SEA WORLD!!!! My parents' big gift to us was a trip to nearby Sea World! It was amazing. The kids loved it and did well all day even with no naps.
Luke was so hilarious with these ducks. He loved them! And he's been doing this crazy super-cheesy grin lately and it makes me laugh every time.
Watching the Shamu show with my parents.
Rachel and my sister.
The great Shamu!
With an otter???
Emma got to sleep by the Christmas tree with her Aunt Ali. She was so stoked! Apparently they took turns telling stories about school, friends, injuries, and getting in trouble. What a great bonding night!
Christmas Eve consisted of decorating cookies, a big dinner of grilled steaks, caroling, acting out the Nativity, and opening one present (new pj's, of course!).
Mary and Joseph. It was so nice to see my darling little nephew, Paul. His dad (my brother) and mom just moved to Texas.
Christmas morning!
Reading his new fire truck book with Papa
The girls' big gift from my parents was American Girl dolls! Emma got Felicity and Rachel got Kit. They are so cute. The dolls are very much loved and sleep with their proud owners every night.
Our only family picture the whole trip. I'm glad my aunt suggested taking it!
Cameron dusted off his trombone from high school band and entertained the kids with it one morning. Luke especially loved it.
We love Krispy Kreme! We headed out with kids still in jammies to eat some delicious fattening HOT doughnuts! So good.
The weather wasn't especially warm too often, but it was mild enough most days that you could be outside with a jacket. We went to the nearby park several times to play.
One of my favorite nights was our trip to downtown San Antonio. We looked at the Alamo and all the downtown holiday decorations, including walking the Riverwalk. It was such a fun, festive atmosphere with all the lights, the water, the people, and the live music.
Granby and Luke enjoying some ice cream after dinner.
My GREAT family. It's been almost two years since we've all been together.
The four grandkids. In five more months there will be two more!
Gorgeous downtown tree
New Year's Eve was so much fun with the kids. We put Luke to bed and the girls got to stay up and play games with the big people. We played the flour game--has anyone ever played this? You hide a nickel in a pile of flour and take turns slicing the flour carefully. Whoever collapses the pile gets to search (with no hands!!!) for the nickel and get it with their teeth. Very funny and messy!
And we did some dancing!
The night ended with some fireworks and pot-banging outside, then tucking in the girls and watching Dan in Real Life--love that show!
It was so great to spend the holidays with my family! I hope it's not too long before we can do it again. I love going "home" so much. I still call it home even though I've had a home of my own for a long time (which I love too). There's just a wonderful spirit there (thanks in huge part to my sweet wonderful mom) and it's always hard to leave. It makes me want to make my own home as wonderful as the one I came from.
