Christmas in Two Towns, a Snow Storm & an Engagement

So we split Christmas in two this year...kinda like every year, but this year was extra special.

Here are some pictures for you guys to enjoy.

This is in Nana's and Papa's bathroom.

Andrew found some hiding spots and his cousin Chance was playing hide and seek too.

Gary and Jimmy grew weary of sitting in front of the TV so they decided to spend the afternoon outdoor chopping some wood. That's Jimmy's wood splitter. Of course, everyone else wanted to see what they were up to, got their coats and shoes on, and heading outside.

I like to sit and watch like Nana does. =)

Andrew was taking a ride in their old school John Deere tricycle and wagon. Chance and Bryce were collecting bark from the wood that was split to build a bonfire.

The boy's Papa built them some stools with his chainsaw...pretty talented!

And then Damien tried to show off...with the old school method.

This wasn't at Christmas time, but I thought this was neat.

One morning when Nana had all 3 boys, she made them pancakes with their initials.

Andrew, Bryce, and Chance. =)

Ok, so come Christmas Eve, we wake up and it's snowing!!! In this area of Texas, ever since I've lived here, I've never had a white Christmas. So I was super excited, but it seemed that I was the only one since no one was awake at like 9 in the morning. At Moomie's house, the kids get up WAY TOO early and want to get right down to business of opening presents but I liked the Witty Christmas since we kinda savored the morning a little more.

So the boys discover there's stuff under the tree and begin tearin' it up! Damien and Joanna gave this awesome Longhorn t-shirt to Andrew. Gotta sport that hideous orange with a cow for a mascot even though we're from Ag-town!

Old School Fisher Price farm from Nana...

and an I Spy book too.

Opening more presents!

Awesome picture by the fireplace with the boys and their hand-made stockings!

So after the Christmas party at Nana & Papa's, we venture into the snow to get to my parents house. We are supposed to be having a "mexican" Christmas this year with gifts being opened at midnight. But weather conditions get in our way.

So much for a White Christmas and A Christmas to Remember!

Carl gets stuck in our lane and Billy has to park across the highway in the neighbors land...no one can get into and out of the lane for 3 days. Caren shows up on Christmas day around 1:30 or 2pm and we FINALLY get to have Christmas! Thank goodness she made it okay!

I love this fake happy smile on Gary's face.

It's tradition at Moomie's to have your picture taken when emptying your stocking full of goodies.

This year we all got Lollipop soaps in our stockings, Andrew wanted to eat them SO bad!!!

Uncle Carl gave this awesome dragon to Andrew. He says he wanted a dragon because Gary plays Castle Age on facebook...Andrew loved it regardless!

Opening or sitting on presents, either one is fun!

It's about time I updated my make-up cabinet---thanks Cari!

And Gary's been wanting the Indiana Jones trilogy+1 for forever! So he's happy.

Clean, big room before presents and some pretty ladies...

Messy room after Christmas and happy baby...

So my cousin Natalie, (far left) got engaged on Christmas Day. It was so nice to have everyone there and actually get to see the excitement on her face.

Andrew is sharing paletas (lollipops) with his tia Caren.

We had big news to deliver this holiday, some family members knew about our new little peanut inside my uterus, but many were happy to know that we would be expecting a new baby in July 2010. We had our first prenatal visit with my aunt/midwife on the Mon after Christmas.

Overall, this was the best Christmas I've ever had, in my opinion. I liked waiting on Caren and the Bates' boys to have Christmas. I think Christmas day always goes by on a whim mainly because the highlight is getting to open presents first thing in the morning.

I also think that having a kid and having them receive the gifts is much more rewarding than ever receiving anything for yourself. I still enjoy receiving things, don't get me wrong. :)

But aside from gifts, the events that happened made this Christmas much more enjoyable.

This was absolutely a Christmas to remember.

A little vacation....with family

So since the holidays are here, and my husband works for a state school, we get 2 weeks of vacation!!! We visit our family, eat good food and have a good time. Surprisingly, most of it is enjoyable!

The first weekend in a while that Aunt Caren had a weekend off, so we decided to go see her in Arlington...

This is Caren and Andrew taking a break on the Sears Home Department floor

In Earthbound, checking out the crabs. Andrew didn't want anything to do with them.

Lookin' good at an Arlington park.

This was another park that had a pond on it.

Such good pictures!

Forgive this picture, for it is not photoshopped when it needs to be! HA!

Up in the Tower of the America's in San Antonio with Gary's side of the family.

The one thing that Andrew never gets tired of, is pointing and going "ooooohhh...."

