Memorial Day

by Holly

We hosted a backyard cookout for Memorial Day for some of Holly's family. My parents had been fishing the week before, so the meal consisted of grilled salmon and trout (and chicken for Justin), corn on the cob, boiled potatoes, yummy breads, cornbread salad, fruit salad and of course pie. Thanks to Mom K (my grandma) for serving up the coconut and chocolate delights!

First time using Eli's new pool, but he was more interested in watching his cousins than getting in himself. Jared's in the pool and Tyler is testing the slide. Look out!
Playing in the water makes me so hungry Mama! Eli actually slept through lunch and then when he woke up everyone was here, so he had to eat before the big meal was ready. He did love corn on the cob though and would lean towards mine with his mouth open when he was ready for a bite.

Mom K, my aunt Bobbi, my mom and Eli, who was playing peek-a-boo through the folding chair. (yes, he plays peek-a-boo with any and everything!)

And in the other corner... PawPaw, my uncle Larry, Dad, Justin, Teresa and Kelly

Nothing more precious than little boys! Jared and Tyler call Eli their 'little buddy' and are showing him all the ropes. I don't know what Jared and Eli were scheming here, but I loved it!

New Home, After

by Holly
Well, here are the much anticipated 'after' photos. This is just a glimpse of our new home- for the rest you have to come visit! :)

Our sanctuary- the covered back patio with our Mother's Day/Father's Day gift to each other, the patio furniture. We eat dinner out here 2-3 times per week and watch Eli play. He's got a kiddie slide, balls, rocks, pinecones and sand. What else could he need?
Eli's bathroom. Yes, I found a shower curtain with monkeys on it! There are adorable pictures of a monkey and a giraffe playing peek-a-boo over the toilet that he really does play peek-a-boo with. Adorable!

The guest room. The wall is torn paper sack and looks really interesting. We did one wall in here and one in Eli's room as well. Sorry no pics of his room tonight. He's supposed to be in there going to sleep but I can still here babbling and his feet thumping the wall.

View from the front door through the entry way into the living room. This entry had the worst wallpaper, scroll down if you don't remember. The sign over the doorway says "Happy is the house that shelters a friend" and truly it is. Please come visit!

Our bedroom. No, Justin had nothing to do with the green wall and this is probably his least favorite part of the house, but I think it turned out to be quite the romantic hideaway. I pretend its from a magazine, or perhaps Heather's blog! :)

Moving Day!

by Holly

Moving day was finally here! We had a lot of help thankfully and the actual moving in of furniture and boxes went faster than I expected. The boys here are taking a break and watching some toons and having a snack. I believe Jared and Tyler were sharing their jelly beans with Eli- quite a treat!

Eli helping Papa and Nanny, Justin's grandmother, with the kitchen table assembly. I think that's Justin's dad on the right actually assembling, but whoever had my camera cut him out of this one.
A portion of our help: Pops, Holly, Papa with Eli, PawPaw, Mom (Holly's grandparents)

Come on Pops! We've got work to do!

Eli finally got placed in the laundry room to play with his wagon of blocks as he was constantly underfoot 'helping'. Justin's grandmother sat and played with him- its not like he was locked in a room by himself!

New Home, During

by Holly

Here are a few pictures of the 'during' process, some of the projects one of you mentioned not liking. :)

We had to wet the wallpaper with spraybottles and then scrape it off. Eli caught on fast and was 'spraying' for us. He doesn't quite get pulling the trigger on the spray bottle, but he was very proud of himself nonetheless. Moma and I were glad for a little distraction amid all the work!

Holly's cousin Rusty hanging one of our new light fixtures. This is the living room chandelier and is a major improvement over the one that was there! Its available for sale too, along with the aforementioned bathroom fixtures, if you're interested. If Rusty looks official, it is because he actually is an electrician. :)

This one is a little dark, but you can see the mess I had scraping wallpaper in Eli's bathroom. He came to help me out by climbing on the stepstool, one of his favorite new accomplishments.

