Finally Christmas (for real)!

So after our trip to see Clay’s family in Houston, we had a few days in San Marcos to celebrate Christmas before heading back to Plainview. Mom is great about hanging onto Clay’s and my old toys and things, including the old plastic nativity and wooden stable (see below) we played with as kids. Kendall loved it! (I am afraid she may have hidden half of the pieces all over the house, but I never heard for sure…)

What good is a Grampy if he’s not available to hold you upside down, tickle you and flip you all around?!?!

Also….what good is a Grampy if he doesn’t teach you to put black olives on your fingers before sucking them off? (This was Christmas Day after church!)

Isaiah’s sister Amber and her family came down from Killeen to spend the afternoon and have lunch with us. It'd been since last Christmas that we’d seen them, so it was good to catch up and we couldn’t believe how big their girls are! Gabby (left) is six and Tori (right) is four. Ernest is…well, I don’t know for sure…but he’s Amber’s husband. :)

Kendall with her Auntie Amber!

Kendall tried on Gabby’s hat…I love it! I don’t usually put foofy, super-girly things on her, but she sure did look cute! Of course she was trying to pull it off immediately…

After her cousins went home, it was time to open presents! Here’s her little piano from Nana and Grandpa…

Opening some new stuffed animals and books!

Showing Nana her new Minnie Mouse that we bought her. (The only TV we let her watch is a little bit of Mickey Mouse Club, usually on Saturday mornings with her Daddy. So we bought her this Minnie Mouse and she LOVES her! She’s had all kinds of dolls, lovies, glow-worms, etc. in her crib since she was born and never has been attached to any of them. But now when we put her to bed, we hand her the Minnie and she just holds onto her so sweet and they snuggle together under the blankie. So cute!)

We finally made it home after a 9-hour trip on the Monday after Christmas. Kendall won’t eat fast food (what kid doesn’t like nuggets!?!?), so we had to stop and eat as quickly as possible at two restaurants, deal with Tuggy’s sporadic intestinal issues, fill up the car twice, and thank the Lord above for a speeding warning (instead of a ticket) because our cruise control was acting up. We put Kendall straight to bed when we got home that night, so she had to wait to open the rest of her presents until Tuesday when Isaiah got home from work. Here she is with a piano from us too!

Looking at her new book from Isaiah’s Aunt Lori and Uncle Dan, sent all the way from Washington state!

Loving her BIG present from Nana and Grandpa, her All-Terrain Radio Flyer Wagon! This thing is rugged, which is what Isaiah really wanted, so we can take her all over! They’ve taken several jaunts around the neighborhood and I know we’ll get a ton of use out of it when the weather warms up this spring!

Trying it out for a spin, just going in circles around the house…

I grabbed the camera so I could show Maryann how Kendall was using her new stroller they got her (with the doll from Amber & family), and she tipped over with it! So being the mean Mommy I am, I had to snap a pic of her being shocked at ending up on her backside!

No worries, she dusted herself off and got going again!

We had a good Christmas and were glad to get to see some members of both sides of our families! Now on to a new year!