Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Our Christmas was a little different this year, we didn't make it out to California, and no one made it out to us. It was a little sad, but we have family in Texas, so we spent time with them.

On the 21st we had our Christmas with the Swanson's. This year it was at their house (last year we were ALL in our house, so we didn't have much of a choice!) and Priscilla cooked a YUMMY dinner. We had ham, mashed sweet potatoes, broccoli salad, green beans and rolls. It was SO good! I made a chocolate and peppermint cake for dessert, so we were full by the time the evening was over.

We normally take a picture of all of us by the Christmas tree, and this year we forgot. We didn't remember until Ethan was already in bed, so it was too late. We'll take one on New Year's Eve, that's close enough. Ethan was very anxious to open his gifts and this year he got an extra gift from Max and Charlotte. As you will see in the slide show he got a Lightning McQueen toothbrush, and needed to use it right away...in the living room. We had a great time with the Swansons, as we always do. They truly are our family, and we are so grateful for them!

On the 23rd we headed down to Bryan, Tx to visit the Crawfords. We loaded our car with tons of food and a few gifts for Carolina and headed to the double wide. You see, right now the Crawfords are living in a double wide trailer on about 80 acres. They are staying there rent free; it's really a long story, so that will have to be enough explaning.

We had so much food, as any Christmas should, we just stuffed ourselves. We took advantage of the wonderful weather and went on a long walk through the property, and we even went to the park on Christmas Day because it was so nice. Aaron made sweet potato tamales for Christmas breakfast and smoked a brisket for lunch. It was so much fun to be able to spend time with the Crawfords and to be there for Carolina's first Christmas. I'm not sure she really knew what was going on, but she seemed to like the tissue paper in the gifts.

We had a very low key Christmas this year. There was no rushing around, no stress and we weren't even tired after the holiday came and went. We hope y'all were able to sit back, relax and celebrate our Lord this Christmas.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

It's gone!!!

As some of you know I have been growing my hair out just so I could donate it. There are a few places that accept real hair so it can be used to make wigs for people going through cancer treatments. These wigs are provided free of charge for those that need them. I know some of you have actually donated your own hair, and now I can join that group. I didn't realize how long it would take me to get here. It took almost a year just to get enough length to donate. I am typically a short hair person, the last time I had long hair I was a senior in high school. I wanted to be able to donate 10 inches, as that is the least amount Locks of Love will accept, but I didn't quite make it. When my hair dresser measured she thoughtit would be around 8 inches, the amount that Pantene is accepting for their "One Million Inches" campaign. I was tempted to wait it out and try to get 10 inches, but then she looked at my roots. You see, I dyed my hair in September (the last time I got a trim) and I only had 1 inch of growth! So, basically, my hair grew one inch in three months...um, no thanks, I'll give what I have right now.

Here's the before... (I've always wanted to take those silly before and after pictures. My thought is, of course I look better, make-up and a smile makes everyone look better!)

...and after!

It isn't exactly how I want it just yet. In order to be able to donate 9 inches (which is what the final measurement was!) she had to cut it right at my hairline. So, when it grows out a little more I will add more layers, I like to say "chop it up a bit."

Stephanie's Birthday

Ok, so I have been waiting to post because I didn't take any pictures when Stephanie was here, so she sent them to me, but I can't figure out how to get them on here. Anyway, I'll just tell you about her trip and then you can read her blog and look at her pictures (The Blessing Box).

This year Stephanie wanted to spend her birthday with me, aren't I lucky?! She figured since the kids get to do why couldn't she. Thanks Mom and Dad for sending her! She got her on December 6 and stayed until her actual birthday Decemeber 10.

I had a few things planned for us, but mostly we just wanted to shop. I mean, afterall, what else is there to do in Dallas. Friday we spent most of the day at this fabulous mall called Stonebriar. It was surrounded by more shopping centers and stores than we could ever imagine. I mean, it put outlet malls to shame, there was so much stuff. We also spent time at SamMoon, it is a wonderful accessory store with more purses than you can look at and more jewelry than any one person could ever wear. We both ended up with a fantastic purse and I got some great jewelry. It was a great way to start the trip. That night we ate at a Mennonite restaurant...yup, there is such a thing in Texas. It was good, some of it was familiar, and some wasn't, butthe idea of it was enough to make us giggle all the way through dinner.

