(The WORST) Vacation in So Cal

The day after Christmas we woke up early and boarded a plane to sunny Southern California. Uncle Seth was getting hitched to a new Aunt Natalie on December 27th, in Newport Beach, and the girls were excited to be a part of it. I think both girls could navigate the airport by themselves and probably could fly alone and were champs on the plane like usual. Their new IPAD and Nabi kept them busy most of the flight and Ben and I had a glimpse of sitting quietly reading to ourselves on a family trip. After finally getting a rental car from the painful LAX, we were on our way to the hotel to meet up with all of the Cosby clan.

Lucky for us with the time change working in our favor, we were up early and made it to the sealing in plenty of time the morning of the 27th. The girls looked lovely in their white wedding dresses from Grandma and it was so fun to see them and their cousins all fancied up. Seth was handsome and Natalie beautiful and before we knew it they were sealed for time and all eternity. Olivia was acting a bit grouchy but we figured it was the time change and having to pose for pictures and missing a nap, etc. Sadly, we were wrong!

After the ceremony we all four found ourselves asleep in the hotel room after lunch for a nap. (Bad sign #2.) We woke up groggy but made our way to the wedding reception where we planned to celebrate, dance and enjoy the night. Quickly the girls started to go downhill and an hour in, both were laying on our laps and asking to go home. WHAT? They love weddings and the food all looked so yummy. We decided it was best we leave, so we skipped the cake cutting and sparkler send off for the bride and groom and by 8:45pm all four of us were in bed. (Bad sign #3.)




Livi didn't sleep long and I sat up with her most of the night as she tossed and turned and felt warm and clammy. When it was finally morning we got up and packed our bags for a few days at Disneyland but only made it to the elevator to check-out when Isabelle began throwing up. The poor girl was mortified getting sick in public and with Olivia burning up and Isabelle puking, Ben and I didn't know exactly what to do as we sat homeless in the parking garage. Thankfully we made it to our next hotel, about 20 minutes down the freeway, before Belle got sick again and this is where we sat for the next three days as the girls both fought the worst case of influenza.







We kept thinking they would sleep it off and feel better in the morning but every day just seemed to be worse than the one before. Sadly we had already bought our Disneyland tickets and the girls were beyond devastated to not go, so we drugged them up and rented a double stroller for a few days and tried to have a little fun at the parks. The girls had moments of enjoyment and I managed to snap a few pictures when they were awake, but we spent most of our time pushing them around asleep in the stroller hot and flushed. They didn't want any treats and sometimes could barely sit up to watch the parade go by.

Our last day seemed the worst, 5 days from our arrival, and both girls were still fevery and resisting food and drinks. We were pretty sure it was the flu and knew there was nothing to be done, but Ben and I finally got nervous enough that we checked out of our Disney hotel and drove across L.A. to find an urgent care and get a doctor's help. The girls looked so awful and the doctor took one glance and took us back quickly to examine. Isabelle was so hot and flushed but her hands were so ice cold that the doctor could not get an oxygen reading thru her fingertips. She was officially diagnosed with Influenza, dehydration, Acute Upper Respiratory infection and Acute Otisis Media. Olivia had swollen red eyes and a high fever and her diagnoses was Influenza, Acute Otisis Media and Conjunctivitis. Yikes! An hour and several prescriptions later, we left and felt very relieved that we had begun the healing process with the girls, albeit a slow one.

We checked in to our third motel in a week right next door to the LAX airport, dropped off our rental car and got into bed drugged and early again. We were worried that the girls' ears would be too painful on the flight, but the Motrin helped enough and both girls were glad to cuddle up with mom in the tiny airplane seats and watch a movie for 3 hours. All four of us were more than thrilled when our feet hit our Texas soil and we could get in a hot bubble bath, wash our dirty germy clothes, and sleep in our own beds. The next day was New Years Eve but none of us were up to much, so we stayed home and rang in the New Year at 9:00pm. It was not the vacation we had planned on and we hated that we missed so much fun at the wedding and Disney and wasted so much money, but we are grateful that we were together and watched over and that after another week or so made a full recovery. Happy New Year 2014! We were blessed this year and look forward to what the future brings!

NOEL

I remember really enjoying last Christmas, in 2012. I was ahead of the game in shopping, cards, baking, everything. The holidays seemed fun and relaxing and I told Ben, I did it right this year! Fast forward a year and Christmas 2013 was the complete opposite. It was December before I could get my feet on the ground and I spent the entire month rushing from one thing to the next and doing things as quickly and thoughtless as possible. It was really not enjoyable and I felt overwhelmed and sad nearly the whole month. Either way, Christmas came and went like it always does and my head is still spinning a bit.



The few days before Christmas we spent with the Christensen family, all 13 of us! The girls had their cousins Leo and Max sleep over and spent every waking moment playing as fast as they could before Max had to fly back to Ohio. They had fun opening their mittens from Grandma and eating breakfast with Grandpa at IHOP. One of their most favorite parts was the treasure hunt Grandma and Grandpa planned all over the Coles Crossing Park and especially digging up the treasure box that was buried in the trail and filled with CASH. Isabelle grabbed a handful of bills and screamed I'm going to be rich!