A little blurry, but you can see my mom is painting the kitchen, after she had textured it. Don't call child labor on us- Jared begged to help do something and was thrilled when we gave him a paintbrush! I think that's my brother on the floor in the background working on the dishwasher installation. Fabulous Craig's list purchase!

And a little later on, after we'd moved in, Eli helped Daddy install smoke detectors. When he saw Justin with the tools, he rummaged through his toybox to find his John Deere toolbelt and tools. Precious!

Blog Transitions

By Justin

Our blog is going to be in a state of transition as we try to determine what to call our blog from West Texas! Suggestions and comments welcome!

New Home, Before

by Holly

We finally have possession of our new home in Lubbock! There is much to be done before moving in, including removing wallpaper, painting every room, changing out light fixtures and installing blinds. The rest can wait, but these were on Holly's priority list and had everyone scrambling! My parents, my brother, aunt and uncle and grandparents were all in and out before the actual move-in, and thank God they were! This is a shot of the front of the house, a little off center, but you get the point. Eli's bathroom light fixture. The same one was hanging in our bathroom. Vintage? Yes. And if anyone is going for that 70's look, we have them both for sale! Also note the wallpaper.

The entryway. Beautiful crown molding and... Well, we scraped the wallpaper off, restained the front door and are dealing with the tile for now.

The kitchen. Thankfully the previous owner had installed wood flooring, new countertops and tile backsplash to help the sale. It worked! We did remove this wallpaper as well and replaced it with texture and paint.

View of our bedroom and into the bathroom area. Yes, the carpet is pink but is in very good condition so we are embracing it. This bathroom also had wallpaper which has not been dealt with yet. Its my last hurdle to making it home!

Easter and Mother's Day

by Holly

Easter was cold and rainy, but still fun for Eli! He hunted eggs with Pops, Grandma and Daddy at Tech around the Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue. Great idea!
I found another one Grandma!

Look at all these eggs! (Note- it is mid-May now and Eli still plays with the eggs every day!)

Holly and Eli with Papa, Holly's Dad, on Mother's Day

Holly and Eli with Nana, Holly's mom, on Mother's Day

Livin' On Wheels

by Holly
Here are a few of Eli livin' it up in our temporary quarters, the RV. We were there 2 months, which is longer than we anticipated but it did go by rather quickly.

Eli had never really been around steps too much and was intimidated but very curious about the two steps up to the bedroom of the RV. By the time we left though, he was a pro and played on them continually without needing supervision.

After one week in our new school, Eli was hit by a new round of germs and the doctor diagnosed him with bronchitis and conjunctivitis. So here went another series of breathing treatments, antibiotics, cough syrup and eye drops. This was our first time with the in-mouth nebulizer attachment and Eli thought he was big stuff 'treating' himself and took it without a fight!

He's also a very big help with cleaning now! After watching me sweep the kitchen area, he decided he could handle the bedroom/bath area himself. I held the dustpan and surprisingly he did get most of the dust and grass into it. We dumped it in the trash and then he cheered us on with clapping and Eli 'yea's'.

Another hurdle was getting him accustomed to the shower. Eli loves bathtime, but without a bathtub, there really wasn't a choice. The first few nights were a sprint to see how fast we could get him washed and handed out to the other parent before the screams did us in. After that though he adjusted and by the end of our stay, he was sitting on the drain to pool the water in hopes that 'bathtime' would not come to an end!

Goodbye Allen, in Retrospect

by Holly

I have the camera cord on the desk, have downloaded pictures and lo, and behold I am sharing them with you! We have a lot of ground to cover, so there will be several installments over the next few days, but here is the first one. These are some pics taken in our last few days in Allen. We miss you!!

Erin, Holly and Eli at our Sunday School class going away party. Yummy Napoli's!

Holly and Eli with our friend Gaby from school. We miss you Gaby, and Kids R Kids too!

