Red River

We took a ski trip this February to Red River.  We had never been before so I was excited to go and try something new.   We booked our trip last October and I was a little worried that there wouldn't be any snow (since the resort didn't offer refunds).   We made a family trip of it and my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew all joined us.

I was a little overwhelmed packing for three kids and myself and Scott and had no idea how our four week old Axl would do.   I was also a little nervous that it would be too soon after child birth for me to go skiing but figured I would give it a shot.  We made it to Red River in about three hours, just in time to see the kick off for the Super Bowl!

We stayed in an awesome condo that had three bedrooms and shared with my parents.  It was so nice to have live in help :).  Although I am not sure that is what my mom signed up for when she agreed to go. The condo was a ski in/out condo meaning it was right at the main lift for the ski area so we didn't have to drive anywhere.  I even made it out to the slopes twice and enjoyed some quiet time alone.

We intended to put skis on both Logan and Olive and see how they liked it, but Olive was so distraught over having to wear all that gear that we decided to skip the skis for her.   The thing she hated the most was the turtle fur I made her wear around her neck.  I tried to find her a turtle neck shirt before our trip but couldn't find one any anywhere.  At first Logan didn't want to ski either but when we got to the rental place and we were renting our ski equipment he said that he wanted to try it.  So we rented some skis and boots for him and he was so excited.

Because we didn't have to drive anywhere to get to the ski lift, we put skis on right outside of our condo.  This was a mistake.   Scott attempted to have Logan hang on to his pole while he pulled Logan across the parking lot.   Logan HATED it!  Poor guy he was so uneasy with the gliding feeling of the skis and couldn't get a good grip on Scott's pole with his big ol' gloves on.  They made it about 20 yards (if even that ) before Scott decided to give up on the idea for this year.  Logan was still in good spirits and we wanted to make sure that his first skiing adventure ended with him happy and not in tears.   Next year we will wait until we get to the slope to put his skis on and then he can ski between Scott's legs where he feels he has some more support.

My awesome mom bought a sled before we went on our trip and took it with us.   Not only what the sled a great place to play with play dough inside the hotel room, it was great fun out in the snow too!

We had so much fun that Scott keeps talking about going back.  Scott hadn't been in several years.   It is amazing how kids can make the little things that have lost their spark so much fun again!  Hopefully next year will get to go with the whole family again!

Welcome to The World

Axl Bradley Stevens was finally born on January 4, 2012 at 11:57 pm.  He was most certainly worth waiting for and he really did make us wait.

I wasn't sure if I would blog about my pregnancy and birth experience with him because it was such an emotional time for me, but then I figured that I should in order to remember the experience in detail.  I will warn you though that it is hard for me even now to talk (or write) about and this post is not eloquent and may ramble at times.

Our journey with Axl began as a surprise as we did not think that we were ready yet to venture back into pregnancy and having a new born around last April when we discovered we were expecting again.

My pregnancy started out horrific as I was very sick and exhausted from what seemed like the day I found out I was pregnant.  I was a little worried because we had already paid for a trip to Disney World and I didn't think I would be able to fly and deal with the humidity in Florida while I felt so crummy.  Two desperate attempts at acupuncture however left me feeling good as new.  :)   At this point I was convinced I was having a little girl because I was so sick when I was pregnant with Olive and not so much when I was pregnant with Logan.  When I saw the doctor on June 8, she told me that my due date was December 27, 2011 although according to my calculations I really thought my due date was January 1, 2012.   I had an ultrasound to confirm the due date, and according to the ultrasound my due date was changed to December 25, 2011.  This pregnancy continued on as normal and we decided not to find out the sex of the baby ahead of time and instead wait for a surprise.  This is something I had always wanted to do, but never really had the will power.

