatbands!), but that is the problem with having a giant camera - it is a little hard to haul it around in those situations! Anyway the game was soooo fun, and definately a highlight of our trip!

The next morning we got up bright and early to head down to Grandma Nova's house for the Stickley Family Christmas celebration! It was awesome to see Casey and Carmen, and also Aunt Donova! Aunt D's dog Cooper was there for the celebration, and Summit, Denali, and Cooper had a blast getting to know eachother!

{Grandpa and the girls in their matching overalls! Unfortunately this is the face we now get when we ask Juneau to smile...}

Cris had been telling the girls that Grandpa would take them for a ride in his tractor, but i don't think they were prepared for how cool the tractor ride was going to be! They each took a turn, and hopped right up in the tractor. by the time they turned the corner after the ride they both had the hugest grin!

{nova waiting for her turn....she kept saying "my turn, my turn!"}

{nova hasn't stopped talking about Grandpa and the Tractor every since her ride!}

The girls got a pretty bad cough and were pretty sick on New Year's eve, so we all hit the bed before the ball dropped. We had to get up early on New Year's day to start the ridiculously long drive back to Colorado. Cris was sad to be driving during the Rose Bowl, but we timed it nearly perfectly to stop in Kansas and visit a really great friend from residency. Not only were we able to spend a couple of hours visiting with Benny, but Cris was able to catch the last quarter of Ohio State's victory!

The drive home was again uneventful. The girls were perfect little angels, and sleeping in our own bed for the first time in weeks was so wonderful (even if it was just for 2 hours!)

{Denali in his new home}

This was the first Christmas since Grandpa Stickley passed away last year in Hawaii. He was greatly missed by everyone. Since I was unable to attend his funeral last year Grandma took me down to the gravesite.

I also want to mention the amazing Christmas gift from Aunt Donova. She has spent the last year doing some intense geneologic studies, and was able to put together an amazing history of Cris's ancestors (even tracing all the way back to Cris' 15 times great grandfather - Martin Luther!)

I guess that almost gets us caught up! We are sort of settled back into our usual routine! There are still suitcases that need unpacked, and lots of organizing to do, but we are slowly getting readjusted.

It's been especially fun to watch Denali integrate himself into the new "pack". He and Summit are best buds as of now, but pretty soon he will be a bit more of a match for Sherpa. He is a big dog, and catching up to her fast, even though he is only 12 weeks old.