Is it Over Yet?

December was one very long month. In the beginning it was the usual stress of the holidays, made a little more frantic because we had company for Thanksgiving and Tessa's birthday is so close. Then it became stressful in a more worrisome way, as one by one family members were sick or injured. My sister's MIL started it out by reentering the hospital for yet another complication. She's had a very rough year. My mom's cousin (a identical twin with dwarfism) was experiencing complications from a surgery that was necessary but risky. My grandmother went in for a planned knee surgery and ended up contracting pneumonia, which made her pulmonary fibrosis much harder to live with. We were quite afraid we were losing her and I spent every day wondering if I should pack my bags and be ready to travel to Utah with a moment's notice. Then my MIL was injured while babysitting her grandbaby and caring for my SIL's horses. The horses were spooked by a neighbor's dog and one knocked her over and the other stepped on her. She has a broken shoulder and crushed finger. Of course we couldn't escape injury at our own home, so Tessa got the sniffles and Phoebe ended up with a trip to the ER, a UTI and the flu. She shared the flu with us, but thankfully it was a fast moving virus and we were all functional by Christmas. There were quite a few people who didn't get cards this year (sorry!) and a few presents I have yet to send (really sorry!) but everyone is home and alive and getting well, which is the best present any of us could ask for. (Grandma is still in a rehab home but out of the ICU and the hospital). So here are a few pics from our crazy Cmas and now I'm off to shop for those last few gifts!

Photos:

My dear friend Heather came to visit us for a few days and this is the best picture I've got. I am blessed to have a few very close friends, all of whom live far away, but all make an effort to stay "close" and visit on occasion, despite the high cost of travel these days. Unfortunately I tend to enjoy their visits so much that I forget to take photos. Note to self: don't rely on husband or friend to capture the moment. This photo was taken at the "company" Christmas party from across the room, thus the red eyes, fuzziness and weird cropping. Tim and his friend Gregg avoided photos all together so I have none of them. Oh well.
We tried to visit Santa this year but it was not going to happen. This photo is when we were ready to leave the mall, since she didn't want to talk to Santa anyway and we were done. I really captured the emotions here.

Tessa decorated our tree with her dress-up jewelry. I was not in the decorating mood and we would have needed unbreakable decorations anyway. It turned out pretty cute and very low stress!

One of Tessa's favorite gifts, a three wheel Razor scooter. She also loves her new Leapster, and it's funny to see her enter a video game trance when she doesn't even know how to play most of the games.

Phoebe looks so tall standing next to Grandma Jo.

She wanted to try out Tessa's scooter.

It snowed the day after Christmas so we headed up the mountain to play a little. We had a picnic at the start of Madera Canyon, where it was slightly warmer and lower elevation. Along with lunch, Tessa got to eat an icicle. We then went a little higher and got to play a bit before Tessa was crying because her hands were numb and we all needed a nap. Another fun day with the grandparents. We went to Colossal Cave County Park and had a picnic. There were stables in the park and the girls got to enjoy a ride on Rambler, the appointed kiddie horse. Tessa does not have the same passion for horses that Phoebe does, but she has never been nervous around one. Maybe it was because she used to ride on my back while I took Phoebe for her weekly lesson in Texas. I don't remember how old she was for her first ride but it was younger than Phoebe, for sure, and that was age 2. Maybe someday we will have the time, money and energy for horses of our own. Phoebe would think she died and went to horsey heaven.Her helmet was too big and kept sliding down but it never effected her smile. Since the cave was not wheelchair friendly, Phoebe and I enjoyed the last ride of the day at the stables and watched the horses get fed. Tessa and the grandparents went on to catch the last tour of the day. Apparently Tessa was terrified to go inside and cried for a while, even though she got to ride on Grandpa Jim's shoulders. The cave looks much bigger than I expected and they spent an hour exploring it. Tessa's fears subsided slowly and by the end she was ready to get down and walk. It was an eventful day and we finished off with dinner at Texas Roadhouse.