At 19 weeks we had our first scheduled ultrasound and we were excited because it was our first 3D ultrasound.   We were having a 3D ultrasound because early on in my pregnancy (before I knew I was pregnant) I had received a steroid shot in my ear to stunt the growth of a keloid that I had had for ages.   As it turns out, the steroid is known to cause cleft lip/palate when provided to pregnant women early in the first trimester.   Although I wasn't really worried about a cleft because the timing was off by about three weeks, I still wanted to be sure that way we could know what we were dealing with.   During the ultrasound both Scott and I thought we knew for sure we were having a little girl.  Scott thought this because he didn't see any "boy parts"...and remember Scott has dubbed himself the resident expert "Ultrasoundologist."  and I thought girl because I was sure I saw girl parts aka three white lines.  The Ultra sound tech took all of her pictures and then left to show everything to the dr..  The ultrasound tech said our due date based on this scan was December 28, 2011.  We were expecting the dr. to come in and talk to us about the cleft lip issue and so were not alarmed when she walked in the door five minutes later.  She discussed with us the medicine (steroid) I had taken and the possibility of a cleft lip but didn't see any indication of a cleft on the ultrasound and then told us that she wanted to discuss "another finding that had shown up during the ultrasound."  My heart sank.   She told us that the tech had noticed two fluid filled pockets on the baby's brain, in an area called the Choroid Plexus.  She said that the cysts, as they are called, are not concerning in that they are not known to cause brain problems or problems with learning, speech, memory, personality etc.   However, the Choroid Plexus Cysts cause more of a problem of association, meaning that their presence is correlated to the baby having a severe chromosomal abnormality called Trisomy 18.   She then went on to tell us that Trisomy 18 is considered "incompatible with life" meaning that babies with this condition most often die in utero and if they do survive birth then they will die with-in hours to days afterwards because their bodies are so severely defected they are not able to function correctly.   The good news, the dr. said, is that most often when the cysts are present in Trisomy 18 babies there are also other indications such as a defective heart, kidneys, and stomach as well as clinched hands and toes and severe growth restriction.  Our baby did not show any signs of the other soft markers.  The doctor suggested that we run some blood tests to calculate my risk of having a baby with a chromosomal defect and also repeat the Ultra Sound in four weeks to see if any of the defects showed up.  She also suggested that I have an amniocentisis in order to know for sure.  I declined the amnio as there is a risk of miscarriage associated with it.   I of course was terrified and went home in tears and immediately started researching on the internet.  I spent the three days doing nothing but looking up Choroid Plexus Cysts and Trisomy 18 online.  This just made my fears worse and really sent me into a panic.  Scott was not worried, as our blood test results indicated that my risk was the same as a 20 year old and he is more practical in realizing that the worry would do us no good considering there was nothing we could do about it anyway.   So we had our follow up ultrasound and everything looked great, the doctor told me that no further testing was necessary and that we would watch and wait.  If I started to show signs of growth restriction then we would consider amnio.    At 28 weeks pregnant my uterus size began to fall off of it's curve and I began to measure small at each appointment.   Here comes the worry again.  I was not measuring significantly small, but on average about two weeks early at each appointment.  At 34 weeks I had a repeat  ultrasound and everything looked great, the baby was big and healthy with a new estimated due date of  December 19th.   It was at this ultrasound that I began to suspect that I was having a little boy, as Logan always measured big on ultrasounds and I knew there was absolutely no way that I had conceived this baby early enough to have a due date of December 19.

For about three weeks I felt really good about my decision not to have amnio and really positive that our baby was healthy.  Then around 37 weeks I started to become anxious and depressed again.  I asked Scott to sit with me and consider how we would tell our children if it turned out that our baby did not survive.  I was an emotional wreck and fought hard to keep back the tears when ever Logan and Olive would talk about our baby and ask when the baby was going to get here.  As our due date approached and passed I worried more.   Babies with Trisomy 18 also have a defective placenta, and the placenta is responsible for triggering labor when it is ready. Trisomy 18 babies and subsequently placentas often have to be induced because the placenta will not release the hormone to trigger labor.  Sigh.  More worry.   Honestly every day after my 19 week ultrasound I would cry and worry about my "surprise baby" that when I found out I was pregnant I wasn't sure I was ready for and now I was in desperation because this baby was all I really wanted at the moment.  I would cry and pray every day as I took a shower and drove to and from work, asking God to provide me with the strength I needed to survive this trial with grace and dignity and to provide a source of strength for Logan, Olive and Scott.   Even though I knew I would be devastated if I lost my baby, I was so concerned with sparing my family and my other babies from that heart ache and pain.

