The 12 Days of Christmas (and you thought the song was annoying)

{disclosure: I am the worst at remembering to take pictures, so much of the fun is not documented, you'll just have to take my word for it, also too, I copied many of these pictures from Monka's Flickr account without his permission}

On the 1st Day of Christmas we left Iowa while PeeYay was in the throws of a "snow event." We didn't exactly have a plan, hmmm, seems to be our M.O. Taylor show choired all day. I attempted a long run in the near 0 temps and quit after 8 miles. And then we packed and cleaned and packed and cleaned. Taylor called around 3 to say they were finishing early and we were on the road by 4:30. This would be the first of many Christmas miracles. We pulled into Dayton at 1am local time and spent the night in a no frills hotel with a 7 am wake up call compliments of Max.

On a side note: Miss Gaby Pants was signed, sealed and delivered to Monka and Nana on the eve of the night before the 1st Day of Christmas. Her presence in their back seat (not ours) brought us joy that knew no bounds as we departed 2113 Linmar Dr. on the 1st Day of Christmas.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas we crossed Ohio, West Virginia and PA. Deb and her princess foyer greeted us with decked halls and boughs of lasagna, which was like the best meal ever (even if she is still eating it), since I hadn't eaten in what seemed like days. The cousins were wired and poor Cooper was caged.

And the installation of the new dishwasher had begun. Notice Chase in on the action. That boy loves tools and being one of the guys.

Jerry dropped Max off at his parents to keep Max (and us) off Deb's naughty list. Max was pretty much convinced that our master plan was to leave him somewhere and he was right, but it was only temporary. I think he was mostly a good dog for Ma and Pa K.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas I had high hopes for mild/fantastic running weather. My hopes were crushed of course, but I managed to get out 6 of the days, which was better than nothing. Taylor and I took thee longest shopping expedition to Walmart ever. At least we were able to find the car afterwards, which Deb and I had issues with later in the week, so much so that IJPMPALB nearly came into play. Uncle Matt provided much entertainment for the kids with sled rides for a good portion of the day.

On the 4th Day of Christmas the Big Girls' had an outting. Lunch at the Pantry with 3, yes 3 whole slices of their Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter icing which has at least 2,500 calories a piece. Then we hit the Hershey Outlets. I served up White Chicken Chili for dinner which was delish even if I improvised the recipe. The post dinner activities included cracking up over animal antics on YouTube and playing Pictionary.

On the 5th day of Christmas we discovered that it nearly takes a signature from the Governor of PeeYay to get a kid out of school for the day. Deb, you should have donned your Palin get-up (minus the flair) then all that paperwork would have been unnecessary. We spent the day immersed in family traditions, like:

Gingerbread house making

Bowling

and Christmas Candy Lane-ing with the customary table for 20 at Red Robin's following the spectacular Noel Christmas lights extravaganza.

It was cold.

On the 6th Day of Christmas we gathered at the Kilgores for the annual reading of Luke 2, all of it, compliments of Taylor. Grandma Sherry provided spiffy 3-D style spectacles for the kiddos, which allowed them to see visions of snowflakes and candy canes and gingerbread men dancing around the tree lights. The were rarely asleep before midnight all week, but we managed to get them tucked in before Santa entered Lebanon County (he may have gotten held up while the locals checked to see if he was a registered Republican or not). Of all the hilarity that was ensuing up to this point, Alyssa nearly shooting her eye out with Owen's Nerf gun probably takes the prize. If I had had my camcorder handy, we'd be a sure thing for the $10,000 grand prize on AFV. Scatagories was unleased after the Blanchards went to church. It's a good thing some people in our family had the good sense to focus on the the true meaning of Christmas while the rest of us were doing our part to keep things politically incorrect.

