Christmas, Part 1

We were looking forward to spending a couple of days in Stow the week before Christmas to celebrate with our Piland family. We were especially excited because Uncle Evan, Aunt Passa, and cousins Cara and Jacob were coming into town from Texas. We only get to see them a couple of times a year and we cherish time with them. Unfortunately, the day before our visit we got a call that Evan had been hospitalized with a bad virus that was causing some pretty scary muscular and neurological problems. Our fun Christmas visit suddenly turned into a family emergency visit! It was a chaotic and stressful 48 hours in Stow, but we still managed to squeeze in a few laughs, smiles, and photos along the way. Erich spent most of his time at the hospital with Evan and Passa trying to carefully balance between his identity as Erich: Evan's brother, and Erich: the neuroICU nurse. He did a great job and I know the entire family felt more at ease knowing that he was there. I spent my time back at Nana and Papa's house trying to help Nana and Aunt Nikki with the kids. It was so fun to watch Avery and Cara play together. They are two peas in a pod... they both love all things pink, princess, dress up, and tutu! We hadn't seen Jacob since he was just a couple months old. He's getting so big and was full of smiles. And sweet little Norah just went along for the ride. As long as she got to eat every 3 hours she was a happy camper (the girl is easy to please!). Thankfully Evan is recovering well and all is fine now. This will be a Christmas Evan and Passa will never forget (although maybe they would like to!). We were thankful for our time with family, even if it didn't turn out as planned. Erich said this was the most time he's been able to spend with his brother in years... too bad it required one of them to be laying in a hospital bed! We walked away from that visit with a greater appreciation for family and the reminder that we should take nothing for granted. We're hugging each other a little tighter these days. Perspective is a beautiful thing. Here are a few snapshots of our time together amidst the craziness:

Nana with her four grandchildren. My, how the family has grown!

Uncle Erich and Jacob

Aunt Nikki with the babies

Aunt Passa, Avery, and Jacob

Avery and Cara exchanging their Christmas gifts. We had to include this photo, as it's the only one with Uncle Evan in it! He was discharged from the hospital, only to have to return a few hours later when complications arose. This photo was taken during the short window of time he got to be home.

Cara and Avery got dress up costumes for Christmas complete with tiaras, dangly earrings, and high heels. What a hoot! Believe it or not, this photo was taken first thing in the morning and that was Avery's "bed head"... not primped or even combed. I'm envious of her curls!

They loved parading around like beauty queens and we all got a good chuckle at our own little "toddlers in tiaras".

Parading around in their tutus, the girls made up a game that required running around the house into the kitchen to hug Papa's legs. I think he liked that game.

Cara, Jacob, Avery, and Norah... we love all these kids. They brought much needed joy and fun to the house. What sweeties.