At 40 weeks my midwife ordered a routine ultrasound for babies that go over due and everything looked great.  The baby was still growing well and was able to open and close it's hands...a sign that they were not clinched and that the baby was thriving.  All of the tests came back normal, so we decided to continue to wait and see if the baby would come out without induction.  I wanted to wait because I wanted to deliver our baby in the Natural Birthing Center at Lovelace Women's Hospital.   However, the only way to deliver there is to go into labor on your own and not have any pain medicine...oh and also not to be more than 40 weeks and 6 days pregnant.  So I was willing to wait but hoping to go into labor on my own before 41 weeks.  I decided that if I made it to 41 weeks then I would ask to be induced.

So, 41 weeks came and went.  Every night up until that point as I went to bed I kept hoping that I would wake up in the middle of the night in immense labor pain...no such luck.  As the days passed I continued to worry more and more.   I had an appointment with my mid-wife on Wednesday January 4th and I asked to be induced.  My plan was to be induced on the 5th because that is the day my mid-wife is on call and delivers babies.  However, she informed me that she was working the West Side hospital on the 5th and so suggested I be induced right away.  She called labor and delivery and they told me to go over immediately.  I WASN'T ready.  I told her I had to go home first and say good bye to Logan and Olive and pick up my husband.  So, I was supposed to check in at 9:00 am and instead I checked in at 10:00.  When my midwife called labor and delivery at 8:30 they had plenty of empty delivery rooms, when I checked in at 10:00 I got the last one!  I guess it was going to be a busy day on the floor.

My midwife warned me that a lot of over-due babies don't due well with Misoprostil (the drug they used to induce me) and to not worry that any complications were due to the baby possibly having Trisomy 18.   So the deal with Miso, as it is called, is it is placed on your cervix and you lay down for two hours while it dissolves and the baby's heart rate is monitored.  It is not expected to start labor until after the first two hours.  So after two hours you then get up and walk around to try to get things moving.   I knew the whole drill as this is how I was successfully induced with Olive.   So I had my first dose at 11 and laid in bed till 1. Then Scott and I walked around until 3 when we went back to check for progress...no progress time for the 2nd dose.  At some point as I was laying there being monitored the nurse came in and told me that the baby's heart rate had decelerated and she wanted me to switch positions.  I had a meltdown, I was so scared that that meant my baby had Trisomy 18.  I cried and the nurse tried very hard to comfort me.  After switching positions the baby did great.  I laid in bed until 5:30 and then Scott, Camella (our Doula) and I walked to Souper Salad for dinner and then back at 7:30 to check for progress.   Still no progress.   The third dose was placed at 8:00 and at 8:30 I started having contractions.   I knew that the contractions were from the 2nd dose and not the 3rd as it takes at least two hours for each dose to work...uh oh.  I was scared because they had already placed the 3rd dose and there was no way to take it out. At around 9:00 the nurse came back in and wanted me to drink a lot of juice and go on oxygen because the baby wasn't moving very much and they were concerned again.   So I drank the juice and had the oxygen and the baby woke up so all was well.   I laid in bed until about 10:15 having some pretty intense contractions and laying down during them is not an effective coping strategy for me.  So at 10:15 I decided to get up and walk around.  This helped the contractions and even though they were intense I had still not made a lot of progress.  I was still at 2cm.  Geeze.   We walked around with the Doula and walked three flights of stairs twice.  After the second time, I told Scott and Camella that I was exhausted and didn't think I could do "this" anymore.  "This" meaning labor.  At this point my contractions were about 90 seconds apart and lasting for about 1 minute.   At 11:15 we went back to the room so I could take a bath or shower.   I had a few really hard contractions while waiting for the tub to fill and then at 11:40 I told my Doula that I had to push.   Sometime during the pushing my water broke and it had meconium...great another sign of Trisomy 18.

And now the best part of the story, at 11:57 our beautiful baby was born.   I didn't look as the mid-wife held him up high and instead I looked to Scott and asked him to tell me what it was, Scott's response was the highlight of the night...he said "it's a...it's a...it's a boy?"   I was so delighted.   Axl was placed on my chest as the midwife cut the cord and I was so worried because he was not crying.  I started crying and begging him to cry and that is when Camella pointed out to me how perfectly healthy and alert he was.  Then the NICU nurse took him to the warming bed to suction out his lungs and belly (due to the meconium) and look him over.  I could hear her talking to Scott pointing out all the things they would look for in a baby with Trisomy 18.   I heard her say that he had a Simean crease on one of his hands...another sign of Trisomy 18...but that every thing else looked just perfect.   She then gave him back to me and in that moment everything was perfect.   I held him and examined his every inch and couldn't see the "crease" she was talking about.

