Lodi

We were all so excited to see Ben and Katie's family. None of us had seen them since Olivia was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It has been a long few months filled with anxiety and worry for that sweet girl. One of the rules was that we could not go to Ben's if we were sick. We really tried to follow that rule. Emerson had been sick and so Amanda kept him and Audrey at the rental house and missed out on Christmas dinner with everyone else. Luckily the rental we got was super close to Ben and Katie's house, only two blocks away. That was awesome. It was so easy to go back and forth. Ben and Katie made an amazing Christmas dinner. We visited and all enjoyed watching the cousins play. We also sang a bunch of Christmas songs which was really fun!

Ben, Katie, Aaron, Jacklyn and I stayed up visiting until after midnight. I was sooooo exhausted but it was so good to be with family!

Thursday we had the entire day to just hang out. Some people went to Sushi, others ran errands, I played with the kids. The weather in Lodi was perfect and it was a great day to be outside. Emerson was feeling better and so he joined in on the cousin fun. Ben's kids were so good to share all their Christmas toys with their cousins. The kids played hard all day long.

The littlest three did sidewalk chalk

 while the older three played basketball

 All the kids ended up with suckers at the same time:)

 It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the outdoors.

We also walked over to the house we were renting because Ben and Katie's kids wanted to see it:)

It was a really nice day spent with family. We ended the evening with Katie making her delicious homemade pizza.

Friday we had breakfast at Ben's and played outside. I snapped a couple group shots of all the grand kids.

We only spent the morning in Lodi because we were headed to Willits for the Brown family reunion. Oliva and Katie were not coming because Olivia should not be around that many people.Dan and Ben decided they would drive over on Saturday. Mom and I took Braxton and Katelyn with us so they could have more cousin time. It was hard to say goodbye to Olivia. She headed off to Chemo as we left. I hate that this is her reality. We all sure love that girl!

The drive went great! We got to Willits just in time for pizza with the Browns. Luckily Janice had reserved a party room. We filled the room up and had a very enjoyable evening visiting while the kids ran around like maniacs!