Far Away

Sometimes it is a real challenge living so far away from everyone. It's hard having Stuart's family so far away in Canada. Having my family an hour away might seem better, but they might as well be in Canada since we seem to see them just as rarely. This year, we decided to try to eliminate any Christmas stress by staying close to home on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We agreed that if we were going to travel it would be before or after this time. Of course, anyone who wanted to come up to visit was welcome. I know this may seem odd, but it just isn't fair to a 3 year old to make him spend 2-3 hours of his Christmas in a car. So, we got creative.

Stuart's parents sent us a beautiful flower arrangement to let us know they were thinking of us. We then spent about 4 hours of Christmas day on Skype. Stuart connected the computer to the big TV in the family room and his sister left it on at her home so we could feel like we were with the girls this year. (No, it's not the same as having them here, but it was nice.)

We did Christmas at my mom & Ira's house about a week early. And Christmas at my dad & Laura's house a couple of days early. It was nice, but although I took my camera, I didn't have time to take any pictures. ARGH! I only got a couple at my mom's house and nothing at my dad's...sorry. Jack LOVES to see his cousins, but it is a challenge that the boys are all 4 years older and the love isn't reciprocated the way he would like.

Of course, a visit down to Chandler with lots of running and playing with the cousins wears out little Jack.

We also threw a boxing day party for the day after Christmas, but again, I didn't take any pictures. I completely forgot. I must be getting old.