christmas in WISCONSIN

yeah, it does probably seem like i'm always in WI to those who read this blog. but i'm not really. just thanks to my little nephews i've made some exceptions this year. BUT i do make a point to be here for christmas. only 1 year in all my years did i NOT go home for christmas.
this year was definitely a classic home-y family christmas.
we arrived at nearly 11 p.m. on Christmas day, worn out from travelling from 1:30 p.m. EST to 10:48 CST. so...that is a long day. but, it was a great travelling time, caedmon was an angel and we enjoyed our christmas morning before the travelling began.
7 a.m. christmas day: caedmon wakes up and ryan does and believe it or not - i did too! we opened gifts and watching our son so excited was really special. we just love him so much and he's our little joy.
9 a.m. christmas breakfast: my own tradition, DELICOUS TRADITION. soo good i was "rubbing my face like uncle will." (my brother rubs his face when he's sooo full he's about to bust.)
10: a.m. CLEAN UP, take down tree, play with toys
12:00 eat again...just to get full before heading out on our way.
clean the rest of the house after breakfast and pack up the car....
1:30 on our way
2:10 arrive at airport toooooo early, but get good longterm parking on lower level of central parkikng - BONUS!
TRAVELLLLLLLL
arrive at what i will always call HOME and the first bright face i see is THIS: ELLIOT JACK JACOBSON! the cutest 7 month old on planet earth!
sat dec. 26th: did chrsitmas! it was great, the first gift was a snomobile for my dad. he was estatic and nan, will, and i had to try i out on a field later in the day!
caedmon loved opening gifts and was beside himself with joy when uncle will came over. he LOVES will. mason was introduced to uncle ryan for the first time and our family was all together with all the new additions, including aunt dede for a second year in a row.
mom and dad went allllllllllllllll out with gifts this year! the best being tickets to the bears/vikings monday night game. 8 of us enjoyed this pleasure two nights later...more to come on that.sundayafter church at BBC our entire babler-extended family was together. it was great. a very memorable christmas, we were all so happy to be together, and shared in a baby shower for our cousin luke and his wife tracy in honor of another babler entering the world. grandma babler hosted what will probably be the last christmas in her home as things are becoming too much for her in her health these days. but in this moment, we were all together, all happy and all praising God for the love our family has for one another.another huge highlight of sunday at grandma babler's was caedmon signing the BIBLE and JINGLE BELLS for everyone. he was a showman...so great. so articulate, and so proud.my dad and sister had tears in their eyes and my heart was so warm i could feel it heating up the whole room. he was precious.

monday....we left at 12:30 armed and ready for sub-zero freeeeezing temps and a hard game, probably a loss for our bears. we arrived at Soldiers Field with optimism and LOTS of layers and hot hands at 7:20 p.m....right before kick off.
we left that game (the 6th most televised game in all cable history) with JOY pouring from every pour of our bodies, the cold didnt' seem to matter anymore we WON our version of the 09-10 SUPERBOWL. IT WAS AWESOME! THE BEST GAME WE'd EVER SEEN! after killing them in th efirst half, we were able to somehow give it away and get it all back again in OT!
that night we stayed at the posh "W HOTEL" on the lakefront.
i didn't have my camera, so no pictures of this great game or the hotel or our time in CHI but i will be getting some from wes, karen, and brian.
here is a link to the hotel: amazing!http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2005

this night was our first overnight away from caedmon. it went well, he only cried in the night one little tear for mommy and daddy...and had his grandma right by his side. what a good boy he's been this WHOLE trip. what joys he's had and entertainment he's brought to my family. so much love...

also, we ate awesome indian food, cooked a lot of good food at home, ate way too much, had a fun shopping spree with gift cards, saw sherlock homes, laughed so hard we almost cried, watch julie and julia (loved it!), and left way too soon...of course!
:)