Justin and Holly in front of our Allen home, one last time. Sadly we had already strapped Eli in the car when I thought to run back for a photo. He was there though!

Congratulations!

by Holly

Well, we are getting settled in our new home and I am officially back to working from home, but the office is just manageable enough for me to do just that and nothing more. I know you're tired of reading this, but please stay tuned for pictures!

In the meantime... Congratulations to our friends who have new babies!!! John and Charissa (note Ludlow's blog at right) are the proud parents of baby girls Elizabeth and Cosette. Also, Sarah and Mike (note Plemons' blog at right) are the proud parents of baby boy Nathan. We're so excited for you all and hope you are all doing well.

In Transition

-By Justin

So we have slept two nights in our new house. If you can find my shoe box, I would appreciate it. Our posting will be slim over the next week or so as we try to find all the pieces of junk that we put together and call our stuff which dominates our life. Many thanks in advance for your prayers for a quick and painless new home transition.....

Closing in on a tenement without wheels!

by Holly

We closed on our home in Lubbock yesterday!! I would love to share a picture of our new home with you, but you know the deal... I've been taking photos of things all along, so stay tuned for a post soon. I've bought light fixtures and will be getting paint and window blinds in the next day or two, so those things will be the focus this weekend. Justin is out of town Sun-Wed so we will officially move in next weekend. Yea!

Easter and such

All I can say about photos is you had better be ready for a lot of them when we do find the cord! I've tried to be good about taking photos in the RV and while doing things here, realizing that this is a part of our life regardless of how much we are ready for the next step. There are also quite a few Easter pictures of course.

Justin's parents were in town for most of the weekend and they, Justin and Eli hunted Easter eggs around the Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue at Tech. I was with my family at a family reunion so I missed it but the pictures are pretty darn cute.

Justin and Eli came to my parents' church on Sunday morning and we spent the day eating, playing games and hunting eggs with Eli there. I use the term 'hunting' loosely, as it was more a matter of scattering the eggs on the floor and watching him pick them all up to put in his basket, then dumping the basket over his head, laughing and repeating the process. He was thrilled that Nana had put nickels in some of the eggs and chocolate/peanut butter eggs in others. Yeah- score one for Eli the next day when he was playing with his eggs unattended and I walked in to find his face covered in chocolate and peanut butter and had to go fishing in his mouth for the little bits of foil that had previously covered the little egg. He now plays with empty eggs.

We are set to close on our house next Wednesday- the 22nd. Yea! I guarantee there will be pictures of the house coming very soon!

Homeless

In this economy it is weird to say, but I am happy to annouce we are officially homeless. We have had a long hard week of trying to get our Allen house sold and closed and it all happened this morning. Yipee!

My Tuesday

by Holly

"Man has a limited biological capacity for change. When this capacity is overwhelmed, the capacity is in future shock."

Alvin Toffler

Is that an RV park in my rearview?

After some negotiation, the homeowner has accepted our offer on the Lubbock house!! Yea! We signed the amended contract this morning and are geared up for the next steps- scheduling the inspection, getting financing in place, curbing our excitement enough to be patient for the close date. At this point its scheduled for April 22, so we should be in the house in about 3 weeks!!! Would love to share pictures with you but can't find the cord to download from the camera. Be patient, my friends!

Still on Wheels, but the Tread's Coming Loose...

We have made some progress in the housing situation, but actually are still in the RV park. Here's a recap of the last few days for us:

* We have emptied the Allen house of everything belonging to us, repaired the tiny things that the buyers had a problem with, and left our keys there. We are finished with it, besides the final paperwork at closing. This is set for next Monday, but hear that the buyers are pushing for Friday and we certainly won't dispute that! The great news is that we are going to handle it via email and FED Ex, so we don't have to make another trip there for it.

* An offer has been made on a home in Lubbock! We are waiting to hear the owner's response, but are excited that the wheels are turning for the next phase of our lives here to begin. We will keep you informed of the progress and of course post pictures once we actually have a home again!

