To Texas We Go!

We drove to Texas this year for the Christmas holiday. Nick and I celebrated Christmas here with the kids on the 18th. I wrote a letter to Santa asking him to visit Naida here a little early since we had to drive to Texas for the real deal. He graciously replied and said 'No problem'. The kids had a great Christmas and spent the day playing with new toys. Then we fed them dinner, got them in and out of the bath, jumped into jammies and were out the door. We thought driving through the night would be the best idea and hoped the kids would sleep for 12 of the 16 hour trip. I can't say I'd ever do it any other way. Nick and I were exhausted for a day on each end of the trip, but the kids really did sleep for about 12 hours each way! Oh, I can't forget to mention that our dog, Rocksy, was given the floorboard under Sabine to lay down during the trip and she followed her sister's leads and was a perfect little angel (I think she also knew the fun she was up for in Texas...and then was so exhausted on the trip home that she hardly moved during the ride!).

I'm quite sure that Naida thinks the two places in the world : where she lives now in Illinois and Texas. Just about every guest we have that comes to visit is 'from Texas'. To her, all planes only go to and from Texas and all family is in Texas. So now, she has a better idea of how far away Texas really is. Before the trip, she and I talked a lot about the drive. I told her we would drive and drive and drive and eat and drive and drive and sleep and drive and drive and drive and drive and then we would say "Here we are Grandpa and Mimi!" when we finally reached good old Coppell, Texas. She was amazing in the car and after each gas fill up, she'd say, "Here we go, we need to keep driving and driving and driving before we get to Texas1". When we crossed the Red River from Oklahoma to Texas, Nick and I couldn't help but get really excited and start talking about everything from there south. This caused excitement in the now wide awake kids and so I spent the remaining hour and a half sandwiched between the car seats in the back entertaining both kids.

Grandpa (Nick's Dad) and Mimi (Nick's Stepmom) both took the week off of work so we spent lots of time together. Naida has been really into musical instruments lately, so she was quite attracted to the beautiful piano at Grandpa and Mimi's house.


The weather was around 70 degrees the first few days we were there, so we spent some time at Kid Country...a large, wooden playground in the town that Nick and I helped build in Middle School.






Always the helper, Naida thought Grandpa and Mimi's side yard needed a little raking. This called for a snack and drink soon after of course.



It seems as if Sabine wasn't around for any of this fun, but she was there, usually strapped to my front in the Snugli, enjoying every moment. When not attached, we could usually find her hanging out in the garage with Grandpa...


...and if she wasn't there, odds were Aunt Nichole had her in tow and Sabine was so content. This was Nichole's first visit with Sabine and the two of them were like peas in a pod. Just a few days in to our visit, if Sabine was upset, instead of being happy with just Nick or I, Nichole could calm her in seconds flat!

Mimi and Naida made some delicious Christmas treats! These Christmas cookies had more love in them than I have ever seen in a cookie. In this house, love = sprinkles and Naida was all about pouring, not shaking. I'm really surprised at how many of these were consumed..maybe that says a lot about this family's sweet-tooth and the reason I started Weight Watchers today!


Nick's Aunt Kelly and Uncle Greg's youngest child Kailey is now 4.5 years old. She and Naida never met until this visit and it was love at first sight. Kailey's spunky personality lights up every room and instantly had Naida chasing her all over the house to play. It was a friendship that would be unstoppable if we ever moved back to the area!!