Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Great Wolf Lodge




AWOOF!


Watch out Great Wolf Lodge, here come the Lindbloms!
That was our Christmas gift from my parents. 
Christopher and Jael even flew in for the weekend!



This place reminded me of being on a cruise ship.
Once the kids got acclimated to the area, they were off with cousin
friends keeping themselves entertained with all the different activities! 

We never had to leave the resort which was nice.
















 



Monday, February 27, 2023

Christmas Break and Happy New Year!



We got back from our Christmas trip with a week left to play!


Our favorite Prenda group!
It is fun getting with them as much as we can.
The big kids and little kids groups. 
They could have played at the park all day!







We went to some place out in Scottsdale (name not ringing a bell at ALL) where
they had a big light maze and ice skating. 

It was fun and the whole Lindblom crew was there.


This was hysterical to watch!
I was still getting my balance down, so Casey got be in charge of her. 
I was praying we made it out of there with no broken wrists!






They eventually mastered it!






You can tell the age of a Christmas tree by the tape colors on the box.  
Each year when I put it away I tell myself next year I will get a new one.
Then the next year as I lug it out of the box I say, I think it has one more year in her!

The lights are out in many sections and the branches are smooshed and don't fluff
up anymore. But I am too cheap and lazy, ha!

I can't think of anyone who comes in my house during Christmas except the neighbor kids.
 Lets be honest, I'm not trying to impress them!







I took advantage of the break to get all the appointments in!
Lane started PT on his shoulder.

Twice a week for 3 months, thank HEAVENS he can drive his cute booty there himself!





We took advantage of my parents hot tub quite a bit!

They got brave and decided to jump in the pool.
Come to find out they said it wasn't that cold!
I was pretty impressed by how long they were able to stay in it!

Later my dad whispered to me that he had been heating it up
in preparation for New Years Eve.
Ha! We let that be our little secret. 







We spent New Years Eve with my family.
Our neighbors were getting together later that night, but its too hard to split the time.
So we stayed put. 

The last sunset of 2022 was pretty spectacular!




Della loves Daisy so very much.
She was pretty quiet sitting on the floor petting her deeply.

Out of nowhere she said " I'm glad Craig got this dog without asking".

Back story, my youngest brother Craig, who was a Junior in high school came home one night
with a dog. He didn't ask or have permission, just announced he was a dog owner!

And when you are the youngest of a family of 7 things like that fly with a shrug
 of the parents shoulders.

Don't be getting any ideas!



I was the only adult willing to get in the hot tub.
I was on lifeguard duty while they played games inside.

When I got hungry I would text them to bring me a snack!
Not a bad gig since I was planning on hot tubbing regardless:)





Getting ready for midnight.










Always a dance party with my family!
In fact, we moved our way to the street where 4-5 other carports merged with us
for the biggest impromptu dance better!
It was a blast!
We had the Cummards/Clouses huge group, Kunz, Finters,
and the Bowdens.

Teenagers started coming out of the woodworks.
Then Lane rolled up with about 15 of his friends.
There were about 100 people dancing at 12:30 in the morning!


My dad made waffles to feed an army. 
I don't think we made it home until 2am. 





I loved having our Lindblom cousin party AFTER Christmas.
It really helped spread things out.

It has turned to adults only which is also SO much better.
We can actually visit!

This year it was at Uncle Dea and Aunt Marcia's house.
I spent many, many days and nights at their house growing up.
We would go over one Summer day for a play date that turned into
3 days! So many memories over there playing with cousins. 

Their home has a special feel and smell I will never forget.



Not much has changed since those childhood years!





 

Friday, February 24, 2023

Merry Christmas!




We woke up to find that Santa indeed did find us in Branson!
How is he so smart?!

Checking out their things under the tree. 


We had to leave it because we needed to get to church by 9!




The building was a buzz!
I guess they combined 2 wards plus a Spanish branch just for that day.

And we saw multiple Hughes sightings!
Kind of fun to remember faces from kids and adults from the night before.
One of the brothers is in the bishopric and even conducted the church services.

It was mainly singing by the choir with a some speakers.


Christmas on Sunday is probably one of my favorite things.



Back to jammies and seeing what Santa brought them!




How did he know the girls have been begging for a claw clip?!
And a mini LOL ball. 

He must have also known Lanes truck smelled like boys and needed Sex wax car fresheners.
And Rusty's crocks were pretty boring without those tacky emblem button things. 


And WAY too much candy!

Those smiles meant it was still a great Christmas even
 without piles of presents to open!




We made biscuits and gravy for breakfast.






They are basically teenagers. 




We enjoyed a few more hours of chill time.
My Christmas nap in the recliner was heavenly!

Time to pack up. 

Finally, a restaurant on my list open!
Christmas day non-the-less.
I'll take it.

We went to McFarlain's.
A food from scratch type of place.


These cobblers were money!
The crust was thick and flaky, yumm!




Took our drive back to the airport.
I was a little nervous how this would go.

All over the news was horror stories of every airline canceling flights due to weather.

I was expecting pure chaos at the airport.

We walked in to it basically empty.
It felt like they had just turned the lights on for the first time that day.
I think we were the first flight out that night? 

Which was weird because it was a 10pm flight!




We got through security in 2 minutes.
No need for our TSA pre check.
 Just nice we don't have to take our shoes off anymore!

It was pretty uneventful.
The coloring stuff I brought kept those 2 busy while we waited to board. 



Just making himself at home.




We boarded on time and back home once again!

I copied this from my instagram account.

"Don't let the smiles fool you that this trip went smooth as butter.
We had more hiccups than I would like to admit.
Everyday our plans changed drastically because of inclement weather and cancelled events.
We hardly got to check mark off half of our original itinerary. We dealt with the typical meltdowns
and teenage moodiness. However, without a doubt I know the Lord planned exactly what we needed
to experience together as a family. So, I will call that our Christmas miracle!!"


This trip was everything for me.
I know it may be some time before we can take another trip together during Christmas.
I loved that we got to go out of the normal traditions and do something different together.
Sometimes we need change in our lives without even knowing it. 

It had been a long time since all 4 kids have had quality interaction time together.
No distractions or outlets to escape away to. 
We were stuck in a 1000 sq ft cabin together for 24 hours and that may have been the biggest 
blessing of it all! 

It was a very, Merry {white} Christmas!