When I checked in to the hospital that morning, the nurse had written some information on a white board, basically her name and the midwifes name and the "goal for the day" was to "have a baby."  I was so proud of myself when I realized that I had met the "goal" and had our baby on 4th!  Axl weighed in at 7'1 oz and was 20 inches long.

The next day when the pediatrician came to check out Axl, he said that Axl didn't have a simean crease and didn't know why the nurse had told us that.   Everything looked great, but I insisted on having a blood test to confirm there were no chromosomal abnormalities.  The blood test came back negative and all his chromosomes are in order with no extras!  Phew, what an ordeal.

The odd thing about my pregnancy is that even though I was such an emotional wreck, physically I felt great.  I continued to walk between 5 and 8 miles every day, I could sleep great and Logan and Olive made it so much fun.  Olive liked to lift my shirt and ask to see my baby, and Logan kept insisting that we were having a baby boy and every time I would tell him I thought it was a girl he would cry.  When I called Logan and Olive on the 5th to tell them we had a baby boy, Logan said "Yay, my mommy bought me a baby brother."

I told very few people about my ordeal during the pregnancy and was very careful not to tell my family ( my mom and dad,  in law's etc) as I did not want to burden them with the worry as I was burdened.  I wish so much that the doctor would have never told me about the cysts and even sometimes wish I didn't have the ultrasound at all.

What a blessing it is to have three wonderful, healthy children.   I know that now more than ever and am so grateful for my family and all the joy it brings me, like nothing else in the World.

Olive turns two!

Wow, am I behind.  It was my intention to "catch up" on this blog, but too much time has passed.  So will post about Olive's b-day and then move on to the more recent.

On December 3, our baby girl turned two!  I can't believe she is two already and in some ways, I can't believe she is ONLY two.   She thinks she is so much bigger and older than she is, and really she is quite independent for a two year old.   She can talk as well as Logan and even talks more than Logan, which if you know Logan, is not hard to believe.

Olive loves baby dolls and can't wait to be a big sister.  She likes to play dress up, take her babies "grocery shopping" and make pretend cupcakes for them to eat.   She sleeps wonderfully and shares a bedroom with Logan.   We have to make sure we put her to bed before Logan however, because if we don't she will talk his ear off all hours of the night.   She loves her big brother so much, and even turns to him for comfort more often than she does me.  If she gets hurt or sad the first person she looks for is Logan and Logan is always quick to give her hugs and kiss her owies.   I do find him from time to time however telling her that "he doesn't feel like talking right now."  This is his attempt to get her to be quiet for just one moment although it rarely works.  Olive loves to give kisses and be held.  She also "loves" everything.  She tells me every day that she loves my hair, loves her breakfast, loves her cups...whatever it is, she loves it.   Her favorite phrase is "yeah, but that's okay."  She usually says this after she gets caught making a mess or doing something she isn't supposed to do.

Olive is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our lives.  This year we woke up on her birthday to snow, which was especially sentimental to me because she was born during a snow storm.

Utah

Last week we decided to take a last minute trip to Salt Lake City to visit Scott's family.   There was already a "reunion" of sorts going on so we thought we would take advantage and visit as many people as possible.   We really enjoy going to Utah and always feel so welcome and at home when we travel there.   Salt Lake City is an amazing place to go when you have little ones and we really enjoy all of the activities and visiting with family.  We started our trip at 8:00 pm on Wednesday night and drove to Montecello.  We arrived there at about midnight and stopped at the Rodeway Inn.  The next morning we got up around 7:00 and headed to Salt Lake around 9:00.   We stopped in Price to play at a McDonalds and grab some lunch and then on we went.   I will say that I was not impressed with the Price McDonalds as the women's restroom was under construction, had step ladders all over the place and the TP was just stacked on the floor in the stalls.  There were no mirrors, no soap and no paper towels or air hand dryers.   In addition to all of this, the kids in the play land were way TOO BIG to be playing there and were not nice and considerate of my little ones.   Once we got to Salt Lake we basically just hung out with Scott's AWESOME family.   Logan had his face painted for the first time ever and was so excited.   At first I didn't mention anything to Logan about having his face painted because I wasn't sure if he would be interested or not or just freaked out by the whole idea.  He is very particular these days.   Well, I guess he saw the other kids having their faces painted and maybe Scott suggested it to him, but he was so excited to have a snake painted on his face.   I didn't attempt to have Olive's face painted.  I doubt she would sit with a stranger touching her face.   Olive had a great time playing with cousins at the park and catching bubbles.   We even played our first ever game of Frisbee Golf and had a great time.  Logan lasted for about three holes and Olive for one.  They enjoyed walking in the park, picking up sticks and using their Frisbee as "plates" to make pretend food out of grass, rocks, sticks and other things you find in a park.   Unfortunately, the playground equipment was way too hot to enjoy...I really think engineers should come up with a better material to make slides out of...what good is a slide if it burns your buns on the way down?    We left Salt lake for home at about 8:30 on Sunday night and again stayed in Montecello and then made our way home on Monday.   We had a great trip, our new van did great and as always, the kids were easy going and well behaved.   We can't wait for our next road-trip....maybe Tennessee in October.

