Christmas 2013

 I'm a little behind... on laundry, my to-do list, my lesson planning for work, and my blogging. It's after 9:00 pm on January 11 and I am just now sitting down to sort through pictures I took over Christmas. Oh well. At least I've managed to get all of the Christmas decorations put away, right?

This Christmas season was our first in Texas and our first with baby Titus. I sent out Christmas cards to family that looked something like this:

Now, I am not crafty or artistic. The above picture, while it looks simple enough, took a lot of time and effort to capture. I think I took about 95 pictures before I got one decent enough to share. Here are some of the "bloopers"...

Anyway, on December 20, for the second time in 3 weeks (the first being Thanksgiving), we made the 12 hour trip with our baby and dog from Texas to Illinois to spend time with our awesome families. 

A lot of hours in a car? Yes.


Worth it? Double yes.


Here are some shots I snapped on the road...

This dog is the best traveler. The best.  

There are certain times in my life where I'm thankful to be 5'2".Traveling with a baby and a husband who is grouchy prides himself in getting from one place to another as efficiently as possible is not the best combination. However, the fact that I can easily crawl from the front seat to the back to attend to a crying/hungry/bored baby helps the situation immensely. Lexi and I simply switch places for a short time, and we don't have to pull over. A win for everyone involved. :)

About 5 hours into our trip, we hit some bad weather. We had originally planned to drive through the night to get to IL, but when our windshield wipers froze over and the trucks on the road started swerving, we decided to pull over and stay in a hotel until morning. Here's Lexi and Titus in the hotel room:

The next morning, the freezing rain had stopped so we hit the road again and made it to IL by afternoon. Thankfully, Titus slept most of the way. 

My little traveler

Grandma & Grandpa were so happy to see their little man

We spent 10 days in Illinois, back and forth between my parents' house and Chris'. It was so much fun. We are blessed to have such great families!!

Here are some action shots of gift opening at my mom and dad's house. He loved the wrapping paper and tissue paper. And his new clothes, books, and toys of course! :)

I think T's favorite gift his Grandma and Grandpa Lindgren's house was his bucket of snowballs! 

Opening gifts at Grandma and Grandad Brooks' house...

We also went to several basketball games while we were in IL. Chris' dad and brother help coach a team near their hometown so we went to support. 

Titus watches the games intently, especially during warm-ups when everyone is dribbling/shooting at once. He also really likes the cheerleaders. :) 

And then he usually falls asleep...

Here's T at another game...

And here he is just a few minutes later...

...and, he's out!

Chris gets back to his coaching roots and helps out while we're there. Here he is with his brother and dad on the bench. 

Besides eating lots of good food, exchanging gifts, going to church, and watching basketball, we also got to spend some time with some friends in Illinois. Can't wait til they visit Texas in June!!!

All in all, Christmas was extra special this year and we are so happy we got to spend it with the people we love most!! 

Until next time,

-Alison