Levi and Ephraim are going to be trouble together when they get bigger. They were intent on busting out of the hotel room no matter what!
Sylvia was showered by love and gifts from her generous cousins, Nora and Elana. Here they are bonding over a scrapbook in the hotel.
It was refreshing to drive north to Idaho. We stopped at rest stop that had trails leading through a lava flow. Sylvia found lots of interesting rocks, and declared this was her "most favorite place in the world."
It was also the place where I caught my first whiff of sage brush in years. It is funny how a smell can affect you. I had forgotten it. It reminded me of my teenage years running cross-country and hiking the Buttes of Rexburg.
The lodge in Idaho was the craziest cabin I'd ever seen. It was definitely meant for lots of kids to have fun in. There were slides attaching different floors for the house, indoor gyms, game rooms, movie rooms, a huge kitchen... it was an amazing place!
I had fun driving on the bikes with Braxton in the gym, as well as my mom. It just made you giggle to be doing something so silly! Here are Cheri and Nicole (Tammy's oldest) taking a spin together.
There were bikes for all sizes in the gym. Sylvia would sometimes go drive by herself in there. I'd see her peacefully doing loops. Sometimes she would take Ephraim for a spin.
The slide from the game room to the gym was a quick way to escape the upstairs.
The game room was constantly in use. Possibly because it was so close to the snacks in the kitchen. Here is Braxton playing Asher table tennis, and Mattias challenging Nicole in air hockey.
Table tennis even got the adults moving. Uncle Brandon and Uncle Daniel had some good moves. Here is Uncle Brandon playing with Mattias.
The air hockey table was perfect for all ages. Here is Grandma playing Eli (Daniel's youngest).
It was fun to see the little cousins team up against each other. Here we have Ryder (Cheri's oldest), Caleb (Becca's oldest) and Spencer (Daniel's oldest boy) teaming up against a similar batch of cousins at the other end of the table.
7Sylvia spent a lot of time on the rock wall, around the edge of the game room.
What did mom and dad do during this crazy party? Dad could usually be found kicking back watching it all from a comfy chair in the corner.
Mom was usually in the midst of a bunch of grandkids, or snuggling one of the babies. Here she is with the grade-school aged grandkids, making Christmas tree ornaments.
They also made sugar cookies...
...and ate them!
(This is Cheri's daughter, Carly. It cracked me up that she would eat like a dog, just like Ephraim. Cheri would yell "Stop eating like an animal!" We thought it may be because there is a dog at the day care she is at. None of my other children had this habit, just Ephraim, and he is the only baby we have had a dog with. I'm sure there is a connection.)
Grandma also worked on making friends with Ephraim. She gained his trust by having him feed her M&M's.
I also think the elf hat was helpful in gaining his trust. An elf with candy is a winning combination.
Ephraim had a lot of new cousins to meet. He hadn't seen any of them, ever. It was a bit overwhelming but he loved chasing around all the cousins close to his height. One of his favorites was Becca's youngest, Michael. They are less than a year apart. I think they are going to be good buds down the road, once they stop tackling each other and throwing things at each other.
My sisters were great at including Noel in their grown up outings. Lisa took the older girls shopping in town one afternoon and ended up buying them all beanies. Noel looks very cute in hers. Here is Lisa trying one on:
Becca took Noel out riding 4 wheelers. The bumpy potato fields, covered in a thin dusting of snow, made for fun racing conditions.
The 4 wheelers were a blast to ride. It was a brilliant idea of Daniel's to bring them along.
The boys road until past dark. They zipped across the dark fields with the headlights on. Mattias was surprisingly daring on them, being the first to tackle a jump.
Asher enjoyed the sheer speed and freedom of racing across the fields. At one point I heard a squeal, and was sure one of my children had gotten killed. I jumped up and ran over to the field, only to find it was Asher whooping out loud as he rode. He yelled "I have never felt so free!"
Sylvia and I got a chance to drive as well. Ephraim actually fell asleep against my brother Dave's back when we were out all three riding. Getting pulled in the sled was also a big hit.
The boys thought this was the best vacation we had ever been on. There was always something active to do. Since moving to Wisconsin, our "vacations" have been driving 9 hours and camping for the night, repeated for 3 days until we reached a grandparent's home. Then we would sit and visit, or do something like visit a carousel or feed ducks with Sylvia. The boys were often left twiddling their thumbs.
There was no twiddling of thumbs on this vacation. At least, not as long as Uncle Daniel or Uncle Brandon was around. One night we got talking about gun control, and they both told me that if I would just shoot a semi-automatic gun, I'd think it was so much fun that I'd think twice about voting for banning them. We discussed how 10 min away, Brandon's brother had a small arsenal that any crazy person could break into, even if there were tighter restrictions.
The next day, Brandon showed up with an AR-15 for some target practice in the potato field behind the cabin. Daniel had a pistol to contribute and a pack of Tannerite Exploding Targets.
(Apparently you can just buy these cans at gas stations, shake them up, and then shoot at them, causing massive explosions! Daniel even showed the boys what might happen if you put one next to a can of gasoline and shoot at it. I would not recommend trying it. )
The boys were much better shots than I was. I was surprised at the upper body strength needed to hold it steady. I did hit my water bottle target though.. so I was satisfied. And, Brandon was right... it did make me think more about gun control. It was a lot fun to just wander into a field and go target practicing.
