Christmas Memories

Do you still remember Christmas? I'm terribly behind on blog updates, so five months later I'm trying to remember what we did. I'm glad we got a few pictures to help us remember!

Christmas always begins shortly after we return home from Thanksgiving when we pick out our tree. This year was no different. Although, it was raining this time. Of course, that didn't slow us down! We still had fun hiking through the farm to find just the right tree.

Nana was the first visitor to arrive for the holidays. Needless to say, they were excited to see her and loved their gifts!

Grandmother and the Rodriguez family, minus Uncle Philip, were the next to arrive. Jackson and Audrey were so excited to spend some time with their cousins!

I love the next set of pictures from a visit to the park down the street because they show a little of everyone's personality. Audrey is our little monkey and loves to swing around whenever she gets the chance. Jackson is our little sweetheart and was picking flowers for his mom. Mitchell was determined to do things his way in his own time, and when he did, he conquered all!

The San Jose Tech Museum was on our list of adventures during their visit. They enjoyed building roller coasters, flying an astronaut jet pack, and experiencing earthquakes. They also got to enjoy the Christmas festival in the park, which included lots of fun rides! Audrey also squeezed in a little dress-up time while they were here.

Of course, we also enjoyed some down time around the house and exchanged a few gifts. There was a lot of imaginary play as well as board games. It was a lot of fun to watch Jackson and Mitchell playing chess.

Before we knew it, our first round of visitors were gone and Christmas was here! Our family had the privilege of lighting the advent candle at our church on Christmas Eve. We've been so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful community of believers in the middle of a very diverse area, so it was an honor to light the candle that evening.

Santa brought us all a few gifts that evening, and of course, we all got way more than we needed. The kids were fun to watch in their excitement!

Pop was our next visitor to arrive, and of course he came bearing more gifts.

The best gift we received from everyone was the time we got to spend with them. It's always a magical time, not because of the stuff, but because of the reminder of God's love...through His son and our family.

Christmas & New Years with Pop

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and I'm home sick while the rest of the family is having fun at our friends' house. I decided to make the most of the down time and finally finish my Christmas blogging!

My dad, also known as Pop around here, arrived the day before the Rodriguez/Taylor family went home. After they left, we exchanged gifts. There were lots of smiles and laughter as we enjoyed spoiling each other a little. Audrey LOVES stuffed animals, so you can see how excited she was to get this penguin Beenie Boo. I love how sweetly she was sharing it with Jackson too.

We spent the a lot of our time together just hanging out, playing games, and doing a little hiking nearby. It rained almost everyday over the break, so we were grateful to spend a little time outside!

On one of the rainy days we made our way into San Francisco to visit the Exploratorium. Everyone had fun playing and learning. I didn't get a picture of it, but one of the favorites was an exhibit that showed you what you would look like if you had a perfectly symmetrical face by flipping an image of half your face. Some people didn't look much different at all, and others looked really funny! We also made tornados, learned about engines, danced to some cool colored videos, and so much more.

For New Year's Eve, I threw together a last minute party for the kids. We hung balloons displaying the hourly countdown. We sped up the count down by starting at 6 PM and celebrating every half hour. At each "hour" the kids would pop a balloon and open a bag of clues, which eventually led to surprises and games. It was a fun way to pass the time, have some good conversations about everyone's values and perspectives on life, and to laugh and play the night away! We were disappointed to learn we couldn't watch the ball drop at midnight Eastern time, so we found an online countdown and put the kids to bed. The adults played more games and did a traditional cheers at midnight.

My dad also spent some time sketching with the kids while he was here, giving them tips, and inspiring them to try new things. After he left, I asked Jackson what his New Year's resolutions/goals might be for the year. He said he wanted to exercise more, practice being a good doctor, and become a good sketcher. I think Pop left an impression!

There are a few more pictures in the album.

