Christmas in the Ozarks

This year the Nielsen Clan left their respective homes and traveled to Gravois Mills, MO for Christmas weekend. Oldest brother Jeremy and his wife Sarah were unable to come due to the fact that they live in Orlando and work for the mouse and this is their busiest time of year. Bummer.

The Texas Nielsen's(and I use this phrase loosely) Left for our trip on Wednesday afternoon after I got off of work. I got released from formation at 11:35 and we were on the road by 12:20. I was thoroughly impressed with our efficient and speedy packing. We drove as far as Tulsa the first night and got there around 8:30 PM. The kids and I passed out within a half an hour of showing up there - Jake was really glad he had a book.

Thursday morning we were on the road again bright and early. We wanted to just get to Missouri because they were predicting a huge snow storm to begin that evening. After navigating our way through the crazy hills of the ozarks we finally arrived at our destination. After months of planning we were there! It did not disappoint. It was a big house set in a quiet neighborhood - where I didn't see another person for three days.

We unpacked and I headed to the grocery store about 15 minutes way. Jake and the kids stayed at the house to greet his younger brother Adam and his wife and son who were coming from Indianapolis. When I returned with my plunder (AKA Christmas dinner) the kids were all in the back yard down by the lake throwing rocks into the water. They had a blast all afternoon - Thor was running so hard that he refused to put a coat on claiming that he would be "too hot"- He's my little polar bear!

We whipped up some pulled pork for dinner and cracked open our Christmas cookie stash. It was fun hanging out with no distractions for once. The TV only came on once the whole weekend and that was only for a short while when the monsters were napping.

The boys had run out to the store to grab a few thing that I had neglected to get and while out discovered a light show was going on at the nearby fairgrounds. Upon their return we all jumped in Adam and Sarah's "swagger wagon" and treated ourselves to a little Christmas adventure. The kids loved it - especially little Wylie- he sat in the front on Jake's lap and every time we passed a Santa he would say "ho ho ho". Too cute! My rug rats were most definitely ready for bed when we got back to the house. It was almost two hours past normal bed time so we packed them away in the master bedroom closet that was to be their bedroom for the weekend. We put a futon mattress in there and they LOVED it. At one point Jake went to check on them and the above picture of Thor is what he found. He was waiting to see his Grandpa! When Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brad and Caleb showed up Thor peaked over the balcony and saw them - he then turned and ran back to his "room". Jake thought he was going to wake Baleigh up and tell her so he rushed up there- only to find that Thor had flopped down in bed and was out like a light. I guess he just had to make sure everyone got to the house safe and sound.

At O'dark thirty (5:30 AM for those of you who don't speak baby anymore) all three grandkids were up and ready to meet the snowy wonderland that had occurred overnight. The first words out of Baleigh's mouth when she saw it were "It snowed so it is Christmas Eve!" She has been waiting for snow for EVER! When I say snowy wonderland I mean a very light dusting compared to what I grew up with but any snow for these guys is magical. They played out in the back yard for HOURS. Baleigh was out with me at 7 AM and aside from a few bathroom/snack breaks she didn't come in until mid afternoon when I insisted on a nap for my kiddos (bad plan on mom's part there). They made a snow man with uncle Brad and rolled several large snowballs- one of which they later dumped in the lake to see if it would float/melt.

After and afternoon of snowman making most of us gathered around the dining room table to make gingerbread houses. This has been a tradition of my family for a long time and is one of my favorite memories from Christmas at my grandma's as a kid. The week prior the kids and i had made a practice house and it turned out pretty good. So we baked the pieces for three houses and assembled them at the lake house. Then we broke out the stash of decorations-or as Wylie calls it "keeny". I the ratio of candy eaten to candy stuck to houses was around 50:50. The most surprising was that even Brad and Caleb seemed to enjoy the event. Thor and Brad decorated a house together and really did a magnificent job.

                                                       Wylie working on his sugar coma

                                                     Thor and Brad working on their masterpiece

  from left to right: Brad and Thor, Caleb and Baleigh, Sarah and Wylie

The kids were stoked for Santa to come, although they were a bit concerned on how Santa comes down the chimney without getting burned in the fireplace. We explained that he just blows the fire out and then relights it before he leaves. Pretty talented guy that St Nick. Baleigh had a case of Christmas eve adrenaline. Long after Thor and Wylie had given in and passed out  she remained awake begging to stay up. At one point I turned on cartoons in Jake and my room in the hopes that she would pass out while watching. I was in the kitchen prepping things for lunch the next day and everyone else was in the living room doing what "santa" does best(eating cookies and putting gifts under the tree). I heard her come out and panicked - I yelled " get back in bed Santa is here!" Then I went up to talk with her. I explained that we couldn't open gifts until the morning time- all she heard was that there were gifts down there. She didn't fall asleep until around 11PM. Then at 5:30 AM she was up to see what Santa had brought.

                          Don't judge- you try and get three toddlers to look in one place at the same time

                                           Thor is one of his animal masks from Grandma Cori

       Baleigh Bean with her baby that she named Dolly Bean- doll and dress by way of Sarah and  Adam

All the cousins had gotten matching "christmas" jammies the night before as had the adults. Thank's Auntie Sarah!   

The turkey went in the oven during presents and the rest as they say is gravy. Grandpa helped by making said gravy as this is a skill I have yet to master. We had quite the spread, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cheesy potatoes, swiss vegetable medley (  traditional Nielsen fare)   brussel sprouts with bacon, and rolls from a can (strangely enough this was the one thing that failed). I don't think anyone was even close to hungry when they pushed themselves away from the table. In fact the two pumpkin pies I had made only got partially eaten. I think that is a huge compliment...people were so full there was no room for dessert.

                                                                About to head home!

I started the packing shortly before bedtime and so we were prepped for launch by 8 AM the next morning. We were on the road by 8:30 along with Adam's family. Having the longest trip ahead of  us with 12 hours of travel we wanted to get an early start. Baleigh made it about 20 minutes in the car before she tossed her cookies- literally and figuratively. We made and emergency stop for gatoraid while I cleaned up the back seat- Thank goodness for baby wipes! I treated her tummy with dome dramamine and 10 minutes down the road she was out light a light. When she woke up for the wold's largest McDonald's in Vinitia, OK two hours later she was all better.

Traffic was pleasant, and the weather was perfect. We made it home right around 9:30 PM on Sunday night and after downloading the car  we all racked out.

This week is only half days so it was nice only go in for a couple of hours before going home. Tomorrow Auntie Katie (best friend from College) is coming down for the weekend. We are all really excited to hang out. We have spent the last few new year's eves with her  at her house so it will be fun to host this year. Although we don't have a Wii so it may not be quite as much fun.