Playing London Bridge on the Trampoline

Helicopters in the park

Logan being patient as always

A work in progress

Proud Boy!

Jump Rope!

I thought you were supposed to kiss frog...either way it didn't turn into a prince

Limbo

Bubbles with Daddy! 

Catching up

I have been looking through the endless pictures on my computer from 2011 trying to decide which ones to use in order to catch up my blog, and I have realized that we really haven't had much going on.  Well, besides being busy with a full time job (3 if you count Scott's 2) 2 kids, one on the way and an energetic dog.   Our days are busy and fun and my house is always a mess.   Instead of creating a separate blog entry for each of the "events" over the past 6 months, I figured I would just create on entry and try to hi-light on the big ones.

In February, after recovering from strep throat I starting training for a 1/2 marathon race (against myself) in April.  My original plan was to run a 15.3 mile race in White Sands in March, but with having two kids with Chicken Pox, one with possible encephalitis and strep throat myself those plans were quickly derailed.   Oh, and while all of this was going on, Scott was working in Roswell every Sunday through Friday.  At any rate, with the help and motivation of a great friend I started a 10 week training program to prepare for my first EVER race.  I had never run a 5k or a 10k or even a 1 mile fun run race before.  I doubted myself at times and thought I would never be able to run outside on the hard pavement without hand rails to hold on to, as all or most of my running experience had been on a treadmill.   But I pushed hard, created a great play list on my i-pod, which if you know me this won't come as any surprise to you, I listed to over and over and over again .  I ran in the foothills outside of my house for most of my short runs, got lost once on a "long" run and found a great running partner in Bunsen.  I would complete my long runs at lunch time on the Fridays that I worked, with Noel who really was my inspiration.   One day I had to do a "long run" by myself and I thought I would never make it.  She was great at pacing me and encouraging me to push harder when I thought I couldn't go any more.  When race day came, I was so excited and nervous I couldn't sleep the night before.  It was a great morning for a run though and I was pumped.   We started out slow and steady and kept a great easy pace.   In fact, I would say I finished my 13.1 miles with ease and even thought when it was over that I could run a full marathon.   Here is a picture of me at the starting line with my running buddy.

That afternoon after running my half marathon I was tired and didn't quite feel right.  I felt a little queasy, uneasy and anxious.   Without any real prompting I started to wonder if I was pregnant.  I immediately went to the store and bought a home pregnancy test and discovered that I was indeed expecting our third baby.  I was so happy that I didn't suspect anything until hours after the race rather than before.  I think if I knew I was pregnant while trying to run a 1/2 marathon it would have gotten in my head.   So there it is, our last baby is due on 12/31/2011.  A little earlier than I would have liked, in my ideal world, but we are thrilled and excited non-the-less.  

Next in April was Logan's b-day.   I can't believe my baby is three already.   Logan loves to play with Olive and really is such a sweet and caring boy.  He isn't crazy, obnoxious or overly hyper.  He has a very calm and shy demeanor which I love.  I try hard to get him to come out of his shell by giving him plenty of opportunities to interact with other kids and be independent.  For Logan's birthday this year we were going to get him a bunk bed and thought it would be fun to take him shopping so he could pick his own out.  Well, while shopping for the bed, Scott decided it would be more fun if he and Logan made the bed themselves.   I agreed and we bought just a double mattress because I knew that Logan's uncle John was buying him Spiderman sheets and a blanket for his new big-boy bed.    Logan had two birthday parties this year, one with just family at our house and one with friends at Gymboree.   Oh, and one other thing, Logan and Scott both had the stomach flu the week of Logan's birthday, this has been the case every year since Logan was one.   A birthday tradition I HOPE does not last.

