Snow Week

Seven inches. Seven whole inches of snow. Pretty much unheard of around here. It was enough snow to close schools for the entire week. Close JD's office for 3 days. But not enough to keep us inside!

Monday we had friends come over to play, play, play!

Front yard, obviously. 

All the littles. There were lots of them!

Chasing each other with snowballs.

Snow angels.

Helping the baby pack a snow ball. It's hard when the snow is super powdery.

My favorite of the day!

And the whole gang!

Tuesday we headed to the hospital to see the new baby!

Later that afternoon we got out because we were stir crazy again. (Not sure how everyone stays inside for days and days. I am super duper thankful for a husband who likes to drive and play on the ice!) What did we do? We went Letterboxing. Seriously? I know. I just happened to click on the website and someone else who was stir crazy planted one right down the street!

And since we were about 30 seconds away from some friends, we decided to drop in unannounced with three little girls. Fortunately, we are good enough friends I felt like we could get away with it. And while we were there we got in on a little MJ action. It was a 'thrilling' thing to watch.

Wednesday we took the girls home. JD and the big kids and Daddy Bodo played outside in the "sn-ice" and the 4 wheeler. I didn't get any pictures as I was inside sipping hot chocolate and loving on a sweet new baby. Pure joy!

Thursday I had to work. JD took me, just like the good ol' FW days. It was crazy! The office had been closed for the past 3 days. Shew.

Friday JD was at work while LilE and I stayed home. JD took the 4WD, so we were stuck. But it was nice to get some things done around the house after a week of being out and about!

Other Texas Stuff

While in Texas we did some other non-Christmasy things.

1. High School Friends. JD had lunch with some HS buddies. He took the camera, but forgot to take a picture.

2. College Friends. We had dinner with one of my college buddies. Heckler and family met us for dinner one night. We loved catching up with them. We had not seen them since their oldest was born. She is now 9. Too long.

3. Speaking of dinner, we had lots and lots and lots of Mexican food. And that craving was satisfied. Two Christmas dinners, Mexican pork and bean burritos by Nonnie, tortilla soup by Mimi, Mexican Inn, El Chico, and Abeulos. Plus leftovers. I was loving life!

4. Catching up with sister friends. You know the girls who are you sisters, even if you don't share genetics. Oh how I LOVE these girls. Friends you haven't seen for years and you can sit down and talk as if you just saw them yesterday.

J (on the left) is expecting her first baby in May and C (on the right) has 3 girls of her own. The four girls have grown so much since THE LAST TIME we saw them. LilE named her new Baby Sarah Cate after one of her friends. Guess they hit it off!

5. Home school. LilE played some school with Mimi. Lots of book reading and some worksheets she got in her stocking were on the list of assignments.

6. Game time. Pop got a new set of dominoes and Mexican train set for Christmas. We sat down several nights after to play. All aboard!

7. Letterboxing. You know we can't travel and not do some boxing! We traveled to the big city, where Brother and Elle live, one day and found 7 or so! A good day for us! Have you ever seen a cemetery in the parking lot of a Best Buy? Well, we have now. Interesting things you find while LBing.

8. Uneventful travel home. After a crazy trip out to Texas, the trip home was boring. PRAISE THE LORD! We were able to stop and eat lunch with some friends from Pine Cove, do some letter boxing along the way, and just enjoy each other. Such a GREAT 17 days in the Lone Star State!!

Christmas with the Alejandros

We arrived at 11:00pm on Saturday night and were up bright and early getting ready for Christmas on Sunday with JD's family. We love that everyone was able to be together again this year! (Last year the ice kept one of JD's sister's away. Boo.) We were able to enjoy a couple of meals together as well as playing with all the new toys! FYI. I did not take many pictures today. I enjoyed the view in front of the camera. 

The kids, big and small, coloring

Our beautiful nieces

JD's second sister had to head back home Sunday afternoon. We hate that we can't see her more often, but enjoy the time we do spend with her.

