our holidays

It's been awhile since I've been able to post; the holidays were busy for us! What's that? You wanna hear all about it? Why, I thought you'd never ask!

Rewind about a month, to about the second week of December. Can you see it? The stores were still blasting Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, camera-armed Santa Stations dotted every mall in the country, and the Rawlinsons were gearing up for our holiday travels!

First, we drove to Tulsa, to visit our parents. We stopped at my parents' house first, for the Annual O'Dell Grandkids Christmas Party. For those of you who aren't aware, there are 11 grandkids on my side of the family. As you can imagine, all of us getting together for Christmas is a little difficult. So, my mom and little sister came up with a plan. Every year, everyone joins together for one evening for some awesome kid-centered holiday fun! We decorate cookies, open gifts, look at Christmas lights, we go all out.
This year, we went bowling! The kids loved it! We then drove to Rhema to see the lights.

Carrie and I at the bowling alley. Something exciting must have been happening. Probably a strike.

 Me, Carrie, and Daisy, and the back of Margot's chubby little head.

My cute parents. 

There aren't many pictures of my kids, as they were too excited to stand still. Fun times!

Next, we headed to Brandon's parents house for a week. We celebrated Christmas early, and the girls made out like kings! They got Little People, Barbies, new jammies and outfits, and tons more. They were in heaven! This was the first Christmas that Margot was old enough to really know what was going on, so she was really excited.

Next, we drove 15 hours to LaGrange, IN to visit my extended family. It was a surprise, only my Aunt Peg knew we were coming, and she kept a really good secret! It was so much fun to visit everyone, especially since I haven't seen most of my cousins in years! Plus, my girls got to meet a whole new group of kids their age to play with! Woohoo! 

Portia, decorating cookies.

Tuckered out. Brandon and my dad.

My grandpa. I like him.

My beautiful grandmother.

Next, we drove back to my Daisy-sister's house. She and her husband have been married for 15 years, and to celebrate, flew to Paris and London for 9 days. We watched their kids and house-sat while they were away. They had a blast, and got to do this:

which was very important.

After that, we drove back to Tulsa, where we relaxed for a few days, then drove to my Jeannine-sister's house for a night, where we relaxed some more!

At this point, we had been away from home for a month, so away we went! 

It was so fun and exciting to travel all over, but boy is it good to be home!

things I'm lovin today

Today has been hard. Portia is still sick, and we spent almost 2 hours in the doctor's office this morning. Those of you with small kids know how un-fun that is. Brandon and I have not been sleeping well, since Portia has been waking up several times a night. Add that to Margot's several times a night, and you get reeeeaaaalllly tired parents.

I was really hoping for a nap this afternoon while these babies were sleeping, but it didn't happen. I was pretty sad. It seems that not much is going right for us, so I decided to write this post about what is.

ahem

Things I'm Lovin Today:

1. Corndogs and a large Dr. Pepper. You know that's right.

2. The fact that Portia only has the flu and not strep throat. I have heard strep is going around, and was worried. But the doc said she is on the tail end of the flu and it should work it's way out of her system in a day or two.

3. The fact that Margot has not caught the flu from her sister. It's really a miracle. None of us got flu shots this years, and I was sure that with the close proximity of these girls, Margot would get sick too. But she hasn't! I think Heavenly Father knew I couldn't handle both of them being sick right now. Either that or she has super powers (forcefield, anyone?)

4. The fact that I get to hang out with my family in Tulsa all next week! Wooo!

5. J. K. Rowling just announced that she is writing another book. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I'll give you a hint: super super happy.

6. America's Next Top Model starts on Wednesday. Bring on the crying!

I feel better already.

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas day, and we are having a blast! We are in Tulsa visiting our families, relaxing, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food! Last night was the annual O'Dell Christmas Eve Grandkids party, which was a huge hit! Expect lots of pictures soon!
I love today! Not because we get to open presents and eat a fabulous turkey dinner, even though those things are wonderfully fun. I love today because it is the day we celebrate Christ's birth.
I love the story of the birth of our Lord, I think it's one of my favorites. There's something so beautiful about the Savior of the world bring born in a stable while angels sing in the heavens. I am grateful that I live in a country that allows me to celebrate this day with my family.

The Church has released some great new videos about the birth of Christ, this one is my favorite. They are found at www.lds.org

Oklahoma Chainsaw Massacre

A few nights ago, Brandon and I were driving to Bartlesville, to visit my Jeannine-sister. We took a short-cut through some country back-roads, and as we drove, I realized something about myself.

I am definitely a city girl. Being in the country at night made me so nervous. All I could think about are those retarded horror movies where the car breaks down near the creepy farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere, and the teenagers knock on the door to use the phone, and the inbred residents kidnap, torture, hack them up, and then eat them. Raw.

Brandon is the opposite. He grew up in Claremore, and he drove country roads all the time. They make him feel safe and secure.

I made him lock the doors as we were going 60 mph.

Later that night, we drove through north Tulsa, and I felt perfectly fine. Crazy? Maybe. But when we are driving through Romona, OK and we see some guy standing all by himself in the rain in the middle of the road, and he's missing an eye, I am NOT stopping to see if he can give us directions.