Christmas 2012 was great. We drove all the way to Alabama which took about 30 hours each way. My brother in law, Ryan and his wife Symone came along with us which helped so much. They helped drive and entertain the kids.  I am so grateful that we have 8 seat belts in our Van so that they could come with us.

Alabama was definitely warmer than Utah so it was nice to get some milder weather for a couple weeks.  Utah has been freezing this whole year, (all 10 days so far) much colder than any of the other 5 years we have lived here so far.

On our way to Alabama we stopped in Memphis, TN to visit with JJ’s grandparents. We were actually in Mempis on the 21st which was our 8th anniversary which was special because JJ’s grandfather performed our marriage (and sealing) ceremony.  He was called into the Memphis temple presidency shortly before we were married and received special permission from President Hinckley to marry us!

I love this picture. Three Generations of James’s. We have James, Jonathan James and Joshua James.

The drive from JJ’s grandparents house to his parents house was about 6 hours.  Just minutes after we arrived, JJ’s sisters family arrived from Virginia. My father-in-law made some pizza’s for us and we just relaxed that first night. Sariah and Rebekah went right to sleep but Miriam would not go to sleep. She said that there were monsters and dragons in the house.  Actually a couple of days later as I was getting her dressed she asked if she could say a prayer. So we folded our arms and Miriam prayed that Santa would take all the monsters and dragons away and she was actually fine for about 4 nights and then the rest of the nights she woke up at 3 each morning crying and my 10 year old niece would bring her up to us (sorry Victoria!). I should have had her say another prayer!

The kids sure did love spending time with their cousins. Hopefully its something they can do more often.  The next post will be Joshua’s and Papaw’s (JJ’s dad) birthday celebration.