We spent last Christmas with Tyler's parents in Virginia. It was quite a trip, we drove about four hours from Fort Rucker to Atlanta where we caught a flight up to Washington DC. It was POURING down rain as we were getting out of the van at the Atlanta airport. We had about an hour to wait before our flight left though, so we were able to dry off a little bit.
Here's Rachel holding baby Melody
The kids did very well on the flight. It only lasted a little over an hour, and we were well prepared with snacks, coloring books, and movies downloaded on the iPad.
After we landed in DC, Granddad Carson picked us up from the airport and we went to Arlington Cemetery to meet up with Grandma Carson and Tyler's Sister's family, the Stinsons. Then we caravanned to the Washington DC LDS Temple to look at the Christmas lights.
The entire area was just covered with lights! It looked so cool and it was fun to see. Here is Tyler with his oldest niece, Kiera.
It was a little colder than we were used to in Alabama, but we managed to survive and get some nice pictures.
We went to the visitors center to warm up and view the Christmas displays inside. We had seen the Stinsons shortly before we moved from Colorado, so the kids remembered each other and they got along very well while getting out all the energy they had built up sitting in cars and airplanes all day.
Our kids photobombed the Stinson's family picture in front of the Cristus statue. They were just excited to see their cousins again and didn't want to leave their side! Tyler's parents visited us in Alabama when the twins were born, but this was the first time the Stinsons met the babies. Here's Lissa holding a very cuddly looking Christian.
Proud Grandparents with some of the wonderful Grandchildren!
Sylvia LOVED hanging out with her older girl cousins. They love all things girly even more than Sylvia does, if that is possible.
The big girls even tried to teach Sylvia how to play the mini piano
Grandma Carson lead the gingerbread house building activity.
It is a very fun tradition that shows the kids creativity, and lets them snack on candy too!
Sylvia couldn't just show off her gingerbread house, no she had to show off her silly girl face too.
Sylvia also helped Grandma make some of her famous dinner rolls. What a big helper girl!
There were plenty of arms willing to hold Melody and Christian, along with their big brother and sister. Grandma got lots of snuggle time
So did Granddad
As well as Aunt Lissa
And Uncle Jason!
Even Sylvia got in on some of the baby holding action.
Dad-o did his fair share of baby duty too, of course.
Meowy Christmas!
We got lots of exercise while we were in Virginia too, which helped burn off some of the extra calories from all the goodies we ate. Rachel led some "yoda" (yoga) classes with some of the kids.
We played in Grandma and Granddad's back yard and fed the birds
Went exploring in the woods nearby
And visited an old Civil War encampment and battlefield. The kids had fun exploring a replica of an old shelter the Soldiers made to keep warm during the winter.
And seeing the cannons that were used at that time in history.
We also had fun playing on the nearby playground.
We always like to go to the Marine Corps Museum when we are at Grandma and Granddad's house. It's a short drive away and has very cool displays. It has been undergoing renovations and expansions the last few years, so every time we've visited it has something new. Here are our big kids storming the parking lot at the museum, inspired by the Marine's storming the beaches at Iwo Jima.
Here's a picture of Christian the snugly happy baby, and Tyler the scurvy sea dog.
There are lots of kid friendly hands on exhibits. Our toddlers had a great time running around playing with everything they could.
Probably their favorite display was the part where kids could dress up in old fashioned garb and pretend to fish using a fishing pole with a magnet at the end to catch toy fish.
Andrew is really into Legos right now, and he got a big kick out of seeing this large display in the Marine Corps Museum gift shop.
There are a few foreign military officers that are attending the same course as Tyler down in Fort Rucker. A couple of them traveled to various locations along the east coast during the Christmas break so they could see more of the United States than just lower Alabama. Their road trip took them right through Stafford, VA where Tyler's parents live, and they were able to meet up at the Marine Corps museum for a few hours before they continued on their way up to Philadelphia and New York City. It was fun to see them outside of class, and help them tour some cool sights in America. Can you guess who is from Poland and who is from Pakistan? .
Here's the entire Carson clan heading off to church. We had so much fun meeting some of Tyler's old friends and teachers, and Grandma and Granddad were very proud to show off some of their grand children.
Andrew and Savannah were best buds. They had lots of fun playing together.
Of course no Christmas Eve would be complete without reenacting the nativity story. We had plenty of kids to play the part of Mary
Joseph, and the donkey.
Other actors included shepherds, the angel descending from heaven to bring them good tidings of great joy and the wise men.
Here's a family picture on Christmas Eve!
Here are all the big kids coming down the stairs on Christmas morning to see the presents that Santa left them!
They had so much fun getting candy in their stockings and unwrapping presents.
The babies didn't quite know what was going on, but they were glad to be where all the fun was happening!
Next we had our family's traditional Christmas brunch of cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and hot chocolate.
Then it was outside to play with some of the toys the kids got. Here they are learning how to drive a remote control car with Granddad.
One night before we left, we drove around looking at some of the best Christmas light displays in town. Some had thousands of lights.
And some had tens of big inflatable balloons, but they were all very spectacular.
Andrew had just as much fun playing with the old Legos that Tyler had growing up as he did with the new toys he got for Christmas. He loves building Legos, and wants to be a Lego engineer when he grows up.
We all had such a wonderful Christmas, especially that babies who celebrated their first Christmas!
We were glad half of Tyler's family could gather together for a very special Christmas in Virginia! We hope our kids can be good friends with their cousins growing up, and make many fond memories with their aunts, uncles, and grand parents. Merry Christmas!
