Little Miss and The Misters: Texas

Since last posting, we were able to visit Texas...twice!

Cameron and I had already planned on flying down for a visit in February as we were able to use our points/rewards, and scored a cost free flight! We just got a vehicle rental, of course, when we got there.

But before I get ahead of myself, in December, over Christmas week, Cameron decided that we should break in our new mini van (which is a completely different post!) and visit Mimi and Papa.

So...off we went!

We thought it would be fun to surprise my parents, however, we ended up only surprising my mom really because turns out, we had to include my dad in the plans. My mom offered a place to stay for someone in their church, so I felt it necessary to let him in on it, just in case she really did end up with a full house!

If need be, he could have tried to direct her with the knowledge he had of four other individuals coming to stay...unbeknownst to her!

So, still wanting to get some kind of surprise in for my Dad, Cameron and I decided to try driving straight through. Proud to say, "We did it!"

And we arrived to their house the Saturday before Christmas, just before 10 am. My dad was expecting us more around 4-5pm.

So, we knocked at the back bedroom, thinking they would hear us...but no answer.

Then we knocked at the back entrance thinking they would hear us there...but no answer.

So I decided to phone them, because in very atypical fashion, all the shutters were still drawn, and no windows open, no movement...nothing! And these aren't the type of people that sleep in!

I didn't know what to think, and with my kids waiting to " 'prise, Mimi," if something was not right, I would have felt terrible!

But of course, they were both just upstairs, where they could hardly hear anything we were doing. And we did indeed, " 'prise, Mimi!"

We had so much fun as the weather allowed us to play in the nearby park many times that week.

We still had to wear our jackets some days, but it was very comfortable....we loved it!

Here is Liam with his much loved gift of a Bible.

And of course Emalyn, here with her much beloved American Girl Doll (Craig's listed by Cam/I and Mimi/Papa).

This Christmas was very different for the kids as Cameron and I are making an effort to step away from the commercialism that it has become.

The kids received three gifts from Cameron and me: something they can Read, something they Want, and something they Need.

Their gifts were and are much loved...it was interesting to see how much more they enjoyed and used each gift with so much less around them. They both received personalized Bibles, Emmy the AG doll and Liam an electronic keyboard, and lastly, both received clock radios with iPod docs for their rooms.

It was a great week.

Then, our February trip arrived 4 short weeks later, and we visited Waco's Cameron Park Zoo, Austin's Zilker Park, and the adjoining Botanical gardens. We even had fun at Ikea, and other little shopping expeditions...not to mention flashlight walks after dark and many trips to the neighborhood park.

The kids truly love the change in temps when we visit in the winter. We get such cabin fever here in MN...especially now that we are back!

Cute photo with the grandparents...and the next photo with mommy (the baby and I are 24 weeks here) and daddy. Both these were taken at the botanical gardens.