The Joys of the Johnsons: Christmas part 1

This Christmas was much more different then any other holidays Shane and I have had together. We were so happy to be home with Rochelle and Brielle for the holidays and just get to spend some quality time with our loved ones. The plan was to spend this past weekend with my family and on Christmas day spend it with Shane's side of the family.
On our way to Lockhart (only an hour from my house to my moms), Rochelle's big oxygen tank that had at least 8+ more hours on it went from half full to empty about 40 minutes into the drive. Rochelle immediately showed me signs that she was going into respiratory distress (decrease oxygen levels, retractions when breathing, turning bluish/grey) and I knew we had to do something, and quick. We always bring the concentrator with us when we go visit somewhere so that we can use the tanks only (when in the car or running errands), so we knew we needed to find a plug and the first place came to mind was Buc-cees and it was about 5 minutes away. I kept stimulating her as her oxygen levels were dropping and Shane immediately put his hazard lights on and was driving at least 100 mph to get to to Buc-cees. Those 5 minutes felt like the longest in my life as I am sure for Rochelle it felt the same not being able to breathe well. As soon we got there they were accommodating and let us plug in our big machine and sit by the main entrance (some of you may have seen me!) for an hour and half that it took Shane to go home to get an extra spare tank and get back to me. That was definitely a crazy start to our morning, but we were so happy when we made it to my moms and were finally able to relax and Rochelle was back to her normal self.
Since we have both not been able to work much we definitely didn't have any money to be buying gifts this year, so my mom and I decided we would just have a craft filled day with the kids and they could paint, build a ginger bread house, make their own sugar cookies, etc. and just enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and savoring every sweet moment. It turned out that my brother had gone over and beyond with the gifts and got some for everyone and we brought gifts from our friends for Brielle to open as well. It was so great and of course her favorite part was ripping the paper off, even though she did say that she wanted to color immediately when she found out she received a color book (it was so cute!)
The day was well spent and I am so excited to start many new traditions at my moms new house and fill the kids with great memories with their grandparents. I love that my brothers kids get to spend time with Brielle and Rochelle and just love on each other. Cousin love is the best love.
(P.S I am writing this from the hospital where we will most likely be spending Christmas Day, after I finally got Rochelle to be comfortable and sleep and Shane's napping as well! (so cute!))