The girls opened their gifts from Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Van on Christmas Eve and were beyond thrilled with their new Anna and Elsa dresses. They immediately put them on and have since learned all the lyrics to the Frozen songs. Christmas Eve night was spent at the Vernon's home where we ate yummy appetizers, opened gifts from Grandpa Elmo and Grammie and put on a Nativity puppet show. On the drive home, Olivia asked if they could please go to bed "dirty" because she was worried if they took a shower they would be up too late for Santa. We quickly got them clean, in warm jammies and left notes and snacks for Santa and they were still snoring before 8:00pm.

Christmas morning came early at about 6:30am and they girls were so excited with all of their presents. They loved their personalized Santa bags that Grammie made and could not believe that Santa brought Isabelle a new awesome 20" bike and her own Ipad mini, and Olivia a Mirco Mini Scooter and a Nabi! We spent a couple hours opening gifts and eating breakfast and eventually made our way to my parents for a Christmas dinner complete with all the festive trimmings.


Despite the madness of the holiday, the girls thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas and Ben and I did our best to keep up. It seems like just as quickly as the 25th of December arrived, it left also and we were quickly boarding a plane for Southern California and Uncle Seth's wedding. We are grateful for the reminder of our Savior's birth this time of year and love the quiet moments we get to spend with the girls celebrating His life and having holiday fun. Tis the season to be jolly....

Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker

Isabelle has wanted to be in The Nutcracker since she could talk...or dance, so when we switched dance studios this year we opted for a classical Russian ballet company which would allow her to live her dream. Olivia followed in her big sister's footsteps like usual and this past December they performed three times the parts of a Bon Bon and a Mouse.

The girls practiced for weeks and knew their dances well. They both loved their sparkly costumes and took their hair and makeup seriously. I worried that they wouldn't hold up performing three nights in a row and late, especially little Livi, but they danced with grace and I think I was more run down from the event than they were. Isabelle loved being on the big stage with a large crowd and was so proud to be a jump leader, and Olivia felt beautiful and bowed carefully when it was her turn in the grand finale. Ben was in love with his little girls and I was just thrilled that they were learning real ballet and manners at the same time.

Isabelle loved carpooling with two friends of the family who are both 4th graders all semester and thought she was so grown up hanging with Audrey and Sophie. Lucky for us, their were little sisters too so Olivia had fun dancing with Elle and Annie all Fall/Winter long. They exchanged little dance-friend gifts before their performance and had a great time waiting backstage with their buddies.

The girls were fortunate to have three different friends from school buy tickets to come watch them perform and a special treat was having the entire Christensen family at their Saturday matinee. They loved the flowers Max and Leo brought to them and Livi asked me if they had all yelled Brava!

The Nutcracker was a special holiday treat this season and I loved watching the girls have fun. I selfishly hope the girls always love to dance. Wednesday nights and Thursday afternoons are currently my favorite days of the week. Brava! Brava!

And that was November...

I hope that we were so busy being GRATEFUL this month that we forgot to take many pictures?? Usually when I look back at my phone, I am reminded by many events and moments that I quickly snapped a photo of, but this month there is not much there. I guess we were too busy enjoying the cooler weather, getting our Christmas decorations out, finishing soccer and starting basketball and celebrating Thanksgiving to fit much extra fun in. Either way, I am thankful for so many things and am especially grateful for this time of year when we get to slow down, at least for one day, and remind ourselves just how fortunate we are. There is a special magic in the air this time of year and November is a month we wait for year round. Happy Fall Y'All!

There is a great big turkey down on Grandpa's farm...

Thanksgiving is always a beloved holiday in the Christensen Cosby home. Not only do we look forward to the Turkey Trot and the pumpkin pie, but we wait all year to kick off the Christmas season and go Black Friday Shopping!

This year both girls got ready for the holiday with Feasts at school. Isabelle was lucky to have Leo to share her meal with and I loved seeing Olivia in her turkey hat with her classmates. Both girls liked the idea of the meal better than the actual food, but anything out of the ordinary seems special and festive. Thanksgiving morning we woke early and zoomed to Coles Crossing for the annual Turkey Trot. Olivia had been congested and on antibiotics for a few days so she and Ben made it the first mile or so but then peeled off for home. My mom, Tara and I jogged beside Belle and were all shocked when she ran the whole two miles without taking even the quickest rest. She is a good little runner and loved being a part of the race with the big girls.

Grammie made a yummy traditional meal with all of the trimmings and we had eaten and cleaned up by early afternoon. We were all full and excited to make our shopping lists and plans. We quickly bundled up and before most people were sitting down to their turkey dinners, we were spending money like wildfire. We had a great time shopping Thursday night and then also well before sunrise on Friday morning. Both girls bought each other gifts and loved finding steals in the dark dark night. In between stores, I stopped by the doctor and picked myself up some antibiotics and joined Livi in feeling pretty yucky. Germs didn't keep us from having more fun though, after a quick rest on Friday we were back out again and went to the movie Frozen. We all loved the story of the two sisters and were more than exhausted and ready for bed Friday night.

We had one more Thanksgiving holiday plan and that was to kick off Christmas downtown at the Houston Zoo Lights. Sadly Livi and I both had fevers and after yet another doctor visit found out that we had Type A Influenza, but not until after we saw millions of twinkling lights at the Zoo. It was a quick and sickly Thanksgiving this year, but as usual we loved being with my parents and Tara and missed our other loved ones who were away. We are so grateful for families and this time of year when we get to spend a little bit of extra time together. We are blessed.