Christmas in Colorado

We were suppose to leave for Colorado last Saturday but ended up leaving after Dan's work party on Friday night due to a storm coming into our area. This doesn't bode well for a last minute packer but because of my children's persistence, I was mostly ready! :)

We drove through the night where we were greeted by some falling snow in Iowa and Nebraska. I don't know how many of you have driven through the night but Dan and I have realized that as we get a bit (just a bit) older, it gets a little harder to accomplish. We had breakfast in Nebraska at (eeeek!) four in the morning. We brought the dog with us as our dog sitting friends were going to be out of town, also. Our vehicle was a bit crammed with the giant dog but we managed. Santa, I need the Excursion - one size bigger than our current Expedition. I could really fit it all in then!

The heater in our Expedition decided to bite the dust in the middle of Nebraska on a very windy and cold day. We had been having trouble with it prior to our trip and Dan had done some trouble shooting to no avail. We only had 4 more hours left of our journey so we zipped up the coats and broke out the blankets. Plus, with 6 people and a large dog, just breathing helped to take the chill off.
We arrived in Colorado early afternoon to a houseful of people at my mom and dad's. We went to church with the family on Sunday, saw my nephew JD play hockey and then watched old family films of the 8mm variety.

Monday and Tuesday, Dan had to spend the day taking the WHOLE dash out of the car to get to the heater core. It was a huge project, but thanks to my incredible husband and Dad Edblad, they saved us more than a thousand dollars by doing it themselves.

We spent a few days with Dan's parents and sister and family. What fun for six kids to get to sleep by the Christmas tree! We ate prime rib and opened presents.
The whole week went way to quick and then it was time to head home. Our heater was blessedly warm as we traveled back through Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota!

Hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours was.