Christmas in Valentine

Christmas in Valentine: Another Epic Journey.

All of our journeys as of late could be deemed epic because none are less than 6 hours in a car! Don't get me wrong, though. It's completely worth it.

We started this one out by traveling to Omaha and staying with our friends the McNaughtons. I will always remember the night we got there and how much fun our boys had playing with each other. Aaron had them pretty riled up with a game of football. By the end Blaise was red in the face and sweating. I love that my children have friends near and far. (The above picture is us with the McNaughton boys.)

We left the next morning and had a peaceful trip to Valentine. We went to Christmas Eve Mass the following day. The church was absolutely beautiful. It's a small, simple church in the middle of the Sandhills, but it really was breathtakingly beautiful. Maybe it's always been that way at Christmas, but I just never noticed it? Either way, it helped me enter deeper into the Christmas Mass.

 

We opened gifts on Christmas Day after my mom's delicious prime rib dinner. Blaise went CRAZY with the gift opening. He helped EVERYONE with their presents. My favorite was him helping Aaron open his crowbar. My brother had wrapped it tightly in newspaper. Blaise was having trouble getting it open, so he started biting it off!

The rest of the days were spent just hanging out. We took a hike down "Dead Man's Canyon" hauling Blaise behind us in a sled. It was fun to show Aaron some of the places I explored as a child. We also went ice fishing down at the Mill Pond where Aaron showed off his ice skating skills.

 

 

It got really exciting a couple days after Christmas when we decided that Zélie's smoker cough was a cause for concern. We took her to the doctor and discovered she had a slight ear infection. Then, Blaise came down with it, too, and off to the doctor we went with him. Since Aaron was going to have an extra busy week at work, and I didn't want to take care of two sick kiddos overtime all by myself, we decided to send Aaron back to Oklahoma and stay an extra five days. Again, I am so grateful for all the sacrifices my family made for us that week...especially since we ended up leaving half of them sick!

We've been back to Valentine for Christmas two times since Blaise was born and both times someone ended up going to the doctor. I guess God knows we need the extra help to get through our ailments. :)