Christmas in Nevada

I usually view blogging as a treat I get to do in my free time...until I feel the pressure of not having blogged for a month! It has been so crazy at our house since the holidays (with potty training, ear infections, painting, and Maddox trying to walk!) so there is just not enough time in the day anymore (was there ever?)! And I am not a huge fan of January and February anyway, since I just want to hibernate and sleep through them both, so getting anything extra accomplished is too much work! But here (finally) are some of the pictures from our trip back west for the holidays! I'll have to do a separate Utah post next because we took too many pictures for just one blog entry!

Our flight out was supposed to be a 6 hour direct flight from Philly to Vegas, but we managed to fly out RIGHT in the middle of an ice storm, so we got to sit on the runway for over an hour to keep getting the plane de-iced and then when we finally took off, there was a headwind which made us another hour later. So our flight was actually 8 1/2 hours long. Luckily the kids were pretty good. I guess going to Orlando a couple weeks before helped them get into the groove of flying. But Milt and the girls all fell asleep (on each other), and it was too cute to not catch on photo. Then McKinley woke up and Milt and Kennedy just kept right on sleeping! What can I say, Milt and I pass on excellent sleeping skills to our children.

So we first got to spend a week in Vegas with Milt's family for Christmas and we had so much fun seeing family and friends. AND Jacki and Milt gave us a big giftcard to Cafe Rio, so we HAD to eat there quite a bit. We went to eat there twice in Vegas, and then two more times in Utah. Aaaaaaaaah...It was everything I had been dreaming of and more. And while we did think about taking a picture at each Cafe Rio, we kept ourselves to only taking a picture the first time we went (the night after we arrived...I didn't have very much patience at that point!) And when I was smelling the dressing before pouring it on my salad, Milt rolled his eyes and asked where the camera was. I am pathetic. I probably could benefit from counseling, but I think I'll just have to vacation back to Cafe Rio territory a few times a year to get my fix (what DO they put in that dressing?)! So here is a picture of me at Cafe Rio. I was eerily euphoric...as you can see.

So we did lots of shopping and wrapping for the few days leading up to Christmas, and the kids each got to open one toy (their selection from Disneyworld) and a pair of Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. And Maddox got his first set of Star Wars toys. I'm not sure who was more excited, Maddox or his daddy....

On Christmas morning, we also got to meet our new little nephew/cousin Baby Andy! He was just one month old and SO SO cute! He is the first cousin from this side of the family, so we can't wait until he gets bigger and can play with Maddox! In fact...they already are becoming fast friends!

And here is what our family would look like with four kids.....I'm sure glad we got a picture of this, because it's probably not going to happen! Look how many kids that is! Yikes, and some people actually have that many kids on purpose! But this picture was taken first thing on Christmas morning when we were meeting Baby Andy for the first time.

Here are some more of our Christmas morning pictures of all of us coming down before presents, and the pictures of the kids opening their loot (and Maddox playing with the tree!):

Then for Christmas Dinner we got together with some of Jacki's side of the family. And all of Milt's siblings were there, plus cousins and Nana and Papa Ken and everyone! So with all of the family in the same room, the McMaster in me just HAD to get family pictures organized (every now and then my mother's influence comes out in me!) So we got some family pictures of everyone that was there! Here is the "boy" picture of Milt and his brothers and the two grandsons.

And here's a shot of Lacey, cousin Melanie and Marissa. They are all such cute girls! And another picture of Melanie with McKinley holding Baby Andy.

And here's the group shot of everyone there (thanks to camera timers)!

And here is a pretty good one of our family...all the kids are even looking at the camera!

We got to spend time with some of Milt's dad's side of the family too, but we missed their big family Christmas party by ONE day! We were so sad to have missed it! Their family parties are always such fun...lots of excitement and this year we hear there was even broken furniture! We always miss the best stuff! But we did get to go over and see Milt's Momoe and Papa, and we got some good four generation pictures for Maddox.

And Big Daddy is sure a fan of his grandkids! He now has two grandsons to love and spoil too, and boy did he enjoy them!

We also got a chance to go out to Roger and Jamie's house to see them there one of the days, and they even let McKinley ride Roger's new horse, Cowboy. He is so beautiful.

And this was our picture of Jamie and Maddox when we were all guessing how old he's going to be when he passes her up in height! He's already half her size (and probably almost half of her weight too!)

And the last night we were there, rather than be responsible adults and pack like we should, Milt and I drove out to the California/Nevada State Line to ride a HUGE roller coaster (Desperado) over and over and over while the kids were asleep. We are somewhat crazy, but it was so fun! It was actually the first roller coaster that I've ever been on when I litterally was scared to DEATH the first time. I cannot believe how far you drop....I seriously thought I was never going to stop falling! But of course, after that first time we went on it again and again until we were literally frozen solid. So then we drove the hour back home and packed all night instead. We were very tired for our flight to Utah the next morning, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! Here is a picture of us after going on it one of the last times...you can see our frozen red noses!

And I had to add this picture because Maddox just looked so handsome in his jacket. He might never get to wear it again because Milt hates it, but it sure is cute. Thank you cousin Grant for the hand-me-down!