Christmas with the Nelsons

We spent the bulk of our trip at Jared's parent's home in Elk Rapids. It was so good to see everyone and it was also nice to get some rest after all the travelling. These first three pictures are from the Essary Christmas party, for all the Michiganders anyway! It was a great party with tons of yummy food (thanks Aunt Kim!) and tons of gifts for everyone. We also got to see Michelle for the first time, about 36 weeks pregnant with TWINS! Wow! She looked great though and now is happy to have her babies at home with her... welcome to the world Noah & Jenna!

Ruby's favorite present was this metal tea set from Nana and Bobo. As soon as we unwrapped it she took off with a cup and the tea pot and started having her own little tea party. We started to wonder where she had run off to and Jared found her having a tea party for one on the stairs...

GULP!

Ruby and Bobo did some serious bonding this visit. She still walks around the house wondering where her "Bobo" is! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Ruby and Nana, but it was just kind of one of those trips! Things just didn't go as expected most of the time...which I suppose SHOULD be expected with a toddler in the family!

Ruby's cousin, Tyler, was quite the entertainer and was always willing to do whatever Ruby asked... in this case, apparently she and a few of her closest friends needed a ride! Watch out Rudulph!

The pacie wars! This popular game has gone to the wayside now that we are battling our own war against the pacie. Ruby still asks for her pacie some, but can usually be distracted. I'm not looking forward to the day when we decide it's gone for good though. She REALLY relies on it for getting to sleep.

Believe it or not, that's ALL the pictures (well, okay ones) that I have from our two weeks in the states. Not pictured is our trip to Avalanche Falls Indoor Water Park...that was a real hoot and Ruby just loved it. We also got to see Anne and Ken for several days (no pictures, sorry) and we were able to see some of my good friends from the Geneva days, Erin Couch and Mary Williams. Somehow seeing them made me realize all over again how much I miss them! That's the hard part about globe-trotting I suppose, but there are up-sides too! Hope you have a great day, whatever continent you're on!