An Idaho-n New Years!

The final day of Gruber Christmas came, which meant decision time for the Jason Gruber family. We had planned to join my family in their trip to Idaho for New Years (company leaving Sunday afternoon), but Charlie and I were so sick...I didn’t think it would be wise or possible. However, somehow Jason convinced me to brave the journey. I was feeling slightly better that day...but overall still pretty miserable. Jason knew I would regret it if we didn’t go, and he also knew that it was important to be with my family after spending the Christmas holiday with his. So we packed up, bought some medical masks, and joined my family in the suburban for the three hour drive up to Shelley, Idaho.

I was afraid we were making a huge mistake, but with it all behind us now...I’m so glad we went! I really started feeling better within the few days were there and we had such a fun time with the family. Poor Charlie was pretty sick, but it was nice having the help of loving family members.

My mom, Bryan, and Kimberly had driven up a day or two before, so they were there to feed us a delicious dinner upon our arrival. After a quiet Arbon dinner, the Rich house began filling up with cousins, aunts, and uncles. The Andersons brought their Wii and Kendra brought her X-Box, so we enjoyed hours of playing the different interactive dancing games. Such a fun idea.  (That also meant hours of Halo later on).

My lovely medical mask

I was sure to put Charlie down to bed early, and tried to follow suit. I may not have gone to bed “early” but it was a decent hour compared to the typical 2:00 AM bedtime that we experience when in Idaho. 

My sick little munchkin:

Ah, breaks my heart!

We played all kinds of games over our stay: Headbandz, Blockus, Scum, Nertz, Curses, just to name a few. 

New Years Party:

 
The New Years countdown was especially exciting this year because Uncle Percy had a legit Chinese lantern that they lit off at the stroke of midnight. Always a cool sight! The next morning, the Anderson’s had a gingerbread house that they dedicated to the cause of pyrotechnics. Percy lit a bomb inside of the gingerbread house and we all waited anxiously for the explosion. Well, we waited and waited...until finally there was a puff of white smoke and the gingerbread house was no longer to be found. Not quite what we expected, but still a fun memory.

 

Thank you, Jason, for making this happen!

And welcome 2013!!!

Christmas with the Grubers - Part II

The day after Christmas was a blast! George and Nancy had reserved the cultural hall of their church for the afternoon...which meant hours and hours of fun games and playing. Uncle Alan had surprised us by sending us remote control Angry Bird planes that were a hit. The kids had a special Treasure Hunt, thanks to Karl. And we even had a Gruber Family Talent Show.

We started out the morning with Lox and Bagels - Max's treat!

(it is smoked salmon, onions, capers, tomatoes, and cream cheese...

sounds crazy but actually pretty good)

Fun at the Cultural Hall:

Watching all of the action

Treasure Hunt

Talent Show:

 

My talent - stalls and headstands

Jason's talent - magic trick

 

Charlie's talent was supposed to be rolling over, but he was more interested in crying.

We did have him sit up by himself, but he managed to fall back on his head right in front of Daddy.

Such impressive parents, right?

Other talents included: piano, harmonica, dancing, singing, juggling, kick-line, splits, sweeping, two-man cartwheels, etc.

Racing wind-up cars

So much snow!:

 The fun slide and jump in the backyard

 

 Our little burrito!

So the next day, I woke up terribly sick. I had a fever, sore throat, and headache. I was so bummed! For starters, it was our anniversary. Secondly, Jason had to work that day so he couldn't take over Charlie duty. And thirdly, I had to miss out on the fun activities. Lucky for me, the family was so great with helping with Charlie. They let me go right back down to bed and took care of him for me. Around lunchtime, the ladies headed off to Provo for Erin Hymas's baby shower at La Jolla Groves. I really sad to miss that. Shortly after they left, Jason made it back from work and was able to take care of Charlie. I was able to mingle with the family the rest of the day, but definitely wasn't feeling my best.

Almost twinners

Look at us and all of our babies!

The next day was another fun in the snow day. Jason, Sean, and Robby hit the slopes at Snowbird. Alli and I were supposed to join them, but I was still feeling too sick...so Alli didn't end up going either. Sorry, Alli! I was so bummed! I spent the morning, again, in bed trying to recover and get some rest.

Elsa is a crack up!

Skiing at Snowbird:

Lots of powder! A hard day of skiing!

So glad Charlie was a happy boy while I was resting!

The next day was Clara's birthday! The family celebrated by going to Boondocks. I, again, stayed home to rest. My sickness continued to get worse as I developed a cough and stuffy nose. Charlie also started getting a little sick, poor little guy.

Happy Birthday Clara!

 Look at that sweet little rump!

We did manage to get a family photo taken...

...and send off a homemade Chinese lantern:

(wait for it, wait for it...the excitement happens at 1:10)

Sunday eventually came, and all too soon! We were not ready for the fun Gruber times to end. What a fun and eventful week!?! So sad that I got sick, but not before I had such a blast with the family! And lucky that it struck after Christmas! 

Man, we really are blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people! So lucky and so thankful! Love you all!