Christmas with the whole Phillips Clan

When we got back home, we celebrated Christmas with Kent's family, with the exception of his sister, Shelby, and her family. You guys were missed! Cousin Ally inherited Auntie Shelby's cradle for her baby dolls. It was a big hit! All the girls loved it, and fought over whose doll was whose.

Keegan, Grandpa Chris, Grandma Phillips and Ellie.

Brayden opening his cool magic set from Grandma Phillips!

Dani riding Keegan's life-like dinosaur.

Ellie crawled into the cradle and surrounded herself with every baby possible and all the nai-nights (blankets).

It was a fun, hectic morning. As you can see, I didn't get many good pics. Some of the highlights were:

1. Dani and Ellie got cabbage patch dolls from Grandma Phillips and Grandpa Chris. Who would have thought my daughters would have the same kind of dolls that I did?

2. Brayden got a cool Handy Manny TV toy that he has been "fixing" all day, from Auntie Sarah and Uncle Kelly. He already made them a thank you card!

3. Kent and I got gift cards to two different restaurants, now we can go on dates! Those are the best gifts ever!

4. Sarah and I got to play the WII while we were watching six kids. We tried to do the dancing (which is super fun, but difficult with kids running across the mat). Kent and Kelly had to go dig Great- G & G and G & G out of the snow in Couer d' Alene. I guess the snow was unbelievable out there. Luckily everyone made it back to the house and we could all be together!

5. It was a very fast, chaotic, fun couple of hours!

Our Christmas

After sledding outside, we came in and the kids got a warm bath in the big tub! I thought with the picture failure in the snow, I might be able to get one of all of them in a contained area. No such luck, this is as good as it gets.

Daddy with his beautiful girls.

Frosting X-mas cookies with Grandma.

Reading the tooting dog book from cousin Sarah. I think Dad liked it just as much as Brayden.

Opening a present from Great-Grandma Wagener.

Sassy Danielle Claire.

Ellie trying on her new pants from Cousin Sarah! We love them!

Uncle Steve and Ryan recovering with a caffeinated beverage.

Cousins Loren, Jeremy and Diane.

Getting ready to see what Santa brought!

The dinosaur Brayden asked for! He must have been good (for the most part)!

Dani trying on new dress up shoes, not too steady yet.

Ellie balancing on her own.

An attempt at a family pic. Only one is eating her shoe!

Home safe and sound

We are back home, safe and sound. It was a horrible drive and one that I don't think we will do again anytime soon. I just realized I posted all my pics. backwards. I HATE that! Oh well, I am too tired to redo all of it. I am horrible choosing pics. (I always want to use all of them) so there are a lot! I will have to do another post tomorrow with the X-mas pics. and our other activities from the week. G & G's house had LOTS of snow! We had fun playing in it and going sledding down the ENORMOUS hill!

Brayden being a nice big brother!

The princess did not like falling in the cold snow.

Strong Grandma helping Princess Ellie.

I have been trying to get a pic. of all three kids together for the last few weeks. It hasn't happened yet. This is how it started.....

This is how it ended! Dani was in tears and Brayden went stomping in the pond.

Kalin and Tyler took on the huge task of making a gingerbread house with Brayden. I love them for that! I am not good at it, and it is so messy! He had a ball with them and it turned out really cute!

Mom and I tried to work on a puzzle and entertain the girls at the same time, it wasn't too successful. I am loving my outfit here... pajama pants on early, were my pants already too tight one day into the trip? It was down hill from there...

Uncle Ryan up and dressed in real clothes and eating nachos two weeks after cardiac surgery, who would have thought?

This pic. cracks me up. This is us heading out for the 'couve. We got the girls up and dressed and gave them breakfast to eat in the car. I came downstairs after gathering more stuff and Dani was sitting in the drivers seat. She did NOT want to move. If she could have sat there the whole way, maybe she wouldn't have screamed most of the way. Control issues???

Dad got back into town and we went sledding the night before we headed to the 'couve, but it was COLD!

Thanks for the cute hats Shelbi!

This is rudolph and it is adorable on his little head!

Speed racers!

We made it!

We are in the 'couve at G & G Wagener's house! It was a treacherous trip and LONG for the kids. Danielle has proved yet again, she does NOT enjoy traveling. It was a long 8.5 hours in the car as Kent called it, "Death Highway." The gorge was not so good, we left early in the morning, and got through before the freezing rain hit, but it was slow going. We had all the confidence in the world for Kent's driving, because "I'm a very good driver," (Rainman, in case you peeps didn't know). He is a Spokane boy, and has lots of experience in that kind of weather, but I tell ya, not everyone out there knows what they're doing. That's the scariest part.....

We stopped in Pasco and got some chains for the mini-van, just in case. We made it all the way to the 'Couve without needing them. Then when we tried to get up my parent's ginormous hill we couldn't quite make it. We slid down a few times, then decided the chains would be a good idea. We are all safe and sound and enjoying the freezing rain, snow and sleet here. At least there's not three feet of snow here too!

I did it!

I know I already posted this morning, but this is insane! We have so much snow, people are snowmobiling by our house. Brayden has been wanting to go sledding all day! Who can blame him, our hill looks so inviting! After going a little nuts this morning I decided to bundle everyone up. After tracking down enough of everything, we were ready. Thank you Missy, for the pants and boots, you're a lifesaver! While I got the girls ready, B played on the deck.

The snow was up to his shoulders in spots, he was crawling on top of the piles.

Bundled up and ready to get to work shoveling!

B sledding on the snow hill on our driveway!

Ellie wasn't so sure about the snow at first, but she was thrilled to walk around and drag the shovel behind her. As long as she could keep wandering she was happy!

Dani loved the snow initially, but she wouldn't keep her gloves on. She didn't last too long, but she liked having free reign of the house while we shoveled a little bit longer!

B making a snow angel, I thought I was going to lose him in all that snow!

Dani as happy as can be inside.

Ellie lasted a long time outside, and refused to take off her snow gear when we got inside. She found my hat and insisted on wearing it. It looks a lot cuter on her!

How about some snow???

This is what we woke up to this morning. This is our back deck. All the school districts are closed (which rarely happens here), the court house is closed and the hospitals aren't doing scheduled non-emergency surgeries. (I am so glad I am not scheduled for a C-section, I would have lost my mind)! Those poor people!

I fed the kids breakfast and headed outside to shovel. Even though I shoveled three times yesterday this is what I walked out to. My camera sucks and you can't really tell how high it is, it just looks like a blizzard, which it pretty much is. I shoveled for 45 minutes and maybe cleared 1/4 of our driveway. I didn't even attempt to clear the third bay. While I was shoveling my B-I-L, Kelly, drove by. (They live down the street from us). He had attempted to get to work in his 4X4 truck and couldn't quite make it. He said people were stuck everywhere. When the plows clear the snow it is immediately covered up.

I think we will hunker down, we're going to be stuck for a few days. Will my husband ever make it home.....??? If he does, I may have to be committed to a mental institution by that point. :)
I hope this 'couve girl can make it back home for the holidays!