Columbus - Part 1

Since my parents had to work at the temple this weekend, a lot of us decided to descend on Columbus, Ohio for a couple of days after Christmas to celebrate.

Two of my sisters came with their kids and two of my brothers came making it about half the family. Let's just say we've figured out the best way to have a family get together in the winter.

1- Find a nice, but not too nice hotel - Courtyard by Marriott
2 - Reserve the entire hallway of rooms facing the indoor pool. Make sure each room has sliding glass doors wall to ceiling so doors can remain open and parents can see which children are flitting in and out of different rooms.
3 - Order pizza for almost any meal. Our mistake - not getting a hotel with a free continental breakfast. With lots of nieces and nephews this becomes a must.
4 - Just let the kids play in the pool, watch tv, play video games, etc. Only stop them when they start playing laser tag or laser guns (one sister had a cowboy theme this Christmas and so lots of guns appeared - we joked that this is what happens when you choose a job near the West Virginia border).
5 - Save the 1-2 pillows that you want to use to sleep on in the closet. During the course of the day people will migrate to different rooms. At one point one of my nieces was laying in my bed watching a show that wasn't on in any of the other rooms. For me, this is a no go. I must not have anyone touching my pillows or sheet before I sleep in them. Yes, this may be a phobia, but it is fact. Luckily, I was able to salvage one pillow before it had been touched.
6 - Make sure everyone puts the rooms on separate bills or agrees up front who will pay. My parents bought most of the rooms, but then people started adding their own and then it gets a little messy.

It was a great way to keep people happy - kids could play, parents could talk and fun was had by all.

It's kind of great being able to leave and know that someone else is responsible for cleaning the bathrooms and the bedroom and that you will never see it again. It's better than renting a beach house
Now, if I could just get out of the Columbus airport. Five delays so far and I've only checked in 35 minutes ago.

Christmas Moments - 2008

Finally, I've downloaded all the videos and pictures from my excursions around the midwest and east over Christmas. I drove to all locations and so I'm still recovering. Although flying can be a great option, sometimes it's nice to travel with large bags, a personal pillow and blanket and a few extra computers. This way it really does feel like home away from my little home.

In Columbus Ohio I was able to stop at the temple and see my parents. I ended up having the rare opportunity of vacuming since the volunteers hadn't shown up. Here they are sneaking in...I mean...locking it up for the night.

They are still getting use to the interesting combination of leadership and cleaning responsibilities.

I spent Christmas with my parents and Brett. Very small, but enjoyable.

My parents bought a creche type of statue for the christmas holiday. It was quite beautiful, but then we dropped into a TJMAX, or similiar store, and they discovered multiple wise men hidden in the holiday aisles.

So, long story short...we walked out with three wise men and...the 4th wise man. You kind of had to be there to appreciate all this since my parents are typically practical, but somehow got caught up in a little flashy material.

In fact, driving through part of downtown Indianapolis I caught my mom glancing at a gold angel on some random front porch. Hopefully this is a temporary issue and they will soon recover.