Our Holiday Vacation

Whew!!! I'm not sure if I can get this in one post... but maybe a series?

Well, here goes for the first one! Ben and I had talked BC about doing a family vacation during the holidays and escaping the traditional ways of celebrating Christmas and do just family fun and games and rent a cabin. So, when Rena and Nate suggested we get together over the Holidays, we were game!

We talked about renting a cabin, but that didn't work out. However, Nate was able to get us the "hook up" and we were able to stay in a beautiful condo in Branson- which was probably even nicer than the Arkansas cabins we found. While in Branson, much of the city and touristy places had closed down for the season, but we were able to take the kids to Silver Dollar City for their very first roller coaster ride! (Thanks to the Duewels' season passes, we were able to get in free! What a blessing! Thank you!)

Bedtime was pretty cool... to see all our children lined up on the couch in matching pajamas smiling and giggling at one another! Rena read a book to them a few nights. She's a great storyteller. We ended with prayer. It was neat to see and hear the kids pray together.



We ended our journey with the Duewels' at a neat Restaurant in Kansas City that delivered the food by train. That was pretty cool! Diego loves trains. They gave the kids little hats. My children didn't pose with a pic with their hat, but must share this one of Erika!


After we went to SDC, we followed the Duewels' back to Kansas City. That was another great adventure! Nate and Rena had some more contacts there that helped us get a great deal on a "sweet" hotel room! The kids played in the pool one afternoon. When the kids went down at night, the adults would stay up and fellowship, and we even got in another great game of Cranium.

Girls vs. Boys. It was hilarious as Rena would try to mimic Tina Turner, and I am so not good at naming famous people or tunes! I tried to redeem myself at with the pictionary part! Ben gave an impression of Jim Carrey that we won't forget for a long time! It was a great time to share laughs. For the record: Boys won the first game in Branson, and Girls won in KC-- 1:1.



So, lots of fun in-between happened, but I'll let the later posts full of pics tell those stories!

(family pics coming soon!)

We left KC to go to Louisiana and visit my family. John Michael and his fam just left town so we missed them. We were able to see Grand-Papi and Mamie at one stop, then went on to visit Nana & Papaw, and then Kaleb & Chuck; Ainsley was at her grandmother's and we weren't able to see her, but plan on it next trip! Andrew would ask repeatedly, "Mami, can I hold Ainsley?" I had to remind him that Ainsley isn't a baby anymore. That she's three already! Of course, the kids had fun at the family's, but Mami and Papi are EXHAUSTED!