One night, when it was about 65 degrees after dark, we headed out to look at the Fantasy of Lights. It is a 70+ year old tradition in the town. Due to the perfect weather, we were able to walk around and look at all the displays--from the Nativity to the Three Little Pigs.

Santa's sleigh--Texas style

One night we went to Rudy's house. They have a super great backyard. And since the weather was still perfect, the kiddos got to play outside in the HUGE pile of leaves.

On another day, we headed out to do some Letterboxing. Call us crazy. We know. It was the day the cold front came through and it was 40 degrees out. But it was the only day we had free and we needed to get out. One of the boxes was located in the same park as the falls, the same falls that the city is named after. Or the man made ones. Anywho. We walked the extra 1/2 mile to see the sight since JD and I have been together for 11 years and I have yet to see them. Now all my dreams have come true! (Note: sarcasm was inserted here.)

And a trip to WF would not be complete without a trip to Green Pastures. Jess does such a great job preparing for the little ones to come out and ride. She has 4, maybe 5 horses, and she rode them all to see which one would be the best for a 2 and 4 year old. She is awesome.

Daddy even got a turn

The horses love being fed carrots. LilE is not the biggest fan of feeding the animals, but Duke LOVES to feed them. 

We had a great week with JD's family. We always love spending time with them and wish we could see them more often. But we are thankful for JD's vacation schedule that allows us time home with them each year!

Pokin' Around

Well, a bit more than pokin' around for the last two days in Texas. But we did take it easy on Wednesday, since Tuesday was so FULL and FUN!

On the edge of town there is a new historical "park" of sorts. My hometown was a part of the Chisholm Trail back in the 1800s. This "park" is typically a toured event, but there were no tour guides there. We enjoyed walking around and scoping things out.

We also did some playing around the house. There aren't dress up clothes at Mimi and Pop's, but there is JEWELRY! She seriously had those clip on earrings on ALL day!

Thursday we headed out to do some letterboxing. There is a nearby city that had quite a few in town. Some of the "boxes" have more than one box in the clue. We found one clue that listed 4 boxes. Three of them were located in a park. The directions to the fourth one started at the park, but included crossing railroad tracks. We saw a train in the distance. But it looked far enough away that we had plenty of time to cross. Umm...next time we will wait. It took a good 10 minuted for my heart rate to return to normal. Here is the train that nearly took our lives. And yes, letterboxing can be dangerous!

That night Brother, Elle, and my aunt came down for some yummy fajitas! They were so good. We WILL be having them again when we are there for Christmas!

Brother played Sorry! with LilE.

Snuggling with Pop

Thanks Mimi and Pop for a fun few days!

Take Off Tuesday

After a fantastic weekend, JD was able to take a day off. We decided it was our turn to head to the orchard and pick some apples! When we arrived there were only about 6 other cars in the lot! Unfortunately, there were no apples on the tree. WHAT?? So we walked around a bit to make sure and then headed back to the hut to buy a bag of apples. So disappointing.

Oh, I lied. JD found one apple.

We decided that since there weren't any apples, we might have more luck with Letterboxes. There is a large park in a nearby town that had a couple and we found them!  And just a couple of pictures with my new lens. Fun!

The Beach, but Not the Beach

This year we did venture out a bit and had fun away from the sand. I also cooked and cooked. But that will be some posts in the days to come.

We worked two puzzles. (700 and 1000 pieces).

We played games.

I read an entire 500 page BOOK. I can't wait to read the second in the series. 

 And since I am the photographer, there is no proof.

We fed turtles.

 

And this guy showed up.

We went for bike rides. And went letterboxing, while visiting a 1500 year old tree--Angel Oak.

Funny thing, there are about 10 people on the other side of this tree. They just happened to all be behind it when I took the picture.

HUGE!

We also found some LBs in a rookery in the I'On Village. It is a quaint community with awesome homes. This rookery is in some neighbors backyards. Awesome views. There were several look out towers with porch swings to over look the pond. Anyone want to give me a million dollars so I can move in?

Look, I really was on this trip!

  We watched the sun set.

And loved to see my girl having a blast, just like her Mommy and Daddy!