* I tackled the RV Park laundry facility yesterday. I actually left work early to get the laundry done before I picked Eli up from daycare. It has been a long time since I've been in a laundromat facility where there are multiple machines. I got 3 loads of laundry done in an hour and a half and read several chapters in my book while I waited! That was just the clothes though, so depending on how my work goes today, I may tackle the remaining loads- sheets, towels, jeans. Or maybe tomorrow...

* Eli survived his first day of school here in Lubbock, and so did his Mama. We had a rough morning, but we finally got the day underway and I made it to work. His teachers said he cried a little here and there, but overall did very well for being his first day. Apparently his nickname is "Handsome" already, and that's okay. :) He didn't cry when I left him this morning and that made my morning tons better than yesterday!

* And so Tuesday commences...

Eli Update sans Photos

by Holly

Some of you have been asking about Eli, so here it is. Sadly, in our temporary housing situation, the computer is dismantled at my parents' house and we just haven't been taking pictures. So... I'm taking queue from Sarah on her list of what her little one is doing and am going to do the same.

* Eli is 15 months old and weighs about 28 lbs
* Is walking very well, sometimes with hands down, sometimes with a toy in hand, sometimes with hands held high
* Has found the joy in being chased, and caught, by the Tickle Monster aka Daddy
* Is much more interested in discovering his surroundings than playing with the humongous basket of toys, either in the trailer or at my parents' house
* Had a fabulous time grocery shopping on Sunday and quite loudly announced our aisle changes to the shoppers around us, all with my lip gloss in hand beating on the mac 'n cheese box as a drum
* Understands what it means to blow your nose, wrinkling his nose and blowing and even sometimes holds a tissue there at the same time
* Will climb anything and has not developed the fear of falling quite yet, which includes the staircase at Nana and Papa's
* Has a time limit of about 3 minutes in any restaurant high chair, maybe 5 if the strap isn't broken, before he is standing up and waving at the people behind his chair
* Is jabbering non-stop and even adds some real words occasionally
* Real words include: mama, dada, ball, papa, uh-oh, bye, bock-bock (Nana has chickens)
* Mimics me blowing on his food and even did it without prompting with a piece of bread at a cafe this weekend
* Takes bottles only in morning and at bedtime, and has switched to sippy cup for all other liquids (you may be thinking he's definitely old enough to be doing this, but his Mama was slow to transition her baby)
* Is very slowly getting over his fear of the shower and only cries now instead of screaming for its duration (there is no tub for him to play in in the trailer)
* Can make any item work as a phone but really wants your cell phone to play with
* Has learned to 'give me five' and blow kisses, and still will wave at anyone who says bye or whenever we put our coats on
* He's absolutely Mama's precious baby and rambunctious little boy all rolled into one cute kid!

Well, Here We Are

by Holly

I think I'm not yet emotionally rested from all that has happened over the last few weeks, so the title kind of sums up how I feel. We have packed up most of what was in our home and moved to Lubbock to live in my parents' RV, with our stuff in two storage compartments. I am extremely grateful to my parents for coming twice with a trailer to help us pack and move here, and to Justin's parents for following us here on Saturday with a carload of their own. Great families make things much more bearable. So it is with the RV. Yes, its cramped here. Yes, Eli is very confused with his surroundings changing so much. Yes, I'd rather be in a real house with a washer and dryer and dishwasher and enough space to turn around and not run into someone, but above all I'm grateful for my parents' generosity in lending us their beautiful RV and helping us keep our financial status from completely blowing up.

Blessings: family, old friends, new friends, good jobs, our health, God's sustaining hand through it all
Prayer needs: our house to sell quickly at a good price, finding a good daycare for Eli here, patience and strength for myself/Justin/my parents as we shuffle Eli around and have this temporary living situation until our house sells, finding a great church for us here that we love as much as we did PBC

Hope you are all well. We appreciate all of the thoughts, prayers, emails, facebook notes...

