Christmas 2014

Christmas week began on Monday with a trip to our Rakah medical clinic.  The boys weren't feeling great and we went to see if they could diagnose pink eye.  The Dr. there was very nice but told us that we'd just have to wait because he couldn't tell if it was anything that could be treated yet.  So we hung out on Monday and by Tuesday both boys were super gunky eyed and we got on the first bus to main camp to get ourselves a Dr. appt. there.  There have been a bunch of illnesses going around camp so it was really only a matter of time before we caught something.  Luckily we got to the clinic early enough that we didn't have to wait very long for an appointment.  Glenn was able to come meet us there and help out.  He even got to come home early to help take care of everyone since I wasn't feeling well either.  The boys and I have had colds and just felt generally drained and yuck for a few days.  The doctor said Tate and Finn both had pink eye and what looked like cold viruses.  She also said that Finn had some fluid on one ear but that it hadn't turned into an infection yet.  Well, great.  

That night we had committed to be at a Christmas party and I was playing hymns for the singalong part so we went, Glenn stayed in the car with the boys while I played the piano at the party, then we went home.  The next day the boys seemed to be doing a little better and we decided to brave a Christmas Eve dinner party we had been invited to that night.  Tate had fun playing but Finn got fevery quickly and we ended up leaving early.  Poor kid.  

We got home and got ready for bed.  Then we put out our stockings and sat down to watch White Christmas, our Christmas Eve traditional movie.  Then we heard Santa's sleigh bells outside.  The boys were so excited!  We looked around and found that our Elf, Elfred, had gone.  Glenn went down the street to see if he could see where Santa was going and determined that he was headed to main camp first so we had time to hurry and get to bed before he came back to Rakah.  So we hurried upstairs, read our story, gave the boys all their eye drops and cough medicine and got into bed.  

When Glenn and I were heading to bed an hour later we went in to check on the boys and take Finn to the bathroom and he was burning up with fever.  The thermometer said 104.4 so I called Aubry, my personal on call medical professional.  Seriously, what would I do without her?  Even on the other side of the world?  She advised us to get him in a lukewarm bath...which ticked him right off, and give him some more drugs to lower his temp.  It helped and he went right back to sleep.  

Both kids coughed all night making it hard for all of us to get any sleep.  By morning Finn's fever was back so the poor kid was pretty subdued during all the festivities.  We woke up the boys and they found candy canes that Santa had left on their beds to let them know that he had come while they were sleeping.

Then we headed down stairs to check out what he had left for us.

The boys were very excited about all their surprises.  They both asked for surprises this year, which worked out very well for Santa.  He's good at surprises.  Finn's favorite of the day was probably his little M&M fan that he found in his stocking.  Probably because he was so hot and fevery all day!

Tate's face was precious opening each of his presents.  He was so excited every single time.

Finn was happy too but his face generally looked like this:

because the poor kid felt so lousy.

Santa brought Finn a nerf bow and arrows and Tate some race tracks and cars.

And each boy got a nerf gun in his stocking too.  Very spoiled, these boys.

Santa brought our family a few surprises too.  A Wii and some fun games to play.  We've made good use of them already, and I have a feeling that they will come even more in handy when the two little sisters arrive.

Most of the boys presents were books and games.  Tate also got some legos, which he started using immediately to build new creatures and inventions.  And Finn got some blocks, which he prefers to use as he would a ball.  Like most any other toy he has.  If it's not for throwing then what good is it after all? Glenn loved his present from Kenzie.

She painted him a red sox canvas.  Which was even more perfect considering he was wearing the very same logo on his t-shirt that morning.

Auntie Kenzie gave us all some very thoughtful gifts.  She gave me some pretty wall hangings and the boys got the perfect star wars toys.  Thanks Auntie Kenzie.

After the first few Santa gifts were opened Finny took up residence on one of the couches and pretty much stayed there the rest of the morning.  We brought him presents to open once in a while, but he was feeling pretty lousy and didn't want to move much.

It was a wonderful Christmas morning.  We were all very spoiled.  Me, probably most of all.  Which is becoming a trend.  Glenn is VERY good at giving gifts and taking care of me.  He knows that I've been a bit of a mess adjusting to life here and dealing with a difficult pregnancy and of course, anticipating the chaos that will ensue after the babes arrive.  So he gave me the perfect gift.  Something to look forward to and be excited about.  He's running the London marathon at the end of April and he got our whole family tickets to go with him.  At first I was excited, but pretty nervous about it considering that I will be alone for at least the marathon day with my FOUR children in London just a few months after giving birth.  But then I opened two more presents: itineraries for Aubry and Mallory to join us for a few days in London, and suddenly it was no longer stressful but incredibly exciting.  Aubry and Mal had both been planning to visit here after the babies arrived, but stinkin' Saudi very recently decided to not approve any more sibling visas.  I was pretty crushed and ticked about it, so when I found out that instead of them being able to come here, we just switched things around and we'll be able to play in London together, it made everything so much better.  Well done, once again my dear husband.  Well done.

After breakfast Glenn drove us to main camp and dropped us off at the medical clinic to get Finn checked out.  He had an ear infection and we left with a bunch of antibiotics to add to our daily regimen of cough medicines and pink eye medicines.  Good times.  Glenn went to work for a couple of hours while we were at the Dr. and then he was able to leave and take us home for the rest of the day.  Everyone took naps and then we just hung out for the rest of the day playing with new games and relaxing.  We had our traditional birthday party for Jesus on Christmas evening instead of Christmas Eve this year and talked about what we wanted to give Jesus this year.  Then we spent a couple of hours skyping with family before bed time.  

Our first Christmas in Saudi Arabia.  And in spite of all the sickness and being away from family and everything else that made this Christmas very unique, it was a really wonderful Christmas.  We spent all day together with our little boys and it was pretty perfect.