Our not very Merry Christmas

The day we moved into our house, we put up our Christmas tree. Esteban helped my dad cut it down in the mountains a couple of weeks before. He had actually picked it out last summer for our family.


Now that we have a huge backyard we bought a puppy for the kids. She is half chocolate Lab and half Collie. Her name is Ally short for Alamo, (we'll never forget our Texas roots).

We brought her home on Christmas Eve. We were exhausted after our trip to Rexburg. When we did get home, we were up late wrapping presents and making the necessary preparations for the next morning.
Ally barked constantly that first night. I know she was missing her mother and was in a strange place, but I kept thinking,"We haven't lived here long enough for the neighbors to hate us already". Finally, at 2:00 a.m. Aaron went outside and found her out of her dog house, freezing her tailend off. So, he brought her into our house. She stayed indoors for the next few days until we could buy her a heated dog pad. She has been much happier since. Her price tag was $20, all of her accessories and equipment has cost us $300.
I'm not sure any of us really slept with Ally yipping all night. We woke up at 5:30 the next morning. My policy is, once one kid is up, I wake up the rest. I get so excited that I can't wait any longer. Savanah told me that she didn't see Santa, but she did hear the jingle bells on his sled.
That afternoon, we were supposed to go to my parent's house, but the Suburban's engine wouldn't start. I guess the security system (that we haven't used for years) malfunctioned, which initiated the kill switch on the engine. We had to call the brother-in-law of our sister-in-law who is a mechanic to come fix it. He was nice enough to come on Christmas and we were on our way.

Shortly after dinner and opening presents with my entire family, Vanessa vomited all over herself and Aaron. After that, she couldn't keep anything down. Needless to say, we left shortly after. (Poor Aaron had to wear my Dad's pajama pants home.) Vanessa was sick for the remainder of the week with fever, vomiting and diarrhea. It is amazing to me how much time a sick child requires. I'm just grateful none of the others became sick. So that was our Christmas: barking dog, broken vehicle, and a sick child. Other than that, it was great.