Three Year Blog-iversary

Who knew three years ago what this simple website would have seen? We have moved, had a child and now are moving again. We have kept up with friends far and wide. We have watched and waited for posts on our friends' births. We have followed and prayed for people far and wide we would have otherwise been unaware of. What an amazing medium a Blog can serve.

So on this our third anniversary we pray that you are well and following closely in the Lord's plans. May He keep you and bless you.

Blog Stats:
235 Posts

Good Bye Southwest

By Justin

Today is a difficult day. Today will be my last day as an Employee of Southwest Airlines Company. I have greatly enjoyed my time with this fantastic Company. I will forever view the role Employees can play in a corporate setting differently because of the lessons I have learned here. I will hold the truths of the Southwest Way (A Servants Heart, A Fun-LUVing Attitude, and a Warrior Spirit) close at hand. Most importantly I will miss the great co-workers and friendships I have fostered.

No company on earth can match the fondness and gratitude I have for this cause we call Southwest Airlines.

Goodbye Friend.

Flying Stats:
I landed in 36 of the 64 cities SWA serves.
I left the airport grounds in 23 of the 36 cities.
I flew approximately 75 one-way Non-Revenue flights
Holly flew approximately 50 one-ways
My Dad flew 7 one ways
My Mom flew 8 one ways

3/3

Welcome to the March edition of random pictures. This is Justin feeding our sweet baby boy. when he was just a little guy. He hadn't learned to hold his bottle yet, but you can tell by the out stretched fingers it won't be long.

Happy Texas Independence Day

From this Native Texian to you: May your day be filled with joy the size of the Texas sky, may your heart be filled with love that only the prairies and plains can describe. And when the golden sun sets on this joyous day, may you truly grasps the magnificent wonder that is the State of Texas.

In the words from the hallowed walls of the Alamo:

I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna -- I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man -- The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken -- I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls -- I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch -- The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country --

VICTORY OR DEATH

William Barret Travis
Lt. Col. Comdt.

A Moving Update

By Justin

A few thoughts and a moving update…

The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. - Henry David Thoreau

We have fielded many questions of when our last date in Dallas will occur. The best we can guess at this point is that we will be leaving Dallas on Saturday March 7th in the early morning. My (Justin) last day at Southwest Airlines is March 4th.

Our house has had some great showing traffic. In the first week we have had nine showings. The feedback is positive and we feel good about the prospects of a quick sale. Keep praying for the right buyer to fall in love, quickly!

We have also answered many question about our Lubbock living situation. Soon after I married Holly I informed her I would never live in a home with wheels (or once had wheels). Well it is time to eat my crow, as they say. We are going to stay in Holly’s parents RV for at least the first two to four weeks. Our plan is to save some cash while we are trying to sale our house in Allen and avoid a double mortgage situation. We will see how long close quarters living lasts. Pray for patience and wisdom as we decide how to juggle finances, Eli and living situations.

Many thanks for all of your prayers!

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. - George Moore

The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes. - Harold B. Lee (1899 - 1973)

Life's a voyage that's homeward bound. - Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)

The End

So the time has come for an end. Five plus years ago Holly and I set out for the Big D. When we arrived I needed a new email address for our new internet service provider. Somehow I just came up with ‘Urban Adventure’.

It seemed to fit. We were newlyweds in a big new town. We had really set out on a real life urban adventure. Over the years I have used the term in many occasions and it seemed to fit when I started blogging as well.

Now things are changing again. Today we are both excited and scared to announce that our Urban Adventure is coming to an end. I (Justin) have accepted a position in the Audit Services department for the Texas Tech University System. Holly and I are packing up and headed west to Lubbock.

In many ways this really does feel like an end. We are closing a very exciting chapter of our lives. It is a chapter filled with great joys, great difficulties and amazing opportunities. In the few short weeks we must close our lives here in Dallas. We have friends to transition with, a church to leave, a house to pack and sell, and grandparents to move into the next phase of this life with.

