Grandmom and Grandad stopped by one weekend to hang out and deliver early Christmas presents.
These worked out nicely on our long drive to Texas.
The other surprise was a slightly bigger one.
A four wheeler had been on Shannon's Christmas list for the previous two years. This one was for all of them, as they got old enough to ride it, but in his mind it's all his.
I commented on how cute it was, and he rolled his eyes and said, "Mom. It says 'Predator' on it."
We had a Strong Rock staff Christmas party, which I neglected to take pictures of, and also a Sunday School class party. That one was a tacky sweater party, so it's really a shame I didn't have pictures of it, just for blackmail purposes if nothing else. James and I wore red footie pajamas with the back door in them, and Santa hats.
On December 21st, after a late night of squishing every crevice of the car full of stuff, we headed out at 4 AM for Texas. It was a nice trip, full of quiet from the back due to personal DVD players. Ah, what an invention!
Mimi and Papa live in a box. It was a little tight, but we managed.
The day after arrival was still pleasantly warm, so we headed to a local park. Elizabeth contracted the "blue raspberry sucker tongue" illness.
This thing will make you dizzy. It spins round and round until the old person on board is ready to throw up. Fun!
James and Shannon brought their bikes.
What? More candy? You'd think we were visiting grandparents right before Christmas, or something.
Then this crazy lady at the park tried to attack the photographer.
There she is again.
That afternoon more family started arriving. Mimi had arranged a surprise for the kids. At the Gaylord Hotel in Dallas there is an ice sculpture tour you can take. This year the theme was Madagascar. A few years ago we all toured the giant gingerbread houses they had there.
Here's the gang we got to hang out with for the week.
Jared and Voa.
Parkas are part of the tour. It's REALLY cold. There's also an ice slide, which was a hit with the small people.
Icy Joseph, Icy Mary, and Icy Baby Jesus.
We had a lot of fun with Voa. What a different Christmas it was with her than two years ago at the hospital. She's such a sweet kid. I think we heard her cry a total of one time the entire week.
The kids are also lucky in that their Aunt Jeni works at the Childrens' Museum in Austin. She does a lot of neat things, including summer day camps and classes about robots. Lego has a series called Mindstorms that allow you to build a robot and program it to do things. She brought some with her, and they pretty much filled up her car. It was fun to see her do her thing as an instructor. Turns out she's really good at it.
This was right up Shannon's alley.
Parts that will become a robot.
This one was a little on the young side to participate. Aunt Jeni is very patient.
At some point during the fun James and Jason left for a bike ride.
Showing them how to program their robots.
Daddy couldn't be left out of the fun. Once he got back from his ride he built one too.
Watching robot construction is exhausting.
They look like little Wal E's when they're finished.
We went to a Christmas Eve service at Mimi and Papa's church. James and his dad sang a duet.
Voa accompanied them.
Family pictures in front of the trees. It's tradition.
Jason and Jenn, newly married!
Christmas morning!!
Looks like Santa put Beyblades in the grown ups' stockings.
Time to battle!
Amelia gave Mimi and Papa a piece of pottery she made.
Voa got a tutu, which she wore all morning.
James' favorite gift was a My Little Pony. Don't let the look on his face make you think otherwise.
Aunt Jeni is creative in every way, right down to the wrapping paper!
She made these masks for the kids.
Super parents!
As evidenced from these photos, which I'm sure Jenn will be happy to see on here, she fits right in with this bunch!
Rebecca got some new p.j.'s.
It's illegal to let Christmas go by without sticking bows on the heads of babies and small children.
Amelia kept trying to open presents without seeing what they were until all the wrapping was off.
And then it started snowing, quite rare for this part of Texas.
After we opened everything, which pretty much took until after lumch time, James suited up to brave the elements. I ran nearly every day we were there too. I expected running in Texas to be flatter, hence easier. Nope, not flat at all!
This is the first white (sort of) Christmas I can remember. We had one two years ago in Georgia but we were in Texas that year, where it was not white.
Look at all of Aunt Jeni's creations. She had something cool for everyone. I got the leaf table runner, which I love.
Everybody wants to be a hero.
There was much sitting around and also wrestling. Uncle Jason takes Jujitsu, so holding down an eight year old wasn't too difficult.
There are times I wonder if we are raising kids or puppies. They tangle on the floor daily.
We ate a mid-afternoon lunch/supper. Yum!
The day after Christmas we headed to the church's new building, which is an awesome space where they do a contemporary worship service and where the youth meet. We hung out there for the afternoon, joined by Aunt Denise and Uncle Simeon. It gave everyone room to stretch out and lounge around.
Amelia grew nails from her stocking.
It's quite weird to see a nail biter with nails.
There is foosball at the church, which I recently heard refered to a combination of soccer and shish kabobs.
Look, here we are eating again!
Honk.
There was lots of room for the Mindstorms to run.
Mimi wanted a family photo shoot, so we worked on organizing ourselves. Still not easily done with small people, but way easier than it used to be. I find that a lot of things are getting easier.
Parents and siblings.
All of us.
Grandparents and Grands.
Jared, Laura, and Voa.
Sure I'll stand here for one by myself!
James, get over hurr now. Right hurr. Now.
Some discussion concerning the sibling shot.
There it is.
Eww.
Aunt Denise and Mimi.
Reality.
Reality again.
Jason and Jenn.
The following morning Jason and Jenn had to jet back to Georgia. (Oooh, nice alliteration. I love words.) Jared and Laura and Jeni stuck around another day, and the guys went to Cabelas and the girls hit Sam Moon, which is a fun accessory store. We all met for lunch near Grandma Himstedt's place. She and Harvey joined us. Did I have a camera? Of course not. They live in a center for seniors, which looks like a ritzy hotel. It's super nice and is like living at a resort. Meals are in the dining room, unless you prefer to cook your own. Someone will wash your sheets and make your bed, and there's something social going on every hour of the day. It would be a fun way to live out your years.
We had to say goodbye the next day. We thoroughly enjoyed Christmas with the family. It's relaxing to hang out and play games, watch movies, and enjoy each others' company. We will all get together again at Thanksgiving at our place. (Which now is only two months away!)
The vacation fun didn't end entirely for us then. When we got in the car we headed north instead of east. We went to Missouri to spend time with some of my family at a hunting lodge. I can't find those pictures right now, so I'll hunt them down and post them as soon as I do. All in all is was a really fun almost two weeks. Back to reality is difficult!
For now, we'll call this the end of a post. The kids and I head back to Cleveland this afternoon. I hope to get in at least one more blog entry before we plunge into the whirlwind of the school year. We shall see! The oldest three will be playing soccer this season as well, so that will be new.
Shannon and I rode bikes yesterday and went around the neighborhood that's next door to mom and dad's. It's full of attractive homes and perfect landscaping. Shannon said, "This is a really nice neighborhood. The houses have seasonal wreaths." I plan to purchase some seasonal wreaths asap so my children will know they grew up privileged.
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