One set of Nathan's grandparents lives in Utah while the other lives in Minnesota. We got really lucky for Christmas this year with both sides of our family in Utah. And we almost didn't make it there.
We were all ready to go. We had our own little Christmas before leaving so we wouldn't have to bring our gifts. Our bags were packed with Christmas goodies for our families. We woke up at 4:30 to head off the airport so we would have plenty of time with holiday travel. We were traveling just 2 days before Christmas and we knew it would be crazy. We arrived at the airport and went to bag check. The line didn't look too bad so we thought the hour and a half we had left ourselves would be more than enough. We soon realized we were moving no where fast in this line. There was only one Delta representative working the bag check line. One! On the day before Christmas Eve! After an hour of waiting in line we finally got to the desk only to find out we could not get on our flight. "Bags have to be checked in 45 minutes prior to departure," she said. "You can get on standby for this afternoon's flight," she said. There may have been tears on my part at this point. The likelihood of getting on a flight on standby during holiday travel was zero. We'd seen practically everyone in front of us getting rebooked/put on standby. We asked if there was another flight that we could get seats on. The Delta lady came back with tickets for the next afternoon, Christmas Eve. It was all we could do at that desk. After a little investigation we found out there were no seat assignments for that ticket either. It felt like Christmas might be cancelled. We went back home, heartbroken at the prospect of having a present-less, family-less Christmas.
Luckily, we had someone who actually might be able to help us. We called Brad's dad who is a "Double Platinum Diamond Super Elite Delta Skymiles Member" or something like that. He made some calls, didn't take no for an answer, and got us tickets for that day! It was a Christmas miracle.
Not wanting to miss the flight we had procured by some act of Christmas magic, we gave ourselves 2 hours to get through the bag check line. When we walked back into the airport I couldn't help but laugh. There was not a soul in line for bag check. We checked in, dropped off our bags, and went through security all in 15 minutes.
If I said everything after that was a breeze, that would be a lie. We had a grouchy toddler who hadn't gotten his nap because of all the change of plans. We did have the nice comfort seats right behind first class with extra leg room so I laid Nathan on the floor to go to bed. He went to sleep, but an hour in I saw he was restless. "Oh, he'll find a new position and go back to sleep," I thought. Well a minute later I hear a little gasp, Nathan crying, and a lady calls back, "We have your baby." Nathan had crawled into first class where they were eating their dinner. What a surprise!
After all that we finally made it to Utah for Christmas.
We had our first Christmas with the Bennetts. There was presents and lots of good food. The best part was skyping with our missionary in Italy. Adrianne was so happy and doing so well!
Byron broke his collarbone just before Christmas
so he had to use his teeth to open his gifts.
so he had to use his teeth to open his gifts.
I might have made this beanie for him.
And I might have made this hood/cowl for my sister.
Watching "The Polar Express" together.
We also got to spend Christmas with our Packer family. Nathan's favorite part was playing with all of his cousins and they were so sweet to him. The boys would run around with the purpose with getting Nathan to run after them and he would giggle and follow along. Anna would come up to give Nathan hugs and kisses. Ella and Kate were also very sweet to play with him which made him so happy. Don't let this picture fool you. He really does love his cousins.
And after a very quick week it was back to Philly. The trip back was so much better. There was extra room on the flight so Nathan got his own seat. And Nathan's pretty much a pro at this whole flying thing now. You read Sky magazine and then take a nap until you land.
It was kind of quick trip with seeing both families, but spending Christmas with them made it well worth all the effort.