Logan in his Buzz Light Year rocket ship

Logan and I opening his b-day gifts while the rest of the house was sleeping (or puking).

In May we took a family vacation to Florida to visit Disney World.   We had a blast, despite my severe "morning" (all day really) sickness.  The kids had so much fun playing in the hotel pool, going to Disney and Sea World and playing at the beach.   And as always, my kids surprised me and traveled very well, with little drama and no melt downs.  Here are just a few of our pictures, there are many, many more on Facebook.

The only family picture, this is in line for "it's a small world"

June and July have been relatively slow months for us.  Just hot and pregnant!   I have been riding the rail runner and bus to work and that has been saving me a ton of money and I get a little time to myself everyday. It does make for long days however as I leave the house at 5:30am and don't get home until 6:00 pm.   We went to the Annual Placitas Village 4th of July parade this year.  Scott and I had fun and the kids did too, well until the fire truck sprayed us with water.    That is it for "catch up" hopefully I can keep on top of things and can avoid having to do too many more "catch up posts" in the future.

Chicken Pox!

Logan and Olive have both been sick the past few days with a fever.   This morning, Logan woke up with a rash on his face...just a few pimple looking things.   I honestly thought they were just pimples from all of the lotion and petroleum jelly I have been rubbing on his face/nose to keep him from chaffing due to all of the nose blowing!   Well, I decided to take the the kids in to the Dr. because I wasn't sure what Olive had.  She just had a fever with no other symptoms.    And the diagnosis is....Chicken Pox for Logan and Strep throat for Olive and mommy!   The chicken pox are so rare these days that the Dr. was very surprised to see them.  Logan has been vaccinated for the chicken pox, but apparently even with the vaccine, it is possible to get them anyway, however it is usually a very mild case.   Logan has been such a good boy and really hasn't complained much, he really is a tough guy.  And Olive is tolerating her antibiotics well, which is always a concern since we have allergies in the family.   I can't remember the last time I had strep throat...I think it was in the 2nd grade right before I had my tonsils out.    It is horrible!  I feel so bad for my kids now, I have been so sick even my skin hurts to the touch!   I can't believe that such a common infection could make someone feel so bad.  I guess I thought that strep throat was just a bad sore throat!

Christmas 2010

                                                             Ethan and Logan and Grandpa's Cabin

                                        Christmas Dinner at our house...Pizza in the living room!

                                                    Olive, making messes at Grandpa's Cabin

Christmas was great this year!  On Christmas eve before bed, Logan put some reindeer food out on the front porch and some cookies out for Santa Clause.  He wasn't totally convinced that any one was going to come and eat the food, but he played along anyway!   In the morning he immediately went outside to see if the reindeer food was gone, and much to his surprise it was!  He was so excited.  We then opened presents at home and then went to John and Peggy's house for the family Christmas gathering.   My kids were spoiled as usual and ate way too many sweets.   That's okay, all of the fun and the sugar crash makes for a great nap for everyone!   Santa brought a rocking horse and Mr. and Mrs. Potato head to the kids.  They had so much fun with their toys.    On the 26th we were supposed to fly to Tennessee to spend the last half of our Christmas break with my family, but our flight was canceled due to major snow storms in the southeast, so we got to spend one more day at home enjoying our family and taking it easy.   On the 27th, we ended up being able to fly into Tennessee.  We had a lay over in Atlanta, with only 40 minutes to catch our next flight...needless to say we didn't make it.   We were only seconds late, which was a bummer.   We were able to get on the next flight out and landed in Nashville at about 10pm.   After that we had to get our rental car and drive an hour and a half to my parent's cabin.   The kids were great troopers and slept most of the way to the cabin.   We didn't do much in Tennessee, but it was great to hang out with my parent's and sister and her family.  We flew home on New Year's Eve, again through a snowstorm.   It was funny though, this time we had a lay over in Minneapolis, where it was snowing like crazy.  I thought for sure our flight wasn't going to go, but it DID!   It is amazing what a difference snow makes in a place where they are prepared for/used to it rather than in somewhere like the southeast!   Over-all, we had a great holiday season!