Christmas, the Third

Joseph's second Christmas (of 2008) was put on hold so that we could make it in time for Christmas number three in Highland, UT, where Joseph would meet his Great Grandparents for the first time.



We knew this trip would be a little out of the ordinary when before we even reached Las Vegas, we drove through torrential rains and then snow and ice.

Driving through the gorge between Nevada and St. George UT is usually my favorite part of the trip, but sheets of rain blowing sideways through the canyon made for some nervous moments.

Continuing our drive through southern Utah, we began to wonder how we would know if it was safe to keep driving. The answer to that question became clear when the Utah Department of Transportation completely shut down I-15 somewhere just beyond the town of Beaver (my favorite Utah speed trap).

Fortunately, family alerted us to the road closure and secured a motel room in Cedar City (aka Festival City, USA--all cities ought to have an alias), and just south of Cedar City we were soon greeted by snow flurries and very limited visibility.

Around midnight, we pulled into the motel parking lot, and Joseph woke up to check out the new surroundings. Although he usually goes back to sleep quickly in these kind of situations, something about Festival City, USA just got him all fired up:

This night quickly became one of my all-time-favorite memories of our life as a family. It turned out that the motel had already given out all of its porta-cribs to other stranded travelers (much like the gas station had also sold its last ice scraper as well, but that's another matter), so the three of us ended up sharing a bed.

If you remember, for the first year of Joseph's life, he wouldn't nap very well unless one of us held him. We hoped that he would remember these times and quietly go to sleep in our arms. Joseph, however, had other plans.

Joseph's plans involved alternating between rolling back and forth between his parents, tackling his parents, and saying "night night" repeatedly.

Joseph had the time of his life, and even though I was exhausted, I couldn't stop smiling either.

Erin eventually bear-hugged him until he fell asleep, but like his mother he has a habit of kicking others during the night.

We were back on the road by six the next morning, and although the roads were still covered in snow, we tailed a snow plow through the worst of it and made it safely to Grandma and Grandpa's by mid-morning.

Joseph quickly took to his Great Grandma and supplied her with plenty of hugs:




Much like his Great Grandpa, Joseph knows the joy of sitting down with a nice cold one:


Despite his less-than-desirable sleep patterns, Joseph managed to charm one and all and otherwise make himself the center of attention.







Joseph loved being with his Great Grandparents, Grandparents, and Aunts and Uncles. It was fun to see all the generations come together:





Besides meeting his Great Grandparents for the first time, the other big first for Joseph, was his first time playing in the snow.





During the last few weeks of December, Joseph picked up some new words; he had a little language explosion. Here's "snow":

He also liked throwing snow balls, but we didn't get any throws on camera:

And that concludes Three Christmases in one year. Next year we're going to cut back on Christmases, but we're celebrating three times the number of Toddster birthdays instead.