Christmas in Texas

The week after Christmas, Big Sis, M, D, and I travelled to Texas to celebrate Christmas again! D said something about it being such an action-packed trip, that it would be difficult to capture a grand narrative to blog about, and that a highlight reel might be more appropriate; D says strange things. We also celebrated my birthday down in TX, but that will have to wait for another post.

These are the excellent kid-sized camping chairs that Aunt B and Uncle J2 got for us. There was so much other fun stuff under Nana and popi's tree and the one at Great-Grandmommy's and Granddaddy's house.





Big Sister loved making and hanging pipe cleaner decorations.



We took full advantage of the Nana, Popi, and Uncle J1's hospitality: Bouncing on inflatable beds, bubble-bathing, and enjoying the dogs.







I love dogs! I spent a lot of my time wandering from window to window checking in on Caramel and Bella. Here, Popi and I have tracked the elusive Caramel to this window.



And Bella was nice enough to come inside and clean up my messes after meals!



We got to play Tinker Toys and ping-pong with Great-Granddaddy and lots of cousins, and Nana showed us old family pictures.









We saw the sights around town, such as this gingerbread replica of Nana's hospital.



If you are ever in Wichita Falls, don't forget to check out the world's smallest skyscraper.



There is a lovely deli nearby with fantastic spinning chairs. If you know some baby-signs, then you know I am saying "More, more!" to the spinning!



And this lovely butterfly preserve.



What a good looking crew! (Sorry we didn't get a picture like this while Aunt B and Uncle J2 were still in town!)



Great-Granddaddy made this awesome rocking horse when Uncle J1 was a little kid. It still works great!

(Check out Aunt B's illuminated right shin.)



And with the craftsman himself on the right.



And to cap it all off, I got to meet my Great-Great-Grandmother.



Whoop!

Winter Wonderland

We drove up to Mt. Hood the day after Christmas. At home it was balmy, but up on the mountain the snow was perfect. We helped Dad pump up the inner tubes and pack for our trip.



This look says: "I hope this is a good idea"



This one says: "Don't worry, it'll be great!"



Everyone was jealous of J's sweet ride. She was a little dubious.



Of course, she'd rather walk; little puff ball, it's hard to imagine how she does it.



We headed for higher ground.



It was a winter-wonderland.









And though some people were heard wailing "I never want to come to this mountain again!" as they were pulled, splayed out on an inner tube, to the car, we did return this past weekend.



We found toddler-sized snow caves.



We built snow forts and snow folks.





Little Sister was insistent that this was in fact a cat...so we added ears. She was pleased. "Mow mow. Mow mow!" quoth she.

Christmas at Home

Here we are on Christmas Eve...before the Candlelight Service. We had fun.



Then we went to see Christmas lights near our Church.



After a midnight-ish snack of pesto noodles we turned in and woke up to the twinkling magic of Christmas morning. We both got new wheels.



Trying out J's new quilt. It keeps her cozy in her bed at night. She digs it.



We hope the noodle-making tradition sticks. It's so yummy!



The day after Christmas we went sledding. Talk about some excellent fun!