Christmas 2009

Christmas! I can’t believe I forgot to post about Christmas. It was a very special time for us because it was the first Christmas we got to spend with family (on actual Christmas too!) with Ellie! It was so great because we got to spend two weeks up north with our families in Iowa and Kansas. We flew with Ellie the first week (of Christmas) with my family in Iowa and Minnesota. And of course, with all that snow…we got snowed in at Wendy and Greg’s house! So Ellie opened up presents with cousins, Garett and Wyatt. It wasn’t bad at all because they have a Wii, and Ben and the boys loved playing on it! Ben also got his fare share of helping shovel snow! We actually all got sick at one point in the Christmas vacation with bad colds! But, thankfully Ellie had a cold and beat it with out it turning into croup! Wahoo! With 9 grandkids on my side of the family, it sure was a full house at Grandma and Grandpa Weber’s house. And we got to see Great-Grandpa Whipple too! We did take Ellie out to play in the snow for just a little bit. She laughed and giggled at the dog until Dakota licked in her mouth! That’s when I decided it was time to go inside! Ha ha! That’s one way to get used to nasty germs, I guess! Ellie just had started walking before we went home for Christmas, so she tried her best to keep up with those boy cousins! I think she mostly just watched, in awe of how fast those cousins move, especially Bodee and Kahle! Of course the time together is always too short, but I always love being with family! We were able to meet up with Wade (he wasn’t able to come home with Caryn and the Kids to Iowa) in Topeka at Chuck-E-Cheese, during our week in Kansas.

Christmas with the Gramkows was fun as Ellie is the only grandchild! So we of course, spent most of the time playing and laughing at all the cute, new stuff Ellie is up to! She did get a dolly made by Grandma Gramkow that she hugged a lot! Ellie also got some super cute clothes picked out by her wonderful Aunts and Uncles (from my side of the family too) so needless to say, she’ll be in-style! We got together also with the (well, some of the) Gramkow cousins….Ellie got to meet Stella who’s around her age! Stella had fun showing Ellie how to work all her toys! We stayed with Uncle David and Aunt Audrie and had wonderful hospitality! Ellie and Uncle David sure became best buds after that week! Too cute.Oh, we also of course stopped at the NICU in Topeka to say hello to our "NICU family!"

Ok, well, I know I probably forgot something, but I think that’s at least a brief overview. We were so blessed to have that much time to spend with the Webers and the Gramkows. Here are just a few pictures from our Christmas travels 2009!