Hanging with More Family

We went to hang out at my Aunt Laura and Uncle Dave's (and Rachel and Grace's) house with my mom for the day! Mr. Dan got pretty sick and we wanted to let him rest and keep the boys healthy for our trip home. We had so much fun hanging out with everyone.

Brady played the drums:



And the boys spun around in chairs:



Some family photos...we got right before we headed home for bed time. We were lucky to get a few before meltdowns!

Houston Zoo

We took the boys to the Houston zoo this morning. That zoo is great. You can get so close to animals and we even saw some people feeding the giraffes!

Along with seeing all the animals- Jackson was able to brush some goats, climb through tunnels to imitate a prairie dog and feed some ducks!

The boys had a great time. Brady refused to nap because he was so interested in everything he saw!

Jackson and Mommy on the carousel:



I loved this picture of Jackson drinking out of the lion's mouth. There are plenty of pictures of me doing the same thing when I was little:




After lunch we took a ride on the train that goes around Herman Park. Jackson loved this. And Brady had a good time as well!

Brady and Grandma

Gradma broke her leg back in October. She is getting better, but still unable to walk. So, she rolled around in her chair to get everywhere. It didn't slow her down a bit...and Brady loved going for rides!

Lemon Juice

Jackson found a lemon tree in my parents backyard and thought it was the coolest thing. He brought about ten lemons to Poppy and they made some lemonade! Jackson had the best time.



Every time he wanted "lemon juice" after this he wanted to go pick lemons and make it from scratch! Too bad we don't have a lemon tree at home!

Christmas In Texas

After a long day of travel to Austin then driving to Grandma and Poppy's in Houston- we were able to celebrate another Christmas! The boys were both so good the whole trip. And, they were excited to see more presents waiting for them!!

Uncle Carlo, Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Josh and his girlfriend Megan were all there to celebrate! They all spoiled the boys. It was nice getting to hang out with everyone.





We went to my mom's the next day to celebrate with all of her family. The boys got to see lots of great aunts and uncles and plenty of cousins. Of course in the craziness that is hanging out with the family we did not get one picture! But, rest assured it was a great time. Mr. Dan got Jackson a train that moved around and had real steam- it was a hit!!

Christmas Morning

We had a quick Christmas from Santa before heading out to the airport to head to Texas. Santa brought Jackson a tool bench:



And Brady a learning block:



Both boys had such a good time playing with everything.

Next stop Houston...where the grandparents were sure to spoil the boys!!!

Christmas Eve

This Christmas we were headed to Texas on Christmas morning, so we opened most of our presents on Christmas Eve. Santa still came that night- but most was opened early. Jackson really enjoyed Christmas this year- he understood most of what was going on and was excited about his gifts! Brady was just content with all that was going on around him!



Jackson opened so many gifts from everyone. Thanks everyone for making Christmas so special for the boys!!

Jackson loved his Handy Manny truck from Uncle Carlo and Aunt Carolyn:



And of course all of the trains he received. This is Toby from Grandma and Poppy and Diesel from Uncle Brandon:




Brady enjoying his giraffe from Grandma and Poppy:


Brady loved his balls from Grandma and PawPaw:



Jackson loved his farm animals:



But, the hit of the night for Jackson were all of his Thomas trains.



After Christmas when we were in Houston Jackson looked at me and said "when we go home Santa can being me more trains!" I had to explain that Santa was done for the year!!

Jackson and Brady both enjoyed Brady's new rocking horse:




All in all a really wonderful Christmas!

We attempted...

Well, we attempted to get more photos with Santa. Since Brady didn't officially meet Santa, we headed to Bass Pro Shop this evening thinking no one else would have waited this long to meet Santa- how wrong we were! There was a two hour wait! So, all we got were these...





We headed to see a Christmas lights show and then to get hamburgers, per Jackson's request. A nice evening even without meeting Santa!

Crawling

Brady is officially on the move! He actually started crawling a couple of weeks ago, but now is fairly quick and getting better all the time!




This new skill has caused a little bit of havoc in the house as any time Brady get remotely close to one of Jackson's toys I hear screams..."Brady's gonna get my toys, my books"...or whatever Brady may be after at the moment! Good times!




And some silly faces, just for fun!

The Santa Train

We went down to Colorado Springs to ride the Santa train along with some friends. This is the old cog train that takes you up to Pike Peak.



Jackson getting ready to board:



This time of year they host the Santa train where Santa, Ms. Claus and plenty of elves ride the train halfway up the mountain where you get out and eat cookies, drink hot chocolate and visit with Santa.

Meeting Santa- unfortunately (or fortunately), Brady fell asleep right before we met Santa!




Jackson explaining all the trains he wanted Santa to bring: Duck and Toby and Skarloey (all the Thomas trains he could think of!)



Dustin tried to get a picture of Jackson and his friend Anna, but suprisingly, neither wanted to cooperate!



Then, we just hung out and played until we were ready to board and head back down. Jackson really enjoyed playing in the snow!



We had such a good time, this may just be a new Christmas tradition!!

Gingerbread Train

We decided that we needed to add some Christmas craft activities to do with Jackson and thought he would love putting together a gingerbread train. We were right.





It started coming together.



Jackson discovered the candy that was supposed to go on the train:



Daddy continued putting the train together while Jackson strategically ate all the candy he could before putting it on the train. But, it was still a success. Here is Brady checking out the finished product:



Jackson proud of the finished product:



And then the best part, eating it, of course!