Christmas in Texas

I have been absent from the blog world for awhile. We spent a fun-filled two weeks in Texas to celebrate the Christmas holiday with lots of family, and this time we were able to see some friends, too. My friend Kirsten, who is expecting her first baby in February, came over to my parent's house with her husband one night, and the Sunday after Christmas, Jeff's parents hosted a get-together so some of our college friends could come over. It was a wonderful trip. The two weeks flew by, and we all came back exhausted, but as always, it was completely worth it. There are too many pictures to post, so here are some highlights. I tried to fit as much as possible...

Christmas at Mamaw's

Our first Saturday in town we went to Jeff's Mamaw's Christmas party. We had a nice time visiting with Jeff's family, including aunts, uncles and cousins from his dad's side, and of course, Mamaw. Colton was the life of the party with his smiles and giggles, and Tyler had a blast playing with Jeff's cousin's little girl, Kira. They checked out the aquarium together and played on the swing outside. Colton played well with little sister Kaidee.

Christmas at Granny's farm

Sunday we drove to Ivanhoe, Texas for a Christmas party at Jeff's granny's farm, with Jeff's mom's side of the family. Tyler couldn't get enough. He loved playing with Jeff's cousin's son Jayden and Jayden's sister Regan. Tyler got to sit on a tractor, motorcycle, and be hauled around in a wagon by his buddies.

The train display at Northpark

On Monday, Vickie (Jeff's mom) took us to Northpark mall to check out the train display. It was amazing. The picture here is small, but they had an exact replica of downtown Dallas, highways and all. We all loved seeing the trains.

Christmas at Nana & Papaw Walker's

Tuesday we celebrated Christmas with Jeff's family at his parents' house. Jeff and I were happy to meet our new sister-in-law, Angie, and her daughters, Savannah and Stormy. A highlight of the festivities was playing Wii, especially when Mamaw decided to try it out. She did really well and decided she would be able to go home and show her friends her new Wii skills!

Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Preiser's

Christmas eve we headed back over to my parents' house. My sister Cory and brother Kevin, along with his wife Christina and son Alex, had all arrived not long before we did. It was great to have the whole family together. My parents were particularly excited to have all the grandkids together at one time. It was a lot of fun!

Swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's - Colton's first swim

We always have fun swimming at my Mom & Dad's. Tyler has become such a little fish. He is really a good swimmer. He swims wherever he wants and is great at keeping his head above the water. Colton got to swim for the first time on our trip. He loves his baths, so I knew he'd love the pool, too. And of course he did. He kicked like crazy, just like Tyler did when he was that age, and he thought splashing was pretty fun, too!

The ice show

Our last day in town my mom took us to the ice show at the Gaylord Texan - Opryland convention center. It was incredible - everything on display was made of ice. We had fun with the ice slide. We weren't supposed to slide down with Tyler, so on his first run by himself, he got stuck halfway down and just sat there. I had to slide down behind him and push him down the rest of the way. It was literally freezing cold in there, but well worth seeing.

A nice day outside at Nana & Papaw's

Our last day at Jeff's parents' was a beautiful day. We took advantage of it and played outside pretty much all day. Tyler called their backyard "the park" while we were there, as in, "Can we go play at the park?" And we went for a great walk to Jeff's old elementary school and played a bit. Tyler also fed one of the across the street. It was a great day!

And some other fun times...