Saturday we participated in a 5K walk for an elementary school in Rockwall. A friend of mine is the principal, so I wanted to support her. It also gave us the opportunity to walk off some of the Mennonite food from the night before. We then got a well deserved (at least we thought so) pedicure and went to church. I will say this because Stephanie probably would never post it, one of my friends from church asked which one of us was older. Hm, I'm sure they meant that Stephanie looked like she could be under 31...not that I looked 39! :)

Sunday was her birthday surprise. We went to an exhibit called ICE. It is huge ice sculptures, and nothing like what is on a cruise ship. They even had three ice slides at the end, which we went down, of course. After that we did a little more shopping (it wasn't wuite as enjoyable because it was so crowded) and then to dinner called War and Love in Texas (I think.) They had Texas shaped cornbread, every tourist needs to try them, so we ordered some.

Monday was the day she had to go home, but not before some more shopping!!! We found a wonderful little store that sold discount shirts with a lot of BLING! The best part was that you could have a lot of bling, or just a little, and Stephanie found a really cute shirt.

It was sad to drop her off, but man we had fun. I love spending time with all of my sisters, whether it is one-on-one or all together. Some of the best times of my life are when I am with them! I love y'all.

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Thanksgiving

Yes, I realize Thanksgiving was over a week ago, but we're just getting around to telling you about it, sorry.

This year we met up with our friends the Crawfords again. Two years ago we rented a "cottage" and it was quite an experience. The best part was being introduced to the fried turkey! YUM YUM! If you will remember last year Kevin and I had a vegetarian Thanksgiving and ate Tofurkey, this was in protest because we couldn't have a Crawford fried turkey. Well, this year we were not disappointed, we got our fried turkey!


I am getting out of order, so let me start over. On Wednesday afternoon Kevin picked up a 23' travel trailer, that we rented, and brought it home so we could load it up. We had so much fun camping with our friends in October we wanted to do it again. It is way too cold to tent camp in November, so we thought we'd give a trailer a try. When I saw it for the first time I was a bit shocked. It wasn't quite as nice as I had imagined, but we were excited anyway. We loaded it up and headed to Bryan, Tx on Thursday morning to pick up Aaron, Kay Ellen and Carolina Crawford!

We drove 3 1/2 hours to their place and loaded all of their things. We were already laughing because we knew it would be a snug vacation, but then seeing all that has to come along with a 9 month old made us laugh outloud. Once we were finished loading we headed to Guadalupe River State Park, which was another 3 1/2 hour drive.

I have to say, trailer camping is great. We brought along our little TV and had great reception for the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving day. We had a nice warm place to hang out (a cold front moved in Wednesday afternoon and dropped the temps about 30 degrees) and we could still sit by the campfire.

Thursday Aaron and Kevin tried to go fishing, but it was about 40 degrees, and it wasn't very enjoyable, so we headed back to the trailer. It warmed up to a toasty 50 degrees that day, but strangely enough it didn't seem that cold and we spent most of the day around the campfire. As the afternoon got closer we were gearing up for the big feast. Since the trailer only had a microwave, we brought everything already cooked, except the turkey. Once the turkey was done we simply loaded up our plates with our Thanksgiving favorites and nuked it! It was awesome!

This is Carolina tasting some of my delicious sweet potatoe casserole. I think that is the face that babies make when they like something.

Then with our bellies full we watched the Aggies beat Texas (whoop!). Later that day the boys went mountain bike riding and then Kay Ellen and I went on a long walk, making a slight attempt to work off some of the food we ate! We knew there was rain in the forecast, and Saturday morning we woke up to a wet campsite. It had rained all night, and it was still very cold. We decided that we would head back to Bryan, Tx later that day, but not before a trip to our favorite little town Gruene, Tx. We walked around all the little shops, even while cold and wet that place is great. After that we headed back to the campsite and hooked up the trailer.

We got back to the Crawfords around 6pm, got out the leftovers and had Thanksgiving dinner again! It was still good a second time. I hate to say it, but I forgot to take a picture of the trailer from the outside. I did get some of the inside, and of course it is the traditional trailer color of dusty blue.

We had a wonderful time with the Crawfords. We are so grateful to have a Texas family. Two years ago we said that we were going to make sharing Thanksgiving an annual tradition, and after missing it last year I think we're finally going to make it official!