We had just the right amount of snow. Enough to play in, but not enough to worry about driving in. There were some very impressive snowmen built by the cousins on Saturday.
Carson (Tammy's youngest) made a 7 foot high beast.
Darci (Dave's daughter) and Elena (Lisa's daughter) might have had the cutest snowman.
Becca and Michael helped Sylvia make snow animals. I think they ended with a snow duck.
Even mealtimes were fun. We could just plop down next to whomever and hear about their adventures that day. It was always busy, but always delicious, in the kitchen.
(Yes, that is Daniel in the back, making sure he is noticed. Everyone should have a party uncle in their family.)
Ephraim and Sylvia loved swinging in the hammock after dark one night. We will have to put on up in our yard this summer, they loved it.
Saturday night, we acted out the Nativity from Luke II, and had a visit from Santa. It was impressive what costumes could be scrounged up from scratch with only 20 minutes notice.
The angels (the school-age girl cousins) glowed angelic, and both Collette and Addie show promise as future actors. They both loved saying the Angel's lines. I was really impressed with how confidently they spoke!
Uncle Reggie, Asher and Braxton were the wise men. Yes, we have tough ganster wisemen in our family.
Everyone age 4 and under were shepherds and various animals. Yes.. it did make for a lot of shepherds!
The youngest cousin, Genevieve, was laid in the basket as baby Jesus (with Sylvia as Mary and Carson as Joseph). She did not seem to want to be in the show, and cried, adding a bit of reality to the play. Ephraim was concerned that she was crying, and waddled over to offer her his sippy-cup. It didn't help much, but it was thoughtful.
He was very kind to all the little children, taking them up on his lap, asking them what they wanted for Christmas and handing them some candy. Then along came Sylvia. He told her he knew for a fact she had been a bad little girl (her cousins gasped) but he would give her some candy to encourage her to do better in the coming year.
Ephraim was not a fan of Santa, in any form, any way.
When it was Asher's turn to sit on Santa's lap, they started to wrestle. I had to quietly remind Santa that the little cousins were watching, and to "be a kind Santa". I think it about killed Mattias to smile sweetly at his brother, and hand him a candy, without tripping him, or telling him he was on his bad list.
Before Santa left, Grandma hopped up on his lap, and sang "I saw Grandma kissing Santa Claus!" and gave him a big kiss. Grandpa thought it was neat to have grandkids now who could take over the tradition. It used to be him dresssing up, and then it was Daniel. Now the next generation has is covered.
My dad said a few words and showed an ornament on the tree belonging to his grandparents, then my mom read Critter (a Christmas story written by my dad, published last year with illustrations from all the grandkids.)
It took a long time to wind kids down before going to bed Saturday night. Half the teens and adults went into town to a late night showing of the Hobbit. The rest of us held down the fort and talked in the dining room. I loved hearing about how they all transitioned from teens into responsible adults. It was neat to have the oldest grandchild, Nicole, sitting with us, giving her opinions like an equal. She started her first year of college and has really grown up from being out on her own.
My favorite part of the adventure was visiting with each of my siblings, and seeing what wonderful people they have become. We would chat standing in the snow, watching our kids play, or chat over wiping down tables, or sit up late on the couches after midnight. I felt I got to hear them all, and I cherish each conversation.
As the oldest of seven kids, with a pretty big age gap, I always felt responsible for them. I tracked down band-aids, braided hair, taught them patty-cake, and tried to teach them to hold a baseball bat right. I started college before most of them were teenagers, and in the back of my mind, I always worried about them.
The last time we were all together was 6 years ago. Some had just gotten married, and some didn't have children yet. It was different this time. Everyone has multiple kids (and is familiar with the chaos that follows). Everyone has had to deal with changing jobs and buying houses. Most have had to deal with a major illness or hospitalization within their family.
These sort of things have taken the sharp edges off my younger siblings, and given them compassion. I saw more patience and understanding in them than I ever though was possible. They are thoughtful, engaged parents. They have all chosen good-hearted, generous spouses, who have stuck with them through the hard times as well as the fun. I think the joy in seeing my siblings turning out well was the best Christmas gift I could get. A big thanks to Daniel for flying us out and getting the lodge. The memories are priceless.
After a very late Saturday night of visiting past midnight, we got up Sunday, packed up and went to church together. It was shocking to see 40 of us filling up 4 long pews in my parent's church building. It will be fun to see this family keep growing, and see what this next generation makes of itself.
Here are my three middle sisters (Tammy, Lisa, and Cheri). Also known as the rub-a-dub-dubbers, because we used to thrown them all in the tub togher as kids. They are very close in age.
Here's little bro Daniel with Braxton. Good looks run in the family.
Mattias, Braxton and Asher getting ready for church.
And if you want to hear a funny story of how we got the Christmas tree for the kids to decorate just ask my parents. They are their own sort of Idaho Bonnie and Clyde. Mom drives a mean get-away-car. I think the wild and craziness might be genetic, as well as the good looks.
It was a very Merry Christmas, definitely one for the history books, or at least the History of the Hinkypunks!
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