Holiday Happenings

Well, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Above is a picture of four of the children on the day we finally decorated.  Next is dear Abigail, (sitting with my sister, Jenna) opening her first Christmas gift.  Sure, she was around for last Christmas, but what 4 month old is really aware of the Holiday madness?

All in all, it was an amazing holiday.  Ryan and Laura, two of my favorite people on the entire planet, were able to fly out for an entire week.  I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them to truly get away, especially since they both brought work with them.  But they made our Christmas so much better just by being here, let alone all the fun we actually managed to have.  I'm not certain Laura knew what a crazy game playing family she was joining, but I appreciate her cheerful acceptance! 

Christmas Eve found 21 of us planning on bunking at Castle Dubach.  Our family alone brings 9 people.  But the Marshall 5:  Aaron, Jenna, Trinity, Sammie, & Sadie brought  along Aaron's oldest daughter, Nastasia, her boyfriend, Chris, and Aaron's mother, Lois, so they were actually the Marshall 8!  Include in there Ryan & Laura and Dad & Mom,  you have 21 people cozying up in a 3 bedroom house.  It wasn't too tough, though. 

 Jenna, Aaron, & Sadie all bunked in Ryan & Laura's room while Abigail's cold had her sleeping in Dad & Mom's room  (to minimize her waking up others as well as her being woken up!)  

The other younger children slept together in the office, which was literally wall-to-wall sleeping bags.  Shelby was quite the trooper, offering to sleep next to a very nervous Sammie.  

Tucker was thrilled to be able sleep whisper-distance from Trinity.  (He considers Trinity the best gift he ever received!)

Meanwhile, Ryan, Laura, Scott & I had wall-to-wall air mattresses in the living room, Chris was given an air mattress in the dining room (we did move the table against the wall for him), and both Lois and Nastasia had the couch in the family room.  Of course, in typical Dubach fashion, the couch was the coveted spot since it was near the fireplace and the tree.  It was quite the sacrifice for Ryan to give up such an opportunity for some of the Marshall family comfort.

Oh - and Sally-dog joined us as well.  Would she count as a person?

Considering the level of excitement and the close proximity to other whisperers in the office room, I was fairly impressed that I only had to make a dozen trips upstairs through out the night to ask the children to be quiet.  Our Shelby, Dawson, & Isabelle woke-up to stay at about 3:45 am, and we had made a commitment to try not to start Christmas morning before 6:00 am.  I was proud of how well they managed to stay quiet, even though I know the desire to bolt downstairs was killing them!

Christmas morning was definitely crazier this year.  In order to bring some calm to the chaos, Laura & Ryan played Santa, delivering gifts to the children corralled in the middle of the family room.  We stationed trash bags around the perimeter for adults to help keep the trash separate from the treasure.  What ensued was literally 90 minutes of the children opening their gifts.  Occasionally, an adult opened a package, but mostly we were assisting all the little ones.   In fact, Scotty and I didn't really open our gifts until well after the children were done and breakfast was served.  It felt strange to see a pile of gifts waiting -- not because I was so anxious to get them open, but rather because I know how much I enjoy watching someone open a well-chosen gift, and here we were, virtually ignoring everyone's kindness!  But, all of those children needed to eat, and then there was the inevitable battery installation, the searching through the trash for that crucial piece, the encouraging of patience as one of the kids desperately wants to try someone else's gift, helping to assemble one of the many "some assembly required" items, . . . you know.  The usual Christmas dance. 

In the end , though, we finally opened our gifts to find that we received the Trebuchet which we desperately wanted.  Scott's parents, my parent's, and Brittany & Daniel (Scott's sister and husband) all pooled their resources to give it to our family.  It will take some time to assemble, but we can't wait to start launching things.  Of course, Scott's mom is concerned about the twins loading Abigail into the launcher, but I'm sure she's just being overly concerned.  At least - thats what I'm hoping.

Scott took quite the nap, as he had his vacation for the evening revoked due to high census at the hospital and I enjoyed just watching all the "cousining" rallying around me.  We headed home shortly after dinner as the children were all beginning to show signs of a very long day after a very short night.  Once the kids were all nestled and snug in their beds, I think we remaining adults played games around our table.  But, to be perfectly honest, I was exhausted and I truly can't remember what we did until Scott went to work.  I have a faint recollection of giggling.