Great Aunt Natalie and Andrew

Going into a 4D mini-movie of the awesomeness of Texas.

Aren't we a good looking pair? A dorky but good looking pair...

FYI, I love this state!

Trying out the big guns at the Buckhorn Saloon in San Antonio.

We ate lunch here before heading out the Disney's Lion King play at the theatre. I wish I would have taken a picture of the place...I can't believe I didn't. There was not a single spot on the walls that wasn't covered with a type of wildlife head. Deer, caribou, cows, elk, you name it; even a polar bear stood up high in its once-alive defensive stance!!! Burgers were nothing to be excited about, but that place was sure something to check out!

At the bowling alley in Waco with the Bates and the Wittys.

We played husband/wife teams. Damien (bro-in-law) had a great idea--whose ever team lost, they'd pay for dinner. Guess who lost? The Bates did...the Bates did. =)

Andrew loves his uncle Damien, he's always beating him up ;)

Elita (Nana) and the Bates boys played on a separate lane with gutter rails...they kicked our butts!

Here's Nana letting Andrew roll on her turn.

This little dude climbs on EVERYTHING!!!

Merry Christmas y Feliz Navidad!

Hope you all have a wonderful time with family and have an good New Years!

Mischievous behavior and Snow!!!

So I thought about all the pictures that I've been taking but not uploading and I figured I better get to it...

Well, since Andrew has been growing, he's become more mischievous...for instance, climbing up on his table! (But it can only be blamed on his parents first for letting him, second because his mischievous genes are hereditary)

More of his mischievous behavior in my kitchen. He loves to open those cabinet doors and pull out things that most intrigue him. Apparently he found something in the back that caught his fancy and decided to crawl in...

I know this looks bad, but every time I get on the stove, he whines and whines until I pull up a chair so that he can see what's going on and then proceeds to take the spoon away from me. He knows it's hot and tries to blow the steam away. Here we were making Chicken & Dumplin' soup for lunch for Gary.

There's a park nearby our house, several "cuadras" (blocks) away, so we decided to walk to it and spend some time outdoors. The day was perfect and there was nobody at the park which is always nice. Sometimes there's rowdy kids and Andrew just pays attention to what they're doing...never takes his eyes off them.

I love how Andrew now likes to wear his shades, I always say "how cool do you look?" and make a big deal about how good he looks...he's hilarious because he pushes his shades back if they're falling off his face and it seems like he thinks he's it!!! He's a pro at lookin' good.

There's these plastic rocks to get up into the 'jungle gym' but this isn't the first time he's climbed them.

He is so good at picking up his leg and climbing it amazes me how kids instinctively know how they're supposed to do that to get to the top.

He had a little trouble climbing this time around, so Gary pushed his hiney up. It cracks me up!

I think I posted this on facebook, but this is such a good shot of his funny faces when he whines.

...and of course, when he can't get his way this is what he does: he cries until something else distracts him, and completely goes back to normal. Gary's side of the family claims he's a 'faker' but real crocodile tears come out if only for a few seconds - haha!

This is another funny face, but this time he's grinning and laughing...he's mouth is full of teeth now (which I think they are too big for him and I know his huge head with grow into them) and he just clinches his jaw and props back his head...as his mother, I think I have a right to think that my kid is the cutest being on earth!

He just learned this trick a couple of days ago, Moomie bought this for him before he was born and lately, he's been using the heck out of it. So now he's learned a few tricks on it...

He's a stunt man.

The 2nd of Dec was officially the first snow here in Abilene. We got up at 7am with Gary to look at the snow but no way we were going to get out in it...so we went back to bed and by the time we got up (9:30am) the snow was already half melted!!! Crap!

But that didn't stop me from bundling Andrew up real nice and warm and getting the camera out for his first snow pictures.

He initially didn't know what to think of going outside. It was so cold, 30 something degrees, and there was water dripping from the roof. The entire ground was wet too.

He's always pointing his little finger and going "OHH" but he never took a step...I think he was assessing the situation - Ha ha!

He didn't know what the heck the gloves were for...he kept opening and closing his fists trying to figure out what they were I guess.

I threw a snowball at him, but he just looked at me like I was an idiot...

...and just watched it fall to the ground.

I took off one of his gloves since he wasn't touching the snow with his gloves, the snow kept sticking to the glove and he kept flicking it off...I love his face in this shot.

"Heck NO Mom!"

"Ooooh"

I made him pose in our neighbor's back yard since it was the only snow on the ground. Ha!

Again, he didn't move at all...

Maybe next time it snows more and we get up earlier, we'll have more fun. :) Maybe.