So as time permits and as you will allow, I plan to effectively close this phase of our blogging and invite you to join us on our next adventure back in West Texas. I promise a title is forthcoming.

Why I love Southwest Airlines, again

By JustinYesterday I left at 11:30 for an offsite lunch with my former manager. While headed out of the building I noticed a long extension cord running outside keeping the door ajar. My first thought (being an auditor) was a propped door, that is normally locked, is a security risk. Much to my delight, once outside the door I noticed a horde of people getting ready for a Team event.

Team events are very common at Southwest. I have had the pleasure of some great events. One of the main reason I love my job is the commitment to me personally and the commitment to the Team concept. We take care of each other, and in turn we take care of our passengers.

So I examined the horde and noticed a huge inflatable castle bounce house being inflated. Out front of the house a cart full of brownies was being devoured. Upon my return from lunch three guys were laughing like children as they bumped and rammed their way into each other. What a blessing to work here and know that spending a hour or so around lunch to goof off with your coworkers is not only allowed, but expected.

I can't wait till summer for the slip-n-slide!

2/2 Picture

Its now February and time for my 2nd picture from the 2nd folder in our computer. This just happens to be my handsome hubbie Justin at the Renaissance Festival in North Carolina 2 1/2 years ago. We visited our dear friends Clint and Erin and we had a fabulous weekend at the Festival, eating at an Irish Pub and another fave lunch place of Erin's that I don't remember the name of (famous milkshakes??), driving around Raleigh, lounging in their beautiful home, touring the model homes in their development and playing with their sweet dog Sally. Ah, great memories folks!

Winter Beauty

It snowed here a little on Wednesday, but mostly sleeted and then froze. Justin didn't attempt the drive into work and the daycare was closed so both of my boys were home with me. What a nice treat! A twist on working from home: so many employees tried to work remotely due to the weather that the system couldn't support everyone and noone was able to work! So, I ended up taking a vacation day and just enjoyed my family.

*

Wednesday was the worst weather day this week but I actually took these photos Thursday morning before it melted. The top one is a bush near the front porch where the rain runs off of the roof. It is a sturdy plant- look at the leaves frozen in huge chunks of ice from the bitter cold runoff! The bottom picture is of a tree at the corner of our house. I think its a tree. Its a large bush-like thing with lots of stems/trunks, but is bigger than a bush. Anyway, its an odd thing to trim but looks cool, and especially so with the ice on its leaves. You may laugh at my horticultural ignorance now. Its okay.

1/1 Picture

The photo tag got my mind to spinning and I am going to post a random pic (or not so random!) each month, something I might not normally post. Here's how it goes. For January, I post the 1st picture in the 1st folder on my computer. For February, the 2nd picture in the 2nd folder and so on. So this year you will get to see 12 shots of our life that you wouldn't otherwise see. Its going to be fun! Won't you join me and post your own random shots?!

This is in the Metro Center terminal of the D.C. transit system. I thought it was a really cool shot and later realized you aren't supposed to take pictures inside the metro system. Oops. We were in D.C. last April to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and had a wonderful time.

Photo Tag

I was tagged by Sarah M weeks ago and am just getting around to obliging. Here's the deal, you open the fourth photo file on your computer and post the fourth picture in that file and share about it.


So, this is my dear friend Aimee and her sons Noah and Rhett. This was taken about 2 years ago when I drove up to Oklahoma to visit them for a weekend. The picture was actually at Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar & Grill" in OK City. Good food, good company. Great weekend memories!

I now tag.... Aimee, McNeely and Abbey. Go!

Bowling

By Justin

Bowling has become somewhat of a fascination for us these days. Many nights, on our way to bed, we can not help but to stop by the Wii and play a quick game. Honestly Holly beats me most of the time, but there is a rare occasion that I can pull one out. We love Wii bowling.

