We went to California to be with the Zavoral Clan from Dec 23, 2016 to Jan 1, 2017 (10 days). This post is about our time prepping to get there and spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with everyone.
The snow storm brought us lots of fun!
We enjoyed a walk at the nature center one evening after school. I did this activity as an investment, hoping that the boys could get out their energy and then behave while I worked on packing when we got home. It worked!
Several days before this outing at the Nature Center, we got an official diagnosis for Tanner. (GAD and SPD). I will write more about this later, but I remember the reality of the diagnosis starting to sink in a little as I took this picture of the boys on the bridge.
To say that I had a lot of anxiety and reservations about traveling during the holidays is an understatement. It is interesting to look back and see that God felt it wise to add Tanner’s diagnosis to my cup just a few days before we left. It really was wise, though, because the diagnosis helped distract me from getting worried about other things. A lot of this trip was spent processing information about Tanner, which was a good thing. I am grateful to Heavenly Father and a few family members who gave their support and kindness when I really needed it.
After four days of doing laundry, organizing our suitcases, preparing the house for our absence, REorganizing our suitcases, and working busy schedules (up until the hour we left), we were ready to go! We figured out how to fit everything into our carry-on bags and backpacks, which saved us the extra cost of checking our bags. Also, the prep work paid off because this is one of our first trips ever where we left on time for the airport!
Tanner came down with a fever as we left the house. (Ugh, he has a track record of doing this on big trips!) By the time we were on the plane it was 102.5. My panic set in really fast. This is one the main reasons I was not excited to travel with the kids at Christmas- they get sick. I really didn’t want to start our trip like this! I said lots of prayers to help me calm down, and I became a little calmer after each one.
I felt bad for Tanner, but the more I prayed and breathed slowly, the more I knew he would be okay. I became glad he was sick on the plane instead of sick during family time. The buzzing of the flight kept him asleep, so we were free of whining for almost 4 hours! I asked Heavenly Father over and over again that his fever could kill the bugs inside him within 24 hours so that we wouldn’t have to take him to the doctor or give him fever reducing medicine on our trip, and I asked for patience and wisdom to know what to do if this couldn’t happen.
I gave both boys lots of oils and vitamins. And my prayers were answered! The fever went away on it’s own in less than 24 hours, and Tanner didn’t get any other symptoms the entire trip. I continued to use our oils and vitamins aggressively throughout the week, and we managed to survive the week without more than a few sniffles. I was so grateful.
It was the morning of Christmas Eve when we first saw all the kiddos!
We went to the church building to help set up for the big dinner.
Preparing the centerpieces.
Getting distracted with measuring Jeremy and Matt. It’s true, Matt gets taller EVERY time we see him!
We did some food shopping, and split up throughout the store. Dallin got to be with Uncle Matt.
The evening was really fun! It was great to see all the Davidson folk!
We were split up into groups to make human Christmas trees!
Can you see Dallin ready to throw the ball to Uncle Steve?
Reunited with cousin Aaron!
Playing more catch with Uncle Steve!
Sweet faces.
That’s Tanner in the white and green striped shepherd costume, and me playing the piano.
I left my phone at the church on accident, so Abby and Sandy left me a ton of silly photos!
To avoid confusing people that read this later, we stayed at a home that we called the Larson Hotel. We were very fortunate to use this house while the owners were on vacation. The home is in the same neighborhood as Momz’s house. Once the kids were asleep on Christmas Eve at the Larson Hotel, we exchanged gifts with the grown-up siblings in the Larson living room. It was a lot of fun to finally give the gifts away that I had wrapped back before Halloween.
Katie took this fun picture of us opening some gift cards to restaurants. At this point in our lives, we cannot have too many restaurant gift cards. They are helping us out a lot, especially with my work schedule.
Katie took this fun picture of us opening some gift cards to restaurants. At this point in our lives, we cannot have too many restaurant gift cards. They are helping us out a lot, especially with my work schedule.
My precious niece. We were matching on Christmas eve!
Christmas morning we went to Momz’s house to see the surprises from the Santas (each set of parents did their own Santa gifts for their children). When we all arrived and came into the family room, all the kids thought that the normal toys that GrandmaZ had in her house were their presents! It doesn’t take a lot to make these kids happy!
This line-up below is a fun Zavoral family tradition. We lined up by height of the original Zavoral siblings, which meant that Jeremy and his kids were second to last, followed by Matt. (You can’t see Tanner in the picture because he was on the verge of a panic attack feeling claustrophobic in the hallway. I’m not sure how he kept it together, I was really proud of him). Then each family took their turn coming into the living room to see what Santa brought them.
The gifts that Grandma had for the boys were a big hit.
After that, we all went to church. We met at Grandpa Davidson’s ward that started at 11 am, and we watched him sing in the choir.
The boys didn’t want to smile in the pictures, so we did a sad picture for them.
After church, we all worked to make a Christmas Brunch, which was more like “Linner,” haha. I made German pancakes. All the food was very yummy.
Peekaboo with my only nephew!
Later that afternoon, the little kids exchanged gifts with their cousins. That’s when I got to read the Cousin Book that I made for the kiddos! This was one moment of our trip that I looked forward to for about 3 months. I compiled pictures of the cousins from the last 4 years and put the lyrics to primary songs with the pictures, so it is a singing book! Leila and one of the twins really liked reading the book with me a couple different times. I also made a copy for my boys, and they love it!
The kids watched a movie together for a little while.
And some of us rested. 🙂
Tanner and his cousin became little buddies again. I found them at the piano Christmas Day, in the afternoon.
Then a little Garrett girl joined in. So Sweet!
Someone slammed a door, so Melissa gathered the kids together to tell them about the time she slammed a door and her finger got cut off. True story.
Hanging out! These quiet moments during the day were my favorite.
That evening of Christmas Day, we enjoyed snacks at Grandpa Davidson’s house. He had some fun presents for us and we had a special photo puzzle for him!
But as always, the marble game was the highlight.
Tanner and Grandpa had a fun moment together!
It was a busy, fun, lively Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!