Christmas with the Taylor/Rodriguez Family

We had the most wonderful Christmas season this year! We had family at our house for 3 weeks straight with a maximum of 10 people sleeping at our house at one point, which might sound overwhelming to some, but it was SO much fun and such a blessing in so many ways. Living in California with most of our family in Louisiana and Texas, but also spread from Connecticut to California, means it's harder to get together. Having so many people willing to travel to spend time with us was amazing!

The same day my mom left town, Susan, Leslie, Philip, Mitchell, and Taylor arrived! Baby Taylor was often the center of attention, providing lots of entertainment and smiles. He has the most infectious laugh, which the kids enjoyed getting him to do by playing peek-a-boo. They also discovered how much Taylor loves to listen to singing. Any time he would fuss, they would start singing him Christmas songs and lullabies, which quickly calmed him down. The kids were also entertained by playing with fun Star Wars apps on Uncle Philip's phone!

Their first full day here was mostly spent hanging out. However, Audrey had a gymnastics camp to attend, so Leslie and Philip took Mitchell and Jackson to see the new Star Wars movie. This was Jackson's second viewing of the movie...we went as a family for Ross' b-day while my mom was in town.

We spent most of Christmas Eve visiting, preparing food, decorating cookies, and playing. We got a few pics of the kids before we left for church. They did amazingly well in the service and loved lighting candles and singing "Silent Night." When we got home the kids all put on their matching Moosletoe pajamas, and Jackson led everyone in singing a few more Christmas carols.

After a few more group photos under the tree, the kids laid out their cookies for Santa. Jackson read everyone a book, and they snuggled into bed, anxiously waiting to see what Santa might bring!

Christmas morning came early and was over quick! Jackson and Audrey were both beyond excited to find their most wished for presents under the tree. They both asked for Bitty Babies because they both LOVE taking care of babies! Then the chaos of gift unwrapping began. Before we knew it, we were done and had piles of paper and presents everywhere! We took a short break for cinnamon rolls and our traditional egg casserole somewhere in the midst of the gift exchange.

It rained most days during their visit, so we were grateful for a break on Christmas day. We took advantage of it by driving to Woodside, CA for a hike. It felt great to be in the beautiful outdoors! Even Taylor wore himself out, and fell asleep in my arms by the end of the trek. After our hike, I drove Leslie, Philip, Mitchell, and Audrey along the "skyline" where we enjoyed some picturesque views of the Bay Area.

The next day we made our way to the Dell'Osso Family Farm for a little winter delight. We started the adventure with some snow tubing. It was a blast! We had tickets that let us go down the slides as many times as we wanted for 90 minutes. Mitchell wasn't much of a fan, but Jackson and Audrey didn't want to stop! They rode with us on double tubes, as well as by themselves in single tubes where they could spin in circles. Every ride ended with a huge grin and often some belly laughs.

While we were busy tubing, Mitchell and Leslie did some ice skating, which Mitchell loved! We all did a little snowball throwing, and the kids did some pillow jumping and roller coaster riding. I'd say it was a successful day!

My dad joined us that evening, and the Taylor/Rodriguez family headed home the next day. We were sad to see them go, but we enjoyed every moment they were here! There are several more pictures in the album!

Christmas with Nana

My mom came for an early visit for Christmas. She held down the fort while we took the kids to see the new Star Wars movie on Ross' birthday. It was awesome! We wrapped up the birthday celebration watching the Cowboys lose another game this season at a great new restaurant in the area. Despite the loss, I think Ross still had a good day.

We celebrated Christmas with Nana the next day. We exchanged gifts and visited Santa at a house down the street from us. There were lots of lights, hot chocolate, cookies, and presents, as well as laughter.

Her last day here we had a great time just hanging out and playing!

The Perfect Tree...for this year

There are quite a few tree farms near us in CA, so we took advantage of the opportunity and cut down our first Christmas tree as a family this year! It was fun to walk through the farm and find just the right tree for us...or so we thought. We found a tree with the perfect shape. We cut it down, took it home, and then remembered we have shorter ceilings than we remembered! After removing a little from the top and a little from the bottom, we had the perfect Dr. Seuss tree. I love it! We also got a smaller tree for the kids. It's a little bigger than we've gotten in the past, but they were still able to carry it, decorate it, and make our house a fun celebration of Christmas!

