Christmas in the Bend

So, as I mentioned earlier, we spent Christmas in South Bend. Our flight out of Tokyo was 2 hours delayed so we made it to Chicago with little time to spare. I think we would have made it without any troubles but once we got to immigration, there was a SEA of people and only four lanes open. Welcome to America! We still thought that we might be OK but then had to wait in line to re-check our bags. From that point on, we RAN through the Chicago O'Hare airport. Picture Home Alone where the whole family is racing to get to their flight. That was us. We are pushing past people, hollering, "Excuse us, excuse us." People are wishing us well and telling us Good Luck! Brynn is crying,"I can't go any further." I am shouting over my shoulder, "Suck it up and keep up or we are leaving you behind." (Again, not one of my finer moments....keep in mind that we were all sleep deprived and jet lagged by this point.) We get to the gate and lo and behold, the plane is still there. However, since the gate is being pulled back from the plane, they will not let us on. I am begging, kids are crying, Bryce is panting, none of us can breathe. But, no go. So we head down to the business lounge to see what we can do. Turns out that the next flight is not for 5hours so we rent a car and start driving. We get on 294 and are driving in heavy traffic when we hear Brynn's voice from the back seat of our 4 door sedan say, "I don't feel so well." Keep in mind that we have no luggage (that was supposedly on the plane however didn't make it to us in South Bend until the next morning) and cars are flying by at 9pm. I was able to dump my Ziploc baggie full of carry-on travel sized who-ha's just in time to get the bag back to her. Bryce pulls over and for the first time in our life, we littered knowingly on the road. Oh well! We got home to South Bend in time to see Mimi and Poppa and Grandma and Grandpa Bowman and arrived in one piece...tired but glad to be home!

This is a picture of us happy and loving each other.....this is NOT how we looked when we finally got to my parents' house that evening.

Realizing that I have spent a huge amountof time on the 'getting there' story, I will condense the best I can for the remainder :0)

The first weekend was full of Brynn's baptism preparations and enjoying time with the grandparents (see earlier post). Early in the week, we did a LOT of shopping. We picked up many items we needed back in Japan and lots of clothes and shoes to replace ones that needed replacing. On Weds., Bryce and I headed down to Indy for a few Dr's appts. and to get into our storage. No one told us that we could have access to our storage while we were in Japan. Let me tell you, it is going to be like Christmas when we move back to the U.S. (at least for me!) We went down to pick up our Geo Trax train that we bought for Isaac the year before we left Japan. It was barely used and we knew that Tanner would LOVE it and he will almost be too old for it when we finally get back to the U.S. so we re-gifted. I know, is that terrible or what? We did at least buy him a new train to go with the track but it seemed silly to let the thing go to waste! Funny story though, the guy takes us to our crate in the storage facility and tells us to let him know what we want. The first thing I pick up is a pretty clear vase full of shells. I said, "This isn't ours." Bryce said, "Yes, it is." I said, "No it's not....Ours is in Japan in the downstairs bathroom....this one is not ours!" The guy says, "It is now!" Made me laugh but also terrifies me....how many other items are in our crates that are not ours or that are ours, but are not in our crates? YIKES!!!

That day, we bribed/threatened/begged/pleaded my brother and sister-in-law to let us take their two puppies back to South Bend with usto surprise the kids. They willingly....(I use that term VERY loosely) obliged and we packed Gus and Lola in my Mom's Jeep and headed back north. I should have realized we were in trouble when we hadn't even left the neighborhood and both dogs had opened their container of food and were slamming their faces into it.

The kids were ecstatic to see the dogs and to be able to have them for three days to themselves. My mom and I....not so much. The first night, the dogs were nervous being away from their Mommy and Daddy. My parents had one dog in the bed with them and Bryce and I had the other. My Mom and I were both up most of the night. Thankfully, day 2 and day 3 were much more relaxed and both dogs did extremely well. We enjoyed playing, cuddling and kissing on them. NEWS FLASH!!!!! See this picture below? I think I have finally turned Bryce into a dog lover (scratch that)...a dog tolerator. He even admitted that it was fun having both dogs around.

The weekend is when Eric and Lesley joined us. We had a Christmas multi-media presentation by Bryce, played games, opened gifts on Christmas, and ate, and ate, and ate!!!! Ham and prime rib in one weekend....can it get any better?

Eric and Lesley took the dogs and headed home Sunday and we continued to eat, play games, play with toys, and shop throughout the week. Mimi and Poppa spoiled us rotten (don't they always?) Isaac got to go shooting for the first time with Daddy. Yes,the real kind, with real guns and real ammo. I am still not sure how I feel about this but seeing how much fun he had with Bryce was great.

Mom and Dad also took all of us tubing at St. Pat's park. Bryce and I loved doing that as kids and our kids had just as much fun. Of course, the one time we went all at once, I accidentally pulled on Brynn's arm instead of her tube and she came right off and starting sliding down the hill sans tube. Then, the boys (Dad, Bryce, Isaac and Tanner) came up behind her and practically mowed her down. Thankfully, Bryce held her body up the best he could and I grabbed her head so she didn't get smashed in her face and we made it down. She was pretty traumatized but I was able to convince her to come down one more time with me. We certainly did get our fill of playing in the snow between the tubing and playing in my parents' yard, we have regular snow bunnies, now!

The following weekend, Eric, Lesley and the dogs headed back up to be withus and to celebrate New Years. We enjoyed a nice dinner out on New Years Eve and I actuallystayed up all the way until midnight....can't remember the last year I did that! New Year's Day, wewent and took family pictures and enjoyed our day together...and watched a LOT of football! The following morning, we got up and headed to the airport bright and early.

No major difficulties with the trip back other than Brynn getting sick after the long flight again. This time in Tokyo while we were waiting to re-check our luggage. Then, after getting out of the taxi, she got sick again. Apparently, she is not partial to just getting car sick anymore....it is ALL types of transportation:0)

We loved our trip even though it seemed to fly by. Can't wait to go back and do it again this summer. We will even be throwing in a trip to Texas (driving 15 hours down there) this summer so we can celebrate Bryce's parents 50th anniversary. We are looking forward to our trip, that is for sure....the vomiting, not so much! I will be stocking up on Dramamine!

While we miss everyone already, I must admit it has been nice to get back home and into a routine again. I must be getting old! :0) We love you Mimi, Poppa, Grandma, Grandpa, Eric, Lesley and Gus and Lola! Thank you for making our Christmas and New Year's so wonderful!