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2019 Christmas. . . Or Should I Say "Sick-mas?"

We seem to have traded in the Christmas scents of gingerbread, pine, and peppermint for whiffs of bleach, Clorox wipes, and Lysol.  Lo and behold, our Christmas break began with the stomach flu and pretty much carried through to the end of our break.  The thoughts were never far away:  Who will get it next? Should I really eat this?  What will this meal look like coming back up?  Nevertheless, we celebrated Christmas, and nearly 2 weeks after it all started, we have now officially all succumbed to the dreaded stomach flu.

So, what did we do in between bouts of the illness?  We had an Epp family gathering (Delaney was sick), Christmas Eve program, family celebrations with cousins at grandparents' houses, our own little Christmas morning gathering (with a sick Cambry), basketball/volleyball in the shop, lots of eating, and even a little sledding. Below are pictures from our time with family:

Christmas Eve Program at Church:  Cambry had a speaking part and was extremely excited about it this year.  It was great to see her enthusiasm, and she spoke well.  Delaney sang in the choir, and she even had a short solo - something new for her.  It was beautiful!


Cambry is in the dark blue - playing the part of the innkeeper's servant's daughter


 Christmas at Grammy and Papa's:
The boys' newest tools


Grammy made a book for the girls based on our trip to KC
this past summer.
It was good to see Addi again for a short bit.  We are happy
she seems to be thriving in college!

 Christmas morning at our house:
What's this?  A smartphone?  


Delaney was all about the games this year!

Cambry was okay enough to open
gifts between pukes!
Then the Duerksen clan was together for a few days.  It had been a full year since we had seen our family from CA:
Basketball in the shop

Volleyball with Aunt Candace

The annual cousin picture - not such a straight slope anymore!


LCR with real cash.  Who was the winner?

Delaney wins it all!

Trying Pictionary Air - it's hard to
draw when you can't see what you're
drawing!

Watch Ya Mouth - maybe not such a good idea with all
the germs floating around.  Finn was down shortly after this pic!
 And wouldn't you know, we even had enough snow to take Boden sledding!  I think we had at least 3 seasons while the CA family was here - started with spring on Christmas Day, then had a rainy autumn day, followed by wintery snow!

 
Despite the sickness, Christmas went on.  It may not have been the break that we expected, but we still pulled through and made the most of it.  I am confident the good memories will outlast the sick ones!

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