Christmas Break

We headed back to Texas for the Holidays and enjoyed 2 1/2 weeks with family and friends!  Below are some highlights of our vacation...

S. wrapped up exams around 11pm on Thursday the 17th, and we woke up at 3:45am the following morning to catch our 6am flight.  We arrived in Texas tired, but excited to see family.  We hung out that weekend with S's family--It was the first time to have all the brothers home for Christmas since before S. left on his mission(9 years ago).  My mom drove up to see me on Saturday, and took us out to lunch.  N. enjoyed all the toys, and got a much needed hair-cut.  N. fell in love with their dog, Toby.  The whole trip he loved to go the back window, stand on a little stool, and watch the dog.  N. also had a check-up at his doctor in Dallas.  He got 3 shots, and had 2 more a week later.  He jumped up in height--before he was at the 40th percentile, now he's the 80th, and he weighs 25 lbs.

Wednesday, we headed to Red Oak to see my family.  All my sisters were in town with their new hubbies.  We enjoyed making Christmas cookies, and catching-up!  On Christmas Eve, it started snowing.  We enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner(despite a few power outages).  Then we had our annual Christmas Eve program.  We listened to music, sang Christmas hymns, and read the Christmas story.  Most of the time, N. conducted the music.  We then read our Christmas notes(every year we write a note to each family member), and enjoyed dessert.  We actually got a White Christmas in Texas!  We spent Christmas morning with my family--N. enjoyed his toys and most had something to do with dogs.

After opening presents and enjoying cinnamon rolls for breakfast, we drove over to Arlington to spend the rest of Christmas Day with S's family.  We ate another Christmas dinner, and N. got a little dog toy that he can pull and a tent.

The next morning we headed back to Red Oak.  My brother, his wife, and their 2 boys came over.  We ate pizza, played Wii, and some new board games my mom bought.  Anyways the rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my sweet sisters.  N. had so much fun playing with my little sister, McKenna, who's only 5.  He followed her around everywhere, and they were always giggling and talking(N. was jibber-jabbering).

Monday, S. went shooting with his brothers, while me and his mom decorated our gingerbread lighthouse(in honor of S and I's trip earlier in the year to Maine).

Wednesday, S's family left to Utah to take 2 of his brothers back to BYU, so we headed to my family's house to hang out.  Thursday, New Years Eve, we visited some friends of ours from Dallas who have a little girl that's a few months younger than N.  They used to play together before we moved.  That night we went out to dinner with my family, did sparklers in the front yard, and watched the ball drop on TV.  New Years Day, we watched the Rose Bowl Parade, a tradition of moms(my mom has watched it ever since she was a little girl--even though it was in black and white).  Then I went shopping with my mom to all the major craft stores in search of scrapbooking stuff-so much fun!!!  Saturday, we spent half the day playing at the park and enjoying the warmer weather.

Sunday, we visited our old church in Dallas and caught up with some good friends, and then spent a quiet afternoon with my family.  Monday, I went and visited a few of the teachers I used to work with.  It's fun to go back, especially since now my little sister is in kindergarten there.  Then we headed back to Arlington to see S's parents, and we went out to dinner with S's brother, D. and his fiance.   

Well, we had quite the trip--going back and forth from family to family. We also enjoyed so much good food(I literally gained 5 lbs), such as Davids BBQ, Taco Bueno, Outback(twice--it's my dad's favorite), Campo Verde, Chilis, Panera, Sonic, Patrizios, a chinese buffet, Braums ice cream, 2 Christmas dinners, and tons of candy and baked goods.  I also got to go to a few of my beloved and missed stores--Target, Wal-Mart, Ross, and Joanns.  It was so much fun to spend time with family.  We had missed them so much and now we miss them again.