Ami's Family's Christmas

The day after Christmas, we drove to Granna and Grandad's house. First, we went to see one of my (Ami's) best friends from high school, Ashley and her daughter Chaley. I hadn't seen Ashley in years and had never met Chaley. It was great to talk and catch up, and Chaley is just adorable! She and Kiran played with vintage "Little People." We then we to Sal's and had Christmas with her and had lots of fun and a delicious meal! Then, we went to Granna and Grandad's house for more fun. We had Christmas with Ami's parents and Aunt Amanda and Uncle Kurt the next morning. It was so good to be back home. It had been two years since we spent Christmas with family in TX! Ninny, David, Karen, Kirk and Kade came the next day, and we enjoyed visiting with them. Kirk and Kade are so grown up! On Friday, everyone just hung out and rested, and we got breakfast burritos - a must when we are in Ami's hometown! The guys watched hours of a Man vs. Wild marathon! Then, came Kiran's extra special treat on the trip - driving an 18-wheeler with Grandad! We even got in some nature - seeing elk and a beautiful sunset! Every time we go back home, we say the one part of nature we miss from TX is the incredible sunset! On our way back toward TN, we got to see my best friends, Sarah and Amy. We spent a fun day with Sarah shopping and just hanging out. Kiran had fun getting to know her. We ate lunch with Amy and her family with their new baby girl and son who is Kiran's age. It was wonderful to see everyone! Then, back to Natalie and Keri's for one more night before the road home - we stayed up late visiting with them as always, but it is always worth it!

As you'll see, my picture-taking enthusiasm dwindles slightly as the week goes on! I missed lots of family members and friends - oops! At least I got the elk! :)


Ellery is 6 months old and eating her first big girl food other than rice cereal-
mmmmm . . . sweet potatoes!
Captain of the ship - more fun for the Imagination Box!
What a big baby girl!
A Motorcycle!!!
Happy Girl playing on her tummy
and working toward crawling!
Cousin Kirk takes his turn holding our baby girl -
boy does time fly. It feels like only yesterday I was holding
and babysitting Kirk!
Thanks for more yummy sweet potatoes, Granna!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . . . . . . . we do live in a beautiful world!
Snuggling with Sal!

Whoa, so cool!
A very serious driver!

On the 12th Driving Day of Christmas . . . and a Mockingbird in a Mesquite Tree

We had a blast driving to TX for Christmas this year! The kids did really well in the car. (It didn't seem quite the same without Sunshine on the trip, but she got in some good rest at puppy camp!) We split the trip nicely into 2 1/2 days each way so that no one got too tired.

We are extremely happy to report that no one was sick this Christmas (maybe a little stuffy nose here and there), and we are especially happy that our family did not bring any diseases with us from TN! It really does make for a merrier Christmas. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hands sanitized for future trips!

We first drove to Nat and Keri's house, then on to Cookie and Papa's for a few days to have Jeff's Family Christmas. It was wonderful to see so many family members and catch up. Each time we go to TX, we realize a little more how amazing our families are and how much we miss them!!!

Addie and Kiran had a great time together and entertained everyone. They also required some entertaining from grownups, and grandparents and great-grandparents did not seem to mind jumping right in to take over that role for sleep-deprived parents. I suspect they all got some good sleeping in after we left! Ellery was very entertained by all of the action around her, and Doak, well he got some good napping in!

Here are a few captured-on-camera moments. Oops - after I loaded all of the pics and 38 minutes later, I am reminded that I am camera crazy. Oh well, enjoy looking, and believe it or not there are more. I'll have to put them in the photo section tomorrow! And, I'll have to work on Ami's Family Christmas then, too!



Introducing the newest (and very handsome) addition to our family,
Baby Doak with Mommy (Aunt Natalie to us)!
"Uncle Jeffy" helps with Doak's bath!
What a crew!
Playing with Uncle Keri
Forget "still" photo shoots
Attacking Uncle Keri

Kiran and Gramps playing with Daddy's old cars.
No - this was not staged, but oh I do love this photo moment!

What a sweet face
Driver and Navigator

Traffic Jam!
The Doctor's In-House

Dress-up Time - There must be a construction site next to the theater!
Reading with Cookie - a little quiet time!
Whoa!! Hang On - the Elephant is Wild!

Happy Birthday to Ma!


Kneading is hard work!
Thanks for teaching us how to bake bread, Ma!


Getting to know Doak!
Being Silly with Pa!


Playing with Papa! Fun at the hotel in Memphis! - well, fun for most of us!

Our Family Christmas

Decorating the Tree!


Our guys - just hanging out!


On Dec. 15th, we had our Christmas at home. We had a very special day - just the 4 of us. We opened gifts, had a late breakfast with mochas and hot chocolate and then just spent the day relaxing!

As many of you know, Kiran got an Imagination Box this year (something that deserves its own post). We plan on painting the box with Kiran's help, and of course the primary choice of color is - you guessed it - Cookie Monster Blue! So, we'll get to work on that ASAP. Now that Kiran's box has been filled up, he understands what it's all about, and he loves it! Thanks to everyone who helped fill it, and yes, more pictures of the inside contents will come later. He also got a tabletop kitchen. As soon as he saw it, he put his fireman's hat on, started stirring "five alarm chili" and sang, "La, La Living in the Firehouse" from Barney - a song he hadn't sang in months.














Ellery got an aquarium mat and loves it. She also got some new blocks and a baby art gallery which she enjoyed on our long drive to TX!

Jeff and I decided this year that we would get each other surprise gifts. It was so fun to take a risk and try to really think about what each other would want! I know that's what most people probably do and definitely what they do in the movies, but we have a history of just letting the receiver pick their gift or getting a gift together. Well, we were successful - both of us loved our gifts!

Jeff got me a really cool mirror from Ten Thousand Villages for our bathroom! I want to work on interior decorating in our house. Anyway, the mirror is perfect and hopefully will inspire us to finish this bathroom! Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture - we'll just show it off with the completed bathroom soon! I also got a fun new hat from the kids.

I got Jeff a Zassenhaus coffee grinder, and the kids gave him a stovetop espresso maker (a very inexpensive way of making espresso, but cool because it's "old school" and because it makes yummy espresso - at least we think so). We have enjoyed several mochas, and Kiran and Daddy had lots of fun grinding!

We're still around!

In case anyone is wondering about our blog, we are super busy right now getting ready to see many of you! We are excited about coming to TX soon, but we just haven't had time to sit down and post! We've been to Kiran's Christmas program, preparing for and having our own family Christmas, preparing for Christmas in TX, and participating in lots of other activites. I'll post some pictures this week if I have any extra time with packing, but I need some sleep tonight. Also, for an update on Lois, she has been doing well in a nursing home with rehab for a few weeks now, but yesterday she went back in the hospital and is not doing well. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.