New traditions

This year was the first year since Shawn and I have been married that we didn't go to Wyoming for Christmas. With unpredictable road conditions and expensive air fare we just thought it would be better to stay in Iowa. So instead we decided to start a new family tradition, we would be prudent with our gift giving to each other and use the money to go on a family vacation, nothing too big just some place to go as a family to reconnect and get away from the stressful holiday hub bub. This year we decided to go to The Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, WI. For those of you who aren't familiar with Wisconsin Dells it is a wonderland full of indoor waterparks and fun! The Kalahari Resort is an African themed resort with both an indoor waterpark and amusement park along with other fun crafts for kids and restaurants. The best part is it is all inside, perfect for the bitter cold Midwestern winters.
I've learned that whenever you are about to do something that benefits your family or coincides with Heavenly Father's plan all the forces of nature start working against you. So I knew this was a great decision for our family from the get go because as we were leaving the snow began to fall, very heavily. From Iowa City to Wisconsin Dells is normally a four hour drive, after about six hours of driving we stopped for dinner only to learn we were still about an hour away, on a good day. A blizzard had hit and freezing rain was expected so we decided to miss our reservation and stop for the night in a little town called Dodgeville, WI. It turns out the Best Western in Dodgeville is a very lovely hotel with a continental breakfast and and indoor/outdoor pool that is open all year round. So we took the boys swimming, they got a big kick out of swimming during a blizzard. We actually had a really great time despite bump in the road. The next morning we headed to "the Dells" and on the way there I feel in love with Wisconsin, it is a beautiful state. We had a lot of fun swimming and playing that day...then came the night and along with it food poisoning! Poor Rhees got violently ill and was sick about every twenty minutes the whole night. It slowed down the next day but ended our vacation early and lasted for the next few days. We still had a great time and I know our family is happier and stronger because of the time we spent together and the fun we had with one another.
Christmas was pretty laid back, in my opinion absolutely lovely! With the miracle of technology the boys got to open presents with both Nana and Papa Elcock and Grandma and Granpapa Countryman. Another tradition we started was to give the boys an ornament on Christmas Eve. The ornament is a momento or photo of the trip we went on together that year along with the date we went on it. That way when we go to decorate the tree we can remember all the fun times we had together during previous years.

Hope all of you had a great holiday.

Aleq and Rhees decorating the tree.

Swimming during the blizzard (too much snow to get a good photo)

There was a beautiful gingerbread house at Kalahari that the boys loved
Look mom! Can we keep him?


The boys shooting bad guys in the arcadeYay! We finally made it!

Opening presents "with" the Countrymans
Opening presents "with" the Elcocks

Mick's first Christmas, he's a naturalThe construction

The final product

The Aftermath
Mick was so exhausted and his jammies were so cozy he fell asleep right on the floor.

Rhees playing the Kinect on Christmas morning, Thanks Nana and PapaDr. Rhees practicing his dental technique
What happens when Aleq has a cookie on his shirt and Rhees is hungry?

This.