That being said, a cold is a cold.....it's still got to run its course.
We headed out to the airport on Sunday morning with a caravan of our family, my parents, and my sister/Jeff/their dog. Once we got to the airport we met Jeff's parents.
During the flight to Denver Greyson was agitated and kept pulling at his ear. After 3 kiddos (and numerous ear infections with Eva) I knew that we were probably dealing with an ear infection. Regardless, the travel went well and we got to Denver. Once in Denver we rented our cars, met Jeff's sister and her family, and - once again -we formed a caravan to head up the mountain to Breckenridge (about a 2-3 hour drive depending on the weather on the mountain).
Even though it was evening when we got there I quickly fell in love with Breckenridge. What a beautiful and quaint little town!! The snow was falling, Christmas lights were on, and our ENTIRE caravan had huddled into a local ski shop to be fitted with snowboards!!! So exciting!
We got a good nights sleep and were up bright and early the next morning to head out on the slopes!!! The view from our home was absolutely BREATHTAKING!!!!
(wish my mom was in this picture, as it's the only one with the whole group, but she was taking it)
(yep...that sign is correct. When you looked over our deck it was literally a cliff overlooking Breckenridge)!
This was my only day on the slopes. I signed up for one day of snowboarding and my mom was planning on watching Greyson for me. Since he was still acting as if his ears were bothering him I asked her if she would run him to an urgent care center just to have them looked at. She was more than willing to (gotta love moms).
Matt, Eva, Jaden, and I (along with the rest of the crew) headed out to the slopes!!!! We were ALL so excited!!! It was so beautiful!!
We got all of our gear on (which was quite funny considering we had never tried lacing snowboard boots). Needless to say, it took us awhile. Haha!! We headed up the mountain on a Gondola. Jaden especially was so excited he couldn't contain himself. He was just squealing!!!! I loved it.
(Jaden in the Gondola heading up the mountain)
We met with our snowboard instructors and the lessons were in full swing!! Snowboarding is a LOT harder than it looks! We all were laughing pretty hard at each other as we tried going down the bunny hills! Haha!!
(lesson in progress...look at that view!)
I often had to stop and just look around me. I am not a mountain person. I would pick a beach over cold snowy weather ANY day......but I couldn't deny the fact that standing up there on that mountain and looking out was absolutely amazing.
About an hour into the lesson I got a call from my mom. Greyson's situation was a bit more serious than originally thought....he had a double ear infection, they were doing a chest X-ray, and his oxygen levels were extremely low. They had put him on oxygen.
WHAT?!!??!!!!!!!??!!!!!
Meanwhile, my sister (who's dog seemed a bit lethargic that morning) got a call from the Breckenridge vet that her dog needed to be seen RIGHT away....and that his condition may be serious.
Oh. My. Word.
My sister and I rushed off the slopes (I left the older two kiddos with Matt) and back home. She grabbed her dog to head to the vet and I waited for my mom to get home with Greyson (oxygen tank in hand).
When she got home I learned that Greyson did have a bad cold, as well as a double ear infection. As for the oxygen.....well, that's just common procedure in Breckenridge. The town is nearly 11,000 feet above sea level and due to his cold Greyson simply wasn't getting enough oxygen. He had to go back to the doctor the following day to make sure his oxygen level improved. If it didn't, we needed to get him off the mountain and back to Denver.
(my mom with Greyson....break my heart).
Meanwhile, my sister got the news that the altitude was literally killing her dog. They had no choice but to get him off of the mountain and back down to a lower altitude. They got back from the vet and started packing.
Ummmm......what was happening to our good old fashioned family Christmas????!!!!!
To make a long story short, Nicole and Jeff left and went back to Denver. Greyson had his follow up appointment and his oxygen level improved significantly (yay!!). That being said, he would have to remain on oxygen the entire time we were in Breckenridge because of the altitude. Plans kept changing and changing again....who was headed to Denver to be with Jeff and Nicole, who was staying, etc. In the end, Nicole and Jeff left and the rest of us stayed put until at least after Christmas.
THANKFULLY, we all did our very best to focus on the positive the rest of the week. Was it rough at times? Yes. Did we wish we were all together?? Absolutely. However, we all kept reminding each other that some day we were going to laugh hysterically at all the turn of events this vacation handed us!!! Here is a little snapshot at the rest of our week...
(we did a lot of laying around the house and snuggling Greyson).
(The older kiddos became pool playing champions!!! They looooooved it!)
(As Greyson started to feel better we had to keep up with him...oxygen tank and all!!)
(On Christmas Eve we got an AMAZING snow fall!!!)
(The kiddos built snow forts which were AMAZING!)
(Mom, Bob, and I headed to town for just a little bit on Christmas Eve)
(We also got a little silly....because that's always a good idea)!
Christmas Eve we stayed in and mom made an amazing Italian feast! I felt bad because I knew Nicole and Jeff would have loved to have been there. We kept in close contact via phone calls, texts, and even face-timing so they could see everyone!
That night we hung our stockings with care (alllll of us brought stockings!) and the kiddos dressed in their Christmas PJ's.
The next morning we were greeted with presents under the tree from Santa!!! However, my favorite gift was the fact Greyson was feeling MUCH better and God blessed us with an absolutely jaw dropping view from our living room that morning!
We spent the day lounging around and enjoy the company of each other! Jeff's parents and sister headed to Denver mid-day to spend time with Jeff and Nicole. Mom decided to head out the next morning to spend the rest of the week with them. I was happy they could enjoy some family time too!
The next two days were spent with Eva and Matt on the slopes!! Eva snowboarded and Matt skied (he gave up on snowboarding....tooooo hard)!! Greyson, Jaden, and I stayed home and played.
(love these two cuties on the ski lift)!
Matt and I decided to head to Denver a bit early to get Greyson off oxygen, so our last night in Breckenridge we all went out to dinner!! It was really one of the only times all week that I left the house so it was a treat for me!!
The next day we headed to Denver....but more importantly it was our little girls 9th Birthday!!! Stay tuned to see how we celebrated!!!
"Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine!"
--Anthony D'Angelo
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