Christmas in CA!

Both my mom and Ross' mom came for a visit to celebrate Christmas. They were able to join us Friday for Jackson's school assembly where he was named "Citizen of the Month."

Then on Saturday we made our way to Martin Ranch Winery for a picnic and some wine tasting. It was a little overcast and wet due to all the rain we've had recently, but it was still a lot of fun! The wine was wonderful too!

After the picnic, we exchanged gifts with my mom and enjoyed a delicious, pre-Christmas meal of gumbo! The kids were SO excited about their gifts. Jackson is blurry in the picture below because he was jumping up and down with excitement over his message bear, which he'd been wanting so everyone can leave him messages...we're still working out the bugs, but let us know if you want to send him a message. He'd love it!

We all went to church and brunch on Sunday morning. Then we split up to enjoy some different activities. Ross and Susan went to a bowling alley to watch the Cowboys game, which they won, and my mom, the kids, and I made our way to San Francisco to visit the zoo and Union Square.

My mom left early Monday morning. I took the week off with the kids and Susan while Ross worked most of the week getting ready for the Consumer Electronics show in January! We spent the early part of the week wrapping presents, finishing shopping, baking cookies, and playing around.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the morning decorating cookies for Santa. They were good!

We had a delicious meal cooked by Chef Ross before heading to the Christmas Eve service. Jackson said our prayer before supper that evening, which included thanking God for making Santa so we could celebrate Jesus' birthday in such a fun way...so cute! The kids loved both the music and the message at church, and they went to bed faster than I've ever seen when we got home! They are at such a fun age to enjoy the Christmas season right now!

Jackson was the first one awake, and he waited patiently in our room for Audrey to wake up. Once she was up, it was a mad dash to their stockings!

We were all pretty spoiled this year. It was so fun to see the pure joy on the kids faces as they opened their gifts, screamed in excitement, and jumped up and down in celebration over things as simple as a new bath scrubber!

The picture above where it looks like Jackson is choking Audrey is actually him hugging her for the gift she chose for him...a flying Iron Man! After the chaos settled out, Jackson and Ross both got to play with their new remote controlled toys (Ross got a car that drives and flies). We were impressed with how well Jackson did with it!

Audrey was most excited about her makeup set, which she quickly started using. I love that her first application included blue blush...after all, blue is her favorite color right now!

As the day progressed, some of the more complicated toys were opened. Jackson LOVES Snap Circuits, and he got two new sets for Christmas (lights and a rover). He put the rover together and had lots of fun recording and delivering messages on it, as well as shooting discs at Audrey!

Audrey put together one of her Goldie Blox sets, which was really cool to see! It teaches engineering principles in a way that engages young girls really well. She was so proud of her work!

At the end of the day, the kids were wearing their head-lamps from Grandmother and measuring things with Jackson's new measuring tape, which broke fairly quickly and provided entertainment for the adults and kids as we took it apart and fixed it. The adults ended the day playing games and laughing at ourselves. It was a wonderful Christmas!

If you didn't get enough, there are more pictures in the album!

Christmas Wrap Up and New Years 2014

Just after Christmas, Ross and I made our way to Atlanta to attend an engagement party for my cousin, Meg, and her fiancé, Matt. My dad kept the kids here in Houston so we could enjoy some time with my mom's side of the family. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all there! I'm not sure when the last time that happened was. We really enjoyed getting to catch up with everyone a little, and it was so special to be there to celebrate with Meg, Matt, his family, and their friends! It was a quick trip, but an even quicker turn around when we got home.

We walked in the door, thanked my dad for his help, grabbed our second set of bags since they were packed before we left, and hit the road again in about an hour. We headed to Leakey, TX just in time to wrap up Christmas with Ross' family and celebrate the New Year!