Tonight we got the chance to go actual bowling with our friends Brian and Erin. What fun a true game of bowling is. I really enjoy the sport. Growing up in bowling alleys as my parents were part of a league and toured the southwest to bowl tournaments, I have a lot of great bowling memories. My best one is sitting in Don Carter Lanes in Fort Worth and finally figuring out how to time my shoes. I was so excited to tell my mom that I ran on the lane and almost made her slip!

We all should spend more time bowling with friends!

Photo Update

Well I finally updated the photos de Eli link above. Feel free to comment on how very cute and adorable our son is! We never tire of hearing it!

Bye Bye Landline

Holly and I are joining the 21st century and doing away with our house phone. Our house phone cost more than our cell phones and rings a whole lot less. If you currently have our phone number with area code 972, that phone will no longer ring on January 15th. Both of our cell phones begin with area code 214. Double check your phone books and make sure you update to our new numbers!

Family in Town

I know, I know, a post without pictures. How dull. Honestly, I never knew how to post pictures till you started seeing an abundance of them on here and now I have a hard time posting without them. But, I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and only took a few photos, of which weren't really blog appropriate b/c they were of my two nephews and my son playing in the bathtub together. I carefully avoided any potentially embarrassing views, but still they are not really shareable material.

My brother and sister-in-law and two nephews came into town to visit for the weekend and go to the Cotton Bowl. It was a sad and miserable game, but only Kelly, Teresa and Jared went and the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful afternoon at the park. We kept Tyler, the younger of the nephews and while he can be quite strong-headed, he was perfect for us and we had a wonderful time. Yesterday evening and most of today was spent in the living room taking turns playing Wii and relaxing.

Tried today for the second time in 3 days to eat at our new Chuy's in Plano but the wait made us look for an alternative yet again. We went to Abuelo's on Thursday and had absolutely no wait and immediate service. Went to Carabba's today and same thing. These three restaurants are within walking distance and while the service and quality are comparable it shows just how alluring a new restaurant can be. We have eaten at the new Chuy's once, actually on their opening day and happened in at about 10 till 5 and were seated immediately. No way that would have happened if people were aware they were finally open. Poor advertising I say. We were just driving by and thought it was worth a shot to see if they were open yet. Well worth the wait in my opinion, but both times we were on a deadline so we couldn't stay.

Alright, Happy New Year to you all and hope it started off with a bang of the good sort. I'm going to round my weekend off tomorrow by putting up my Christmas decorations. Sigh. Another wonderful Christmas season already over.

Our Christmas

We had a good Christmas, full of family and joy and abundant blessings. Here are just a few snapshots of our festivities.

Eli drawing out a block labeled with a profession, a prediction of his future occupation. This was a Red Envelope version of a Chinese tradition, given to us by Aimee before Eli was born. His pick? Peacekeeper. I think I'm okay with that.

Opening gifts from Santa, with a little help from Daddy. This one was a farmer and animals on a tractor. He also got luggage from us, but that's not really exciting to a one year old!

Where Eli spent most of his Christmas evening while the rest of us opened presents with Holly's parents. We weren't complaining, it was way past his bedtime! All he needed was a handful of bows and a big gift to sit on. Nevermind that it wasn't even his, but Nana's and Papa's.

Getting reaquainted with his cousins, Jared in the Romo jersey and Tyler in Crabtree's. What a precious photo that I don't even remember taking!

Celebrating Christmas at Pops and Grandma's. Eli has just opened his Leap Frog Fridge DJ that counts down the hits. He also got the Leap Frog Fridge Carwash which is entertaining even for me.
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Presents and abundant food aside, we did have a nice Christmas. Our plans changed unexpectedly when Justin's grandad passed away on Christmas Eve. We came back to the Dallas area from West Texas on Friday evening for the Saturday funeral. Sunday was spent with Justin's parents and grandmother.

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Hope you all had a joyous Christmas and have had a Happy New Year so far!