Christmas in Ohio

Thursday, 12/29/16

We finally left for Ohio at 7:20am that morning! It was later than everyone wanted... but the driver really needed to not feel rushed, and it was super nice to have Wednesday to just 're-coop' from Christmas at the Beyer's, do laundry and pack :)
THIS picture was actually a couple hours out from Mimi & Pap's, we were in Indiana and had stopped at rest stop. The girls had been napping on and off the whole trip... exhausted pretty much from late nights and a lot of Christmas! So I just kept driving!
And with that comes a whole lot of thinking time... and it happened to be Mom and Dad's 43rd wedding anniversary... so while we stopped, I collected my thoughts to post on FB ❤

Here was the post with these pictures:
I was reminiscing while driving 550-miles to Ohio by myself with these 4👭👭 beauties behind me thinking, "who does this??"

The girls & I have been doing this for 5-yrs... LeaAnn was a baby, Lydia a toddler, Lauren/Linds, 5 & 6.
And then thought of my parents, and realized they had instilled in me these independent & stubborn tendencies I have 😘 they taught me to be independent enough to drive truck/trailer & back it up so I could go to horse shows by myself, drive tractor/bailer for work, a work ethic to take me places & belief I could do whatever I put my mind to... even wings to fly away & leave Ohio.

And then I realized that today was a very special day, their 43rd wedding anniversary. ❤️ Bonnie Bockel Koontz

I'm so grateful these four girls behind me will also grow up to be independent women ... and can only hope they will look at Chris & I, like I look at the both of you now.

You withstood tragedy, loss & so much change at such a young age, so early in marriage ... and you made it. Your marriage continues to be about selfless giving & love. Your example gives me strength and encourages me to love and forgive more.
Thank you for instilling those values in me, and in turn I hope I can do the same for these 4 amazing young ladies someday.

So congratulations & cheers to many, many more Mom & Dad!! 🍻can't wait to see you soon!! ❤️🎉💕

Love, love, love both of these pictures ❤❤❤

And we finally arrived! 8-hrs & 40-minutes I believe! We ate dinner, and then let the kids open their presents :)

Mom & Dad got the kids these adorable suede shirts with fringe on them

HUGE hit!

Matched Kaya!

And pots and pans to cook at their tee-pee!! Talk about some excited kids!!

Their tribe pictures :) WITH the adorable tee-pees that Pap made the kids! He took some of the actual fabric that came from the tee-pee by the creek, hot-glued sticks together and put a little light in it... SO adorable and sweet ❤ And I know it was from Pap, but I'm pretty sure that Mimi had a hand in making it happen as well ;)

Mom sent me this picture of the tee-pees in the making ❤❤

the finished product! though truly, the picture doesn't do it justice :)

On Friday, 12/29 Mimi took all the kids to the movie Muana ... girls in their matching shirts from Aunt Ashley!

How in the world they have gotten this big... I have no idea. I think Lindsay looks just like Mimi in these pictures!!!

And Diane & Jenn came to see me!! Diane had flown in from Germany and she picked up Jenn on the way down! It was such an awesome visit... and 3-1/2 hrs was definitely too short... I truly hope to fly to Germany in the next couple of years to see Diane!!

On New Year's Eve day, we went back to the Dayton outdoor ice arena! The sun was out at the beginning and it was really nice outside!

ALL the kids have gotten so much better at skating! It's incredible how quickly they can pick something up...

Love these pictures you took, Mom! ❤

Hot chocolate break

And Pap let them get funnel cakes :) It really is the cutest set-up for outdoor ice skating...

And then that night... well first I had to beat Lauren at Goblet 😂😂

and we snuggled on the couch and watched Ghostbusters of all things ;)

And THEN we went to Tara's to watch the pathetic OSU game... but still had fun! And as you can see, LeaAnn was elated to have a friend who ALSO had a piggy blanket!

On New Year's Day we went shopping... all 6 cousins, Mimi, myself and Ashley. We ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was super yummy! HOWEVER, I just looked up nutritional content ... aaannd... looks like wings are going to have to go on the 'out' list for awhile for me! 😉

And then that night we busted out the Swedish chocolate that Diane brought for the girls! Soo good!

Wonderful trip... very relaxing, the weather was great... just wish, as always, I could squeeze the states together.  It was hard to come back to Iowa this time. I'm hoping a new house will help ease that for next year ;) I wrote it in my FB post... about having the courage to leave Ohio, and there are many, many days that I still wonder why. My 4 girls are reason enough... I just hope that all 4 of you girls read this blog someday... and take my experience into consideration, before spreading your own wings and leaving me in Iowa ;)
Love you Mimi & Pap! Thank you for everything!!