We were set and ready to fly. We LOVED connecting in Boston. No drama this time.....
Except I thought I'd left our camera on the shuttle bus. Here we could have had 30 min. to our leisure--imagine that! Corey is my hero. After several internal airport phone calls and actually hopping on the shuttle to go back to Terminal 4 Parking, he found our camera. We were all cued up for the flight. Maggie was a superstar and Elsie, a fabulous attendant.
Corey is also a hero for entertaining Spencer for the journey home. I really felt for Corey when I learned he'd exhausted all the resources {snacks, candy, and games} in Spencer's backpack the first hour. We walked the aisles several times and jumped up and down in the back of the plane--because that's what you do with energetic 1-3 year-olds.
After 24 hours we made it.
It's good to be home (never-mind Spence chewing his blanket, Maggie--wide-eyed for the night, and Elsie's pink cheeks from a fever--that's just what happens when you travel. :)
Papa and Mimi's.
Oh, happiest Christmas.
Pictures never capture the grandeur and beauty of the mountains. They always humble me. They always inspire me--winter and summer.
We kicked off the festiveness with our annual DeYoung Smorgasbord Dinner.
We draw sides, drinks, and main...even table decorating. Cameron's original flare was completely awesome--especially his centerpiece! :) Sarah's sweet potato casserole was to die for--literally. It must have loads of goodness in it to make it so lush.
Dad got creative and Mom's parmesan-artichoke {the latter vegetable seems to be a DeYoung favorite} dip had me munching all the way up until the main course! Corey's drink was a love.
Kyle prepared an awesome Boba drink. He learned how to make it in his mission. It's like a strawberry shake with huge tapioca-like balls at the bottom. His ordering the special straws provided the perfect pelting game for the boys after dinner.
This year we started a cereal gift exchange--which I'm pretty sure we'll be repeating next year! For the love of cereal.
Christmas Eve has always been magical and it started with Opa's Opus.
All the family members pull out their instruments and Opa directs us in some Christmas tunes. (Please forgive the poor photo editing/merging of this photo--I wanted to show the ensemble in grandpa's cozy basement). It was so lovely to join them after not being there for the Opus in a few years. Faith was the best stand I've had! She made sure I didn't miss a note. ;)
Every year family members provide a program of Christmas songs, poems, and dance. Of course Santa visits and we all huddle around him in front of the piano with our individual families. It's the picture.
I HAD to document these homemade lovelies. The De Young family name says Dutch all over it, and Mike and Susan complimented genes with these stroops from scratch!! Divine is an understatement. How I crave these--even as I type!
Well, we slept on that cinnamon goodness {along with LuAnn's lovely annual Christmas Eve dinner} and woke up to a magical morning.
The aqua doodles (seriously perfect for trips--you only need water to fill the pens) and cars were a hit.
Of course Maggie loved her rattle {Elsie may have been more excited about her gift}. The beauty of this Christmas was chatting with the entire family. Thank you dearest Google+
Our missionaries never looked or sounded better.
Yep, that pretty much tops it all off. Then again, we needed a bit more Christmas-Evening-magic with family.
1 comment:
What a project to document the Holidays! Love it! Brings back so many wonderful memories! Thank you for taking time to do it....and thanks to Elsie and Spencer for being patient while you do!
Love you!
-Mom
Post a Comment