Over the River and Through the Woods

On December 14th, we loaded up for our first road trip to St. Louis as a family of five...also sporting our minivan.  Yep, we're officially not hip any longer.  Let me tell ya though, that thing was nice for being able to easily get to three kiddos, reach Cooper when he needed his pacifier AND most importantly fit all the stuff required for five people for over a week of traveling plus Christmas gifts!

 

St. Louis got hit with a pretty big snowfall the day we drove there.  This made for a gorgeous drive...

 

 

Our first point of arrival was Mema and Papa's house.  We had dinner there that first night in town and of course everyone was excited to love on the kids and Aunt Peggy and Uncle Leif were dying to meet Cooper (Aunt Peggy is quite the baby snuggler)...

After hanging out for awhile that evening, MJ and Charlotte had their first sleepover at Mema and Papa's house.  Mat and I, along with Cooper, stayed at a hotel in town.  It felt quite strange to just have one kiddo for the night.  I was thinking it might be a night of great sleep, but unfortunately Cooper didn't sleep all that well.  He had done such a great job in the car on the way there (slept most of the way), so I think it threw him off a bit.

That next day, we headed back over to Mark and Bobi's house and Grandma and Grandpa Keyes met us there as well.  We spent the afternoon having our first Christmas celebration!  The kids were beyond excited, and it was nice to have the special time with Mat's family.

 

After a wonderful afternoon of opening presents, a delicious meal, and spending time with family, we loaded ALL (the kids received so much stuff we had to mail it back home) the goodies up in the van, put three tired kiddos in their car seats, and headed for Columbia. 

They were passed out by the time we hit the highway!

 

We then spent one night in Columbia, Missouri with our good friends Jill and Daniel, and their two girls.  The guys went to a Mizzou basketball game while us girls hung out and played with the kids.

 

The next afternoon we headed to St. Louis to Gigi and PopPop's house where we'd spend the next several days seeing friends, spending time with family, and having another Christmas celebration. 

 

 

 

We were able to go see Aunt Kelly's new house in South St. Louis.  Her and Allison met Cooper for the first time, and they even asked Mat to be in their wedding this summer!  Of course the kids were spoiled with more presents and had a grand time playing at their house. 

 

 

The next night we went out to Wentzville's Party Play Center so the kids could get some wiggles out while we visited with some friends.  My best friend Meg and her family joined us as well as Becky Grover and her kiddos and Stephanie and her family.  December is such a busy time for everyone, so we were thankful we got to see a few friends there!

Santa even made an appearance! Stan Shelton loves to play Santa, and I was hoping he'd do so for our kiddos while we were home.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity.  He was so gracious to stop in and greet all the kids, provide candy canes and pose for pictures.

 

The last time I saw Stephanie was this summer, where we also met at the Play Center, but were comparing new baby bumps.  This time we swapped babies for some cuddles!  Her newest, Brayden is just a little over a week younger than Cooper. 

 

The next day we were able to get together with Grandma and Grandpa Immekus.  We met at Crest Bowl, where grandma bowls in a league.  She was sure excited to meet her newest great grandchild!

All of the other bowlers were quite smitten with the little ones.

After bowling it was off to Steak n Shake for some yummy lunch!  Why don't we have Steak n Shake in Dubuque??



After lunch, we headed back to my parents where we exchanged Christmas gifts and of course got in some baby snuggles!  Man, if we lived close to Grandma Immekus, I think we'd have a free babysitter any night we wanted!  ;) 

Jeff flew in that night.  The only time you can wake a sleeping baby at midnight is when he's meeting his uncle for the first time!  I hadn't seen my brother since March, so it was really great to be together for the holiday.  He is such an amazing uncle, and I love seeing him with our kids.  They certainly don't take it easy on him and he must be worn out by the time we leave! 

That Saturday, December 21st, we celebrated Christmas with my family.  Grandpa Great came over to join on the festivities, and we had a wonderful lunch, opened presents, and just spent time together. 

Getting ready for another one of Cooper's first celebrations...

 

 

MJ was chomping at the bit to open presents!  He and Charlotte helped me pass out gifts, and they were quite speedy openers!

Cooper sat in his rock and play the entire time we opened gifts.  He dozed off and on, but never made a peep.  He was an easy and amazing baby that night! 



 

It was a really special day and nice to just have the time to enjoy family and not rush off to be anywhere else.  I'm glad our time in St. Louis included special Christmas celebrations with each of our families.  Unfortunately, we missed the large Keyes gathering and Immekus gathering, so we did miss out on all the aunts, uncles, and cousins.  It just doesn't seem possible to fit it ALL in, and this year, we were really looking forward to being in our own home on Christmas morning, so we had to make some sacrifices.