Trip to the US for Christmas

This year we spent Christmas in Colorado. I found a great fare on tickets which took us from Doha to Spain to Dallas to Grand Junction with 28 hours of travel time. We left at 2 AM and most of the flight was on American Airlines so I expected the worst. But all in all it didn't go to bad. Especially considering that Jaydon got a stomach bug 18 hours before we got on the flight. We arrived exhausted which meant a pretty good nights sleep the first night. We always find the second day is the worst after travel so the first day we try to pack in and as much as we can.


We headed out to cut down our own Christmas tree.


It was much colder than anything we were used to so we bundled up the boys in jackets, hats, boots, and mittens and headed out to the cut-down-your-own-tree farm. Tylor is not accustomed to wearing winter boots and a big jacket that restricts his movements. He took three steps out of the car tripped on a rock and landed face first into the dirt. He scratched up his nose and I had to pull rocks and dirt out of his mouth. It was not the best way to start out the adventure especially with jet lagged kids.


He decided he wanted to be carried from then on.


We found the perfect tree and Jaydon helped grandpa cut it down.



That evening the local palisade library had a special Christmas event for kids. We listened to stories and watched a mini play about the Night Before Christmas. Then got a special visit from Santa Claus.


This is the first year Jaydon had any interest in talking to or sitting with him. Tylor on the other hand had absolutely no interest. He didn't want to be anywhere close to him. After Jaydons chat with Santa we headed out to dinner.


By then Tylor had reached his limit, he slept most of the dinner and Jaydon spent most of it laying on my lap. The next few days we took it easy letting the boys adjust the new time zone. They did their best to help out, like when grandma made apple pies.


They thought eating the apple peal strings was the best.


And who doesn't have fun with that silly apple peeler machine.


The local model train club was also having an event to show off their years worth of hard work.


The boys thought the model trains were the neatest.


We spent a lot of time just watching the little trains go round and round the tracks, in and out of the tunnels, and listened to them make their choo-choo train noises.


On our way out we toured some of the life-size trains they had on display. Again those winter boots tripped up Tylor, literally, and he landed headfirst into a pile of iron rail tools. He got a bump the size of a golf ball on his forehead and a scar that still exists today. With a scratched nose and bruised forehead he was ready for Christmas, or at least the photos anyways.