Piland Pages: Christmas in Stow

We always look forward to traveling to Stow for a Christmas visit! Of course it's wonderful as usual to see Nana, Papa, and Aunt Nikki, but we were especially excited to see Uncle Evan, Aunt Passa, and cousins Cara and Jacob who travel in from Texas every year at Christmas time. This year we were extremely blessed that Erich was off work for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We spent 3 days in Stow, came home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in our own home, and then spent 3 days in Marysville. It was busy, but perfect! Well, almost perfect... With that much traveling something was bound to go wrong, right? Friday morning we packed up the car, loaded up the girls, and hit the road for Stow. Not even 10 minutes into our trip we got a flat tire. Thank goodness we hadn't even made it out of Perrysburg yet. Even though it was a frustrating start to our holiday travels, we could see God's hand of protection on our family... rather than getting stranded on the side of the road on the turnpike in the freezing cold, wind, and snow (the weather was horrible that day), we were still in town when it happened and were able to slowly creep our way to a nearby tire store. They told us it would be at least a couple hour wait, so we bundled up the girls the best we could and walked to the Target that was down the way. Of course, this was the one time I had failed to pack Avery and Norah's hats and gloves and that walk to Target was long in the cold wind. I felt so bad for them! But we made it and then we killed a couple hours walking laps around the store, eating lunch in the Target food court (wouldn't recommend it folks!), and buying hats and gloves! (lesson learned) The time went by faster than we expected and soon Belle Tire called to let us know the car was fixed and ready to go. The kind people at Belle Tire were in the Christmas spirit and fixed the tire for FREE! What a blessing! Erich was caught off guard that there was no charge and wanted to do something special to thank them, so he grabbed the cheesecake I had made to take to Stow and gave it to them in gratitude (sorry Pilands!)

In their new hats waiting for the car to be fixed. We were bummed that our plans were delayed, but took it all in stride and still managed to have fun killing time at Target. We finally got on the turnpike and ran into blizzard conditions... we saw lots of cars in the ditches and prayed for safety as we slowly made our way to Stow. Along the way Avery had some intestinal issues (I won't go into detail, but let's just say the nerves from our crazy morning caught up with her and her tummy didn't take it well) that also required a lengthy visit to the rest stop. All things considered, our usual 2 hour drive took almost 6 hours and we've never been so happy to get to Nana and Papa's house!

Aunt Passa reading to Avery, Norah, Cara, and Jacob. It was so fun to have these 4 cousins together!

Nana and Papa got the girls matching Rapunzel nightgowns. What a hoot.

They got quite a bit of snow in Stow and Cara was dying to go out and play in it since Texas doesn't get snow. Nana was prepared with boots in the perfect size for Cara and Avery and snowsuits for both of them too. I was impressed! Here they are getting ready to brave the cold and have some fun.

Aunt Nikki got home just as the girls were making snow angels and couldn't help but join in... even though she was just wearing jeans and tennis shoes. What a fun Aunt!

Cara and Avery trying to make a snowman (the snow was too light and fluffy and wouldn't pack, but they had fun trying)

Daddy, Uncle Evan, and Aunt Passa all took turns pulling the kids around on the sled.

Avery and Norah opened their gifts Saturday night. Here's Avery and Nana with Avery's new owl hat. She loves it.

Avery opened all of her gifts first and then it was Norah's turn. Avery also wanted to open all of Norah's gifts and had a hard time with the fact that she needed to let Norah do it herself. This picture is a classic. Avery is watching miserably from the sidelines and Norah is having a blast opening her gifts! The huge smile on Norah's face is because she peeked into the gift bag and saw a familiar face staring back at her... Abby Cadabby! Nana and Papa got her a talking Abby Cadabby doll and she was in heaven. She immediately pulled it out of the bag and took it straight over to Papa because she wanted it out of the box NOW. The entire time Papa was working on it she just stood there and yelled a happy excited yell. Once she finally got her hands on it she didn't wan to put it down. It was a hit!

A short video of excited Norah wanting that Abby doll!

Playing with Nana

Opening more gifts with Daddy.

Aunt Nikki and Avery wearing her owl hat and owl jammies (thanks for the pj's Aunt Nikki!)

Avery and Cara fit in this huge gift bag. It was really heartwarming to see the two girls together. From the minute we walked through the door on Friday they ran to each other and hugged like best buds and then ran off playing within seconds. In years past they've had some issues with sharing and taking turns. This year they both just seemed so much more grown up and played perfectly together almost the entire visit. It was so much fun, and made me a little sad they only get to see each other once or twice a year. They definitely share a sweet bond!

Uncle Erich and Jacob. Poor baby Jake was the only boy with all those girl cousins but he did a great job holding his own! We hadn't seen him since he was just 6 months old, so it was fun to get to know him and his personality. Such a cutie!