Everyone was excited to exchange gifts again, but the kids (big and small) were also excited to get to take a swing at a Santa piñata this year.

There was a bit of drama surrounding New Years this year. Leslie and Philip are hoping to adopt another baby soon, and we were all teased by the possibility of a baby girl coming home with them on New Years Day. Unfortunately, this was a sad case of a family trying to play the system. We're all continuing to trust God's plans for the families they encounter, as well as for Leslie, Philip, and Mitchell.

Because of this drama, Ross and I rang in the New Year playing games and watching the various celebrations on TV by ourselves at Leslie and Philip's house with Jackson, Audrey, and Mitchell sound asleep in their beds. The next morning we took the kiddos for a ride on the ranch, which they LOVED! There were lots of requests to go faster, and we decided to let Bailey chase us for a little while to get some exercise. I don't think the kids knew she could run so fast!

Leslie and Philip returned home, we said our goodbyes, and we headed home to Houston where I got to have a couple of days at home before the next trip!

Christmas Fun

Christmas Eve started with cookie decorating. Jackson was more interested in making each cookie look like what it is supposed to be this year, and Audrey was interested in making sure every spot of icing was completely covered in sprinkles. They each picked out a couple they wanted to eat, as well as a couple for Santa. They also wanted to make sure they gave one to Mrs. Claus in case she was in the sleigh too. They each wrote a note so Santa would know which ones were for Mrs. Claus. (I didn't manage to get a pic of the cookies they made, so this one is courtesy of my dad.)

We went to the early church service at 2 PM where we enjoyed worshiping and hearing a great Christmas message. The kids did really well throughout the service. The church handed out little coloring packets, which were perfect to keep them entertained during the message (they are normally in a kids service on Sundays). They loved the candlelight and singing of Silent Night at the end of the service. The hot chocolate and cookies after church were a hit as well.

My Dad and the Newman family joined us for dinner that evening. We had Ross' delicious chicken and sausage gumbo with a variety of desserts. The kids had fun running off the sugar while the adults chatted, and I got in a little snuggle time with baby Caleb. When the Newmans left, Jackson and Audrey were excited to put on their pajamas and get to bed so Santa could come and they could exchange gifts!

Santa brought each of them just what they wanted...a marble run and an American Girl doll. He also ate all of his cookies and delivered Mrs. Claus' cookies as requested. However, he did leave the eyes of one of the cookies for them to have one last taste.

Everyone was excited the next morning. We awoke to hear the kids discovering their toys from Santa in the living room. We quickly jumped out of bed so we could enjoy seeing the excitement on their faces. Unfortunately, I wasn't awake enough to operate the camera well at 5:30 AM, so the initial pics of Jackson didn't come out. The one below is from his first run of the marbles though! The kids enjoyed helping all of us go through our stockings too.

We spent the next several hours opening gifts and eating breakfast. Unfortunately, not long before we finished, I realized I had a stomach bug. After the last gift was opened and the real playing began, I crawled back into bed and didn't emerge again until late in the evening. I still enjoyed hearing the sounds of laughter and fun throughout the house though. Ross and my Dad played with them all day! My heart was filled with joy just knowing how much fun they were all having (a little disappointed not to be able to join in, but mostly joyful).

I managed to squeeze in a game with Ross and my dad while I watched a movie on the couch that night, which helped me feel like I was part of the fun. Fortunately, I woke up feeling almost normal the next day. Unfortunately, my dad caught the bug and spent the entire day after Christmas in bed...not the best gift I've ever given! He recovered by the next morning as well though, and so far...no one else has gotten it!

Christmas isn't quite over for our family yet. We're gearing up for the final round of gift exchanges with Ross' family in Leakey. However, my favorite moments from Christmas this year have been hearing Jackson and Audrey describe the true meaning of Christmas and seeing the delight they get from giving gifts to those they love. They are such sweet, amazing kids (most of the time)!

Christmas with Nana

Nana came to visit the weekend before Christmas to spoil the kids. They loved it! We now have a safari bug hunter and a singer/doctor in the family!

