Christmas Visitors

 I don't think we had plans for visitors when December rolled in. I believe I learned about Ellie, our neighbor's dog, that Kade was asked to dog sit, the first week of December. About another week later, I learned that we would also possibly have Jason's parents come visit. 

Ellie came last Sunday, and Jason's parents drove from Amarillo and arrived on Monday evening, though we didn't see them until Tuesday morning. They stayed at a hotel about 10 minutes away since we have no room in our house currently. We were happy to have these extra special guests that we rarely see on Christmas!

Ellie, getting her bearings, and the cats adjusting!

Before they arrived on Monday, some of us went to eat with the Kish family at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

On Tuesday, we enjoyed visiting with Gramms and Abuelo, and Jason had a little work to do. I had to fill a few orders for Teffola. 

Jason, giving his dad a snuggle.

Christmas Eve, we went to E & L Supermercado in Mexican Town near Detroit to buy the rest of the necessities for the Puerto Rican meal for Christmas Day. Originally, it was just going to be Jason and Victoria, but with Gramms and Abuelo here, the rest of us adults wanted to go! We got some amazing tacos from a food truck for lunch before shopping. Victoria felt at home in Mexico, and Abuelo felt at home in Puerto Rico since the store includes all things Latino. Kade, Austin, and Erik were on a snowboard/ski trip that day (thanks, Grandma!)

We missed them in Mexican Town, but they had fun, and there were no injuries!

For dinner, we had Christmas fettuccine, nice and easy. We watched Charlie Brown Christmas, read the Nativity, and visited with family.

Setting the table with Gramms.

Anticipating the meal.

The chef!

This was the meal after I ate the broccoli.

Christmas Eve!

On Christmas Day, the kids still wanted to have Gramms and Abuelo come at 8, which is definitely later than in years past, but fairly early for teens. I thought it was nice because it was fun to have guests come over at 8 on Christmas morning. We opened stockings and gifts nice and slowly since there weren't many to open due to the expensive gifts of snowboards for Kade and Austin this year, and Erik's bike, which he got for his birthday one month earlier, but I had told him that it would count toward Christmas, plus he's got those very expensive field trips he's going on at the end of the school year. Victoria got a few more gifts, but since she doesn't have a job because of her mission, we are helping fund her life's needs (and Grandpa is as well, thanks!). 

This was taken the day before Christmas Eve, when Austin and Kade actually got their snowboards so they could use them. Kade was still at work for this pic, and I realized I don't have one with his new board.

Christmas morning!

We had a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, locs and bagels (with salmon from Norway, thanks Aldi), and yogurt parfaits. Everyone ate whichever part of the breakfast they wanted, since not everyone liked everything. 

I cut the bagels in half.

Ellie was feeling festive with Kade. 

After breakfast, Jason started some prep for our Puerto Rican dinner while visiting with his parents. We also took Ellie for a walk. When we returned, Victoria informed us she wasn't feeling well. She was having amplified symptoms from what she had the day before: a rash on her neck, a hard time breathing, an itchy throat and eyes, a bloated feeling in her stomach, and blood in her stool. It was the blood that alerted us. The day before, Jason gave her Benadryl for the other symptoms, but when everything was worse the next day, plus the blood, we decided I should take her to the urgent care. We had been thinking about what the reaction could be from and decided that the most likely thing was the dragon fruit she ate that we got at the SuperMercado. 

Luckily, the urgent care wasn't busy on Christmas Day, though there was a steady flow of people, which may have helped the workers there pass the time. She was seen right away. They gave her a dose of epinephrine after listening to her symptoms. The doctor said that since she had 3 body systems affected with a reaction (skin, digestive, and respiratory systems), she would need the EpiPen because she was in anaphylaxis shock. Since they gave her that, she needed to stay and be monitored for at least 2 hours. Shortly afterward, they gave her an oral steroid. 

The urgent care closed at 2, so the 2 hours would be just in time for them to close. As the time drew closer and she still felt symptoms in her throat and chest, the doctor highly recommended that we go to the ER for more monitoring for two more hours. We thought, discussed, and even called Jason's brother, who's a doctor, and decided to go home. They had prescribed her another EpiPen, which we picked up along with Pepcid that Thomas told us we should give her. He said the steroids should be good enough and that she didn't necessarily need an EpiPen, but we were happy to have one, just in case. 

When we returned, we helped Jason finish the preparations and prepped the rest of the house for dinner. Our friend Angelisa and the missionaries were coming for dinner, and we had some gifts for them. When they arrived,  we enjoyed our meal, conversation, and a Christmas Bingo game, but Victoria wasn't feeling great. Jason and the missionaries gave her a blessing before they left, and she went to bed pretty early. She felt much better the next day, but still needs to call an allergist to get tested and see if something else is causing her to have the rash she still has on her neck. 

Christmas Day night!

I forgot to take pictures of the meal, but this is the cheesecake that Kade made for dessert.

It was a different Christmas, and we especially enjoyed having Ellie, Gramms, and Abuelo here. The rest of the time they were here, we went to the Henry Ford museum to see the special Da Vinci display. We also watched the BYU football game on Saturday at the Pop Tart Bowl. 

Outside the Henry Ford.

In the foyer.

Some of Da Vinci's inventions on display with Victoria's photography.

Ellie really loves Kade. 

Working on a puzzle during the game.

Sport fanatics.

The cats started eating from Ellie's bowl. 

Ellie is back home now, and Jason's parents have made it home as well. I'm really glad we had our Christmas visitors and Victoria here. It made for a special Christmas 💓

Hoilday Cheer

 We had a snow day on the 10th, so Erik's band concert was rescheduled for last Wednesday. I can't believe he's in the 8th grade and his final year of band in middle school! It was fun to see the progress of the band now that most of them are in their 3rd year of playing. And if violists are hard to see at orchestra concerts, trombonists are even harder to see at band concerts. I'll include videos of both of his songs for listening pleasure only. All you can see is his forehead. Not even his trombone, though you can see the trombone of the kid next to him, some of the time. 

Even when he's standing, it's hard to see him!

Austin went to a Merry Mile XC runner party at his friend's house. The tradition is to dress kind of funny or festive for the mile run. Some of them were shirtless, and it was pretty cold that night! Luckily, we didn't have to support or watch in the freezing cold!

Austin painted on his candy cane stripes on an old pair of long underwear. Crazy boys! 

We went to a luncheon for service missionaries and their parents with Victoria yesterday. It was nice to see some of the other service missionaries in the area. The couple over the service missionaries are in our very own ward, so that's convenient. The luncheon was at our building, which is also the Stake Center. A few days before that, we had the full-time sister missionaries over for their P-day to watch The Chosen and make cookies. 

Serivce missionaries with Brother and Sister Christensen.

Same group, adding in the mission president and his wife.

Full-time sister missionaries. 

Kade has gotten experience working in retail during the holidays. Lucky him!

Kade tried some liberty spikes for work. 

Last night, Victoria's friend Payton and her family invited us to see the decorations at a fancy hotel just north of Plymouth. It was beautiful and also had a huge, real gingerbread train on display!

The ingredient list

There's a beautiful organ in the back!

It was fun to experience these activities to bring on the holiday cheer. 

After Sacrament meeting today.