Holidays with the Heiners

Merry Christmas yesterday!

I am going to try to start actually WRITING on my blog instead of basically just posting pictures.

We are here in Fairfax, Virginia with the Heiner clan. This will have been my second Christmas here. It is so crazy to me that I have known Daniel for 5 Christmases (how on earth are you suppose to spell that?). I know that may seem so short to some but it seems like it shouldn't have been that long yet. I still feel like we just barely got married yesterday (except for the baby part). ...But at the same time I feel like we have been married forever.

We had an eventful beginning to our vacation. As you know from the previous post, we got a fair amount of snow. A happy result of that was getting to start our vacation a little early. Daniel got to stay home for a couple unexpected days.

The unhappy result of the snow was our flight (just like many other flights from Seattle) was canceled. When we woke up that morning and found this out Daniel was trying any way he could to get through to the airlines. His attempts were futile. The number on the website didn't get us anywhere and we couldn't rebook through the Internet. So, our only other option was to pack up (Lana and all) and go wait in line at the airport with about a million ka-zillion other people....and of course say a prayer that something would work out.

The line was HUGE. We waited in line for 3 hours! At least Lana was good. She sat there content to play with whatever toy I would give her. While waiting we saw many devastated people with ruined holiday plans and assumed ours would meet the same fate. The lady behind me was planning on spending her Christmas with her grandkids and children. The earliest flight she could get was the day after Christmas. She was trying so hard to hold back the tears but they eventually leaked out.

When we got to where we could at least see the front of the line the airline rep. was walking around handing out a new number people could call. Daniel immediately called it. Right as he got connected with a person the same airline rep came by yelling, "If you are trying to get to Minneapolis (our original connecting flight) a new 747 has been chartered here for a 2:00 flight." AMAZING! We got our seat booked! I was so happy. Just to get out of Seattle made it seem like there was hope to get to DC before Christmas.

The only problem with our flight to Minneapolis was that there was no flight to DC till the next morning. So, we had to stay in a hotel there. It is soooooo cold there. I took a taxi for the 2nd time in my life. We had to pay 17 dollars to drive 3 miles! Ridiculous. After we put Lana down, Dan went to go get a pizza from a local pizzeria. He was freezing when he got back. I tried to joke with him like he was the pizza delivery man but he wasn't having any of that. He was too cold to play games.

Our flight from Minneapolis went like clockwork. We were very grateful for that. After the day we had the day before... haha...we got selected for additional screening 2 times in a row! So much for random selection. Lana even got patted down.

Since we have been here we have been working on our serious relaxation skills. Sleeping till 10, not leaving the house all day, and eating lots of wonderful food.

Christmas Eve was fun.

Lana, Daniel, and I went to Dan's high school hot spot, The Silver Diner, with his childhood friend Dave. Dave and Daniel have been friends since 4th grade. He was there to see Daniel during all of growing up. Man! I wish I could see into Dave's head and know all the nerdy things Dan has done! Dave was also one of Dan's groomsmen and gave us our very first car as a married couple (It was a 96 Nissan Sentra and its name was "KNIGHT RIDER!")

We had a talent show. Daniel and I sang Silent Night. (1st verse =unison, 2nd verse=Daniel sang melody and I sang alto, 3rd verse=I sang melody and Daniel sang tenor) Most of you may not know this but Daniel is a great singer! I am pretty sure he sight reads better than I do.

The family also did a nativity scene. I was a shepherd, Daniel was a wise man, and Lana was the cutest sheep in the entire world!

Then we opened Christmas PJs. I was so excited to open Lana's. They are sooooooo cute. I think they were more a present for me.

We got up at about 9:00 on Christmas morning. Lana's very first Christmas morning!!! She was actually kinda cranky during the whole thing because we had to wake her up for it. I got what I wanted! To give you a hint.......he went to jared!.....haha jk. but he did get me a wedding band! I have wanted one for years! I actually look like I am married now instead of just engaged. I got Daniel a GPS (garmin 760). I was so looking forward to surprising him but I later found out that I had accidentally left the receipt on the computer desk and he saw it. :( He tries to claim that I did surprise him because he didn't know if I got the GPS he wanted. Oh well....he is still really excited about it. Lana's big present was the "your baby can read" DVDs, bookset, and flashcards. She told me that it is awesome. ;)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, eating good food, and staring at my ring (or Daniel staring at his GPS).

My sister-in-law Laura has 2 kids (Mia and Tucker). They got sick just before they came. We all know where this is going...Lana is now truly sick for the first time. I feel so bad for her. She is pretty pathetic. I think we might go to the Dr. if she is as cranky tomorrow as she was today. I wonder if she has an ear infection.