O Christmas Tree

After everyone headed home from Thanksgiving, we headed to our favorite tree lot to pick out our Christmas trees! We got a big one for the living room, which was decorated the way Elizabeth wanted it, as well as a little one for the kids to decorate and put in the entry way. Jackson and Audrey hung all of their old and new handmade ornaments on their tree, as well as some of my old ornaments from when I was a kid. They loved it!

Christmas 2012

Christmas day was relaxing and fun. Believe it or not, our kids slept in! We woke up a little after 7 to see what Santa brought everyone and to start giving each other the huge pile of gifts that were under the tree.

The littlest girls were spoiled with new jewelry and treats!

After a little while, we took a break for some breakfast and to try out their new strawz! The top picture was from a little later in the day when the strawz were joined together and colored water was added to the mix!

It wasn't long before they got back to business though. They loved everything they got and were so much fun to watch! Occasionally,we'd have to put something together before we could go any further!

Technology has officially entered their lives since they both now have their own kid tablets and head phones. I think we'll see more of this in years to come...

We literally played all day! We stopped from time to time to snack on the yummy breakfast foods or leftovers from the previous days of delicious food.

One of the highlights of my day was going for a walk with the kiddos. Ross and Audrey headed back early, and Jackson and I kept going. Jackson decided he needed a little break though, so we stopped on a bench and chatted for a little while. I did a little check to see if he still remembered what we were celebrating, and while I shouldn't be surprised by how incredibly smart and in-tune he is, I always am. Not only did he say we were celebrating Jesus' birthday, he also went into the details of why Jesus was born and the ultimate sacrifice he made for each of us so we could be forgiven and live with God forever...so amazing!

As usual, there are more pictures from the day in the album! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We spent most of the morning cooking and playing with Grandmother and Pop on Christmas Eve. Then our friends, the Fulliloves, joined us in the afternoon for some snacks before heading to the 4 o'clock service at our church, Gateway Community Church.

Our church has photographers set up in the life center where you can have family pictures taken and enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies before or after the service, which we did!

The service was really nice, but also a little tough for us since it was a strong reminder of how much we all miss John, Ross' dad. The music and message helped keep our focus on the real reason for the season though! Here's a picture of the stickers the kids got to play with courtesy of the church during the message. I think it's pretty amazing to see the difference between the two since they are right at 21 months apart in age.

When we got home, the kids exchanged presents, did a craft, and played while we finished cooking dinner. New matching Christmas PJs from the Fulliloves were huge hit for all the kids!

Before dinner started Emma shared one of her family traditions with us, which was opening Christmas crackers, which contained a paper crown to wear through dinner and a small toy. Not everyone wore their crowns the whole time, but a few of us did!

Dinner was delicious, but the kids were more interested in playing. Then Ross showed them how close Santa was to our houses thanks to the Norad tracker, and they were all eager to go to bed! We took a few last pictures and saw our guests out the door before the kiddos crashed hard.

The adults then had a little fun prepping for Christmas day! There are more pictures in the album

Christmas Weekend

The weekend before Christmas we had most of our family at our house. Our brother-in-law, Philip, was the only exception, so we had a full house! We had an early Christmas gift exchange on Saturday morning with Leslie, Mitchell, and Nana since they wouldn't be here on Christmas day.

Then we decorated some sugar cookies for Santa! There was a little finger licking going on in the process, and I'm guessing almost as many sprinkles were eaten as were put on the cookies.

After lunch and naps, we made our way to Hermann Memorial Park for a picnic! The weather was great for outdoor activities, and the kids loved waving to the train and passengers as it went past while we ate our dinner. After the sun set, we made our way into the zoo for Zoo Lights!

The kiddos loved seeing the lights and a few of the animals! The lions and giraffes were walking around getting ready for bed. Some of the lights were in shapes of animals or were projected onto animals, and some of the lights were set to music, which the kids thought was really cool. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of joy!

There are more pictures in the album