On the 7th Day of Christmas we celebrated Christmas! The kids were up early, but not ridiculously early. As I was laying on my semi-inflated air mattress with Cooper sniffing my face, I could hear the kids in the hallway. They were eager to get downstairs, but Mason knows the cardinal rule of Christmas - don't go downstairs until mom and dad say it's OK. They debate what they should do when Mason suggests, "I KNOW! LET'S SING!" So cute. The song that they began singing in unison was Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Owen and Chase exchanged gifts. Mostly because Owen spied a gift in the van that was his and we told him it was for Chase. Then he told Chase what it was. Chase being the dutiful cousin decided to give Owen a gift, also too. Owen got a Cars puzzle and he was really excited until he opened the box to find a couple of nuts and bolts from Chaser's toolbox and no puzzle.

Christmas Day eve the Sohns (Deb's parents), Kilgores and Sages converged on the Blanchards for a Christmas feast. It was perfectly perfect, even though the direction of the food line went against every fiber of Deb's being. Side ponies and Official Ugly Moms Club Kickin' Cancer's Trash Socks were yet another miracle of Christmas. 'Nuf said.

On the 7th Day of Christmas I ran 16+ miles in the rain, slush, snow, sleet and wind. It was miserable. The A&M we had for dinner almost made me feel better. Guesstures and Catchphrase rounded out the night.

On the 8th Day of Christmas we went to church. Almost an hour early, which ended up getting us there about 15 minutes late. If you're a Kilgore, you don't even need to do the math. I then met up with 8 girlfriends from high school that I hadn't seen for 15+ years. Jess even brought a stack of photos from a field hockey camp that we all attended together in 1991.

It was really fun. Sunday night we hung out at Mike and Alyssa's listening to all of Emma's super sweet animal noises. She is an awesome little ball of energy. I think that the 8th day ended with the viewing of TWILIGHT (like 5 days after I got it from Redbox)! Nothing says Christmas like teen angst and vampires, right?

On the 9th Day of Christmas Monka, Nana and Taylor packed up and started their journey back to EyeYay (doesn't quite work...). Jerry worked out at LVC, I ran, the kids played various games involving Nerf guns, Matt & Deb worked. There were at least 1-2 trips to Walmart. Sam arrived from California for work in the Midstate. We gathered for dinner at casa Kilgore. Owen and Gaby slept over at grandma's much to Chaser's dismay. He loved, loved, loved having Owen at his house and in his room.

On the 10th Day of Christmas Jerry and I celebrated 15 years of marital bliss. I had the day to myself, best.gift.ever. Jerry took the 5 kids to Grandpa & Grandma Kilgores and I went to Harrisburg to meet my bestest, dearest {and newly engaged} friend Anne for lunch. She's gorgeous and successful and I love that we pick up right where we left off however long ago it was. In this case, I think it had been 3 years since we saw each other. I am thrilled for her and it was so fun to visit during our 2 hour long lunch. Then I went to Hershey for 60+ minutes with Bird, Jerry's sister, at Leo Fritelli. Merry Christmas to me - thanks, babe. That night Bird babysat the young 'uns while the 4 of us went out for our usual anniversary dinner. Great food, bad table, horrible waiter (if Alyssa had been there I'm sure she would have punched him in the face) and hilarious conversation mostly poking fun at my studly "L"oser brother Matt. FYI, Matt and Deb started dating one year after Jerry and I starting dating in 1989, 20 years ago if you need help with the math. Deb is my brother wife, but mostly I think of her as my sister.

On the 11th Day of Christmas we packed and laundered and tried to clean up after ourselves. SIL Kathryn wife to BIL Sam joined us on Wednesday night. It was fun to see them again. Alyssa made Lydia 2 cakes, one strawberry Jello the other Monkey cake, I think in honor of her monkey man? Or perhaps not.

I think Mason really wanted to cuddle with Emma, but she would have none of it. She's is mobile 99% of the time that she is awake, and I would guess that she even moves in her sleep. Most of my pics of her are a blurr.

On the 12th Day of Christmas (aka New Year's Eve) we woke to yet another snow event, with a few inches on the ground. Progress through PA was slow, but roads were great the rest of the way. All 17 hours of them. Happy Birthday, also too, to Lydia who turned 9. We pulled into our shoveled (thankyouverymuchDavidKaiser) driveway at midnight Central Standard Time.

The final miracle of Christmas is that this post is now done.