Christmas and OKC

We had a great Christmas at home: the kids woke us up at 6:30 (standard Kiddo wake up time), we did stockings, had breakfast (Christmas waffles!) and then enjoyed the rest of the spoils.  Highlights included legos, marble tracks, and a half pound Reese's peanut butter cup.

After recovering from a morning of gift opening, we drove up to OKC to spend a few days with Brandon's brother, Brian, and his family.

Of course, the kids loved playing with their cousins!  We were also able to go to the children's museum in Seminole and even had a double date with Brian and Em (and the best Indian food we've had since moving away from DC) before it was time to come back to TX.  We had a great time!

Santa's Wonderland

I know places like Santa's Wonderland exist elsewhere--Christmas lights, hay rides, food, etc.--but this one definitely had a Texas flare.  Sausage on a stick, armadillos, the Alamo, and a giant crucifix at the end...this place pretty much had it all.

Christmas Piano Recital

Kiddo had his very first piano recital!  He announced his two songs, sat down and played them from memory like it was no big deal at all.  He didn't miss a note.  I am so proud of him for working so hard, overcoming his nerves and playing his pieces!  The video won't upload to the blog, but here's a pic of Kiddo with all of the other students at the recital.

Christmas Ballet Recital

I can't help but gush a little here--isn't BG ridiculously cute?  Her class did a dance to "Frosty the Snowman" (the video won't download on the blog, which is really too bad for you guys because--not to be redundant here but--it was ridiculously cute).  Just imagine BG's beaming face (she spotted me in the crowd right away and was a little distracted), with lots of little jumps and occasional toe pointing.  Seriously, guys.  It was cute.

The End of Soccer Season

Kiddo had a great time playing soccer this season!  I think the games were his favorite part of every weekend.  He had good friends on the team, ran non-stop whenever he was on the field, and even made some goals.  He had a fantastic time!

Thanksgiving: the trip home

Since we bought a boat minivan while we were in UT, we had to drive the thing back to Houston.  So we decided to have some fun with it and make a few stops along the way.  First stop?  Arches National Park.  It was fantastic!

Next we stopped in Albuquerque to see our good friends from back in our law school days.  It was so great to catch up and see how big their kids have grown.  We're already planning a possible love connection in about 20 years....

The rest of the trip was pretty much just driving as much as possible until we got home.  However, we did make a quick stop at the gas station/restaurant/car museum (to use the bathroom and look at the cars), as well as the random gas station/country store (it only took one fried hand pie billboard to convince me that it was totally worth waking up BG to make the stop).  But at last, we made it back to Houston.  (And, ok I'll admit, the minivan made the driving more bearable.)

So we bought a boat

With Baby #3 coming soon (seriously soon!), we decided to take the plunge and buy a vehicle of ridiculous size.  We found a minivan in UT so we could drive it back to Houston during our Thanksgiving vacation.  And faster than you can say "why is this thing so large?" we became van owners!
Or, as I like to call it, a boat.

Thanksgiving vacation

We went to UT for the week of Thanksgiving to have some quality family time before Baby #3 comes.  It was a crazy shaky flight there, but it was so great to see everyone!

Our first stop was to see great-grandpa.  Kiddo has only met him a few times, and BG only once when she was a baby (this is what happens when we only go to UT once a year), so we were overdue for a visit.  Grandpa and BG pretty much hit it off right away.  It was pretty cute to see the two of them interact together.

The rest of the trip was spent playing with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins at the BYU MOA...

...the Bean Museum (twice!)...

... the Museum of Natural Curiosity...

... and just hanging out together.

The week went by way too fast and we were all so sad to have to say good-bye.