Let's talk about Christmas first.
Poor Tim. Poor, poor Tim. He started out the Christmas season by getting sick. Really sick. He caught Ellie's Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, which was bad enough when Ellie went through it, but somehow, Tim got some sort of disease-on-steroids version of it. His tonsils were the size of golf balls, and he had a rash everywhere. Like all over his body, and even inside his mouth and on his throat. It was incredibly painful, and they put him on the same painkillers that they'd given him for after his knee surgery. (And it was so bad that it didn't even help very much!)
Talking was avoided at all costs, since it hurt his mouth and throat so badly, and this was when I came to a whole new appreciation for my usually-very-talkative husband. I realized consciously, perhaps for the first time, that my soul would have slowly died if I'd married the strong, silent type, because dang it, I need my man to be able to talk. Those were the lonely days. We weren't even sure if we'd be able to meet my family in California, which would have been fine if I hadn't been anticipating a potentially silent Christmas with my little family. Heaven bless Tim, because he insisted (mostly through confusing sign language) that we still go. I drove (which I hate doing, but I have an aversion to dying and Tim was still on some pretty heavy painkillers), and we stayed the night in Mesquite.
Taken at Subway, where we stopped to eat dinner. (He ate barely enough to take more pain meds.)
It was a terrible night. Firstly, the people in the room next to ours at the motel were so stinkin' loud. I think they had like 43 kids banging on the walls and yelling at the top of their lungs - all night. And secondly, Tim had an allergic reaction to his pain meds which made his heart race erratically (which he'd had after the surgery, but we didn't make the connection to his meds at that time). It was stressful and restless, but the silver lining was that Ellie still slept pretty well. Thank heaven! (Literally.)
And that was my very long-winded way of saying that getting to California was quite the ordeal. But we did make it eventually. My poor husband spent the first few days hibernating and sleeping in the back room at my grandma's house, which I was all for since I wanted him to feel better ASAP. And I finally had people to talk to - and by that I really mean that I finally had people who could talk back to me! It was a Christmas miracle. Actually, the real miracle was that Tim was able to talk again by Christmas Eve.
I know, I know - not really significant. But I liked them, and this picture was taken on Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning felt like heaven. Tim could talk, my entire family was there, and Ellie was totally in love with Santa and all of her gifts.
And somehow, this is before she started actually opening presents. Yep, this was all Santa.
This was the moment she got a little overwhelmed. She'd opened like five million gifts and still had five million to go.
Blurry picture, I know, but I like that it captured the craziness that was Christmas morning.
My little brother, Eric, who does take normal pictures occasionally. And by that I mean, I think there are maybe two normal pictures in existence (out of thousands). We like him anyway.
That night, we had our traditional Christmas dinner (mMmm, cheesy potatoes), and spent the entire evening laughing and talking. I even got my Aunt Ginny to take a few pictures of Tim, Ellie, and me. These two were my faves:
Hahaha.
On Saturday, my family was nice enough to watch Ellie whilst Tim and I went out on a little date. (They took her to the beach, so as you can imagine, it was like, "Mommy, who?")
First we went out to eat at Corner Bakery.
It felt like I was getting to know him all over again. Just kidding. But it sure was nice to hear his voice again!
After eating, we saw The Hobbit in 3-D. It was so fun! (Although I don't know if I'm sold on 3-D. Anybody else?)
I sure love dating my husband.
When Sunday rolled around, my mom took a few more pictures of us before church. I meant to have more taken of my entire family later once they were all ready, but...it didn't really work out. (Fourth of July, you will not disappoint me.)
And coming up...our second failed camping trip and all the fun we got to have instead!
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