All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, Christmas is over for this year. In fact, this past year is over too. Can you believe it is already 2009? I had to sign my first paper today and forgot it was January before I could even get to the year.

Let me give you a disclaimer on this post before I start. THIS IS A LONG POST! I have tons of pictures that I took over the past two weeks and I wanted to share so many of them. Let it be known that you have been warned.

We were at my Mom and Dad's house for the first week of the holiday. I can't believe how crazy three little kids can be in one house. I don't know how my grandparents did it when my Dad was growing up. At one point they had 5 kids under 5. This Christmas was fun because Tanner and Brenna really understood what was going on. They loved opening the gifts and passing them out. As adults, all we could do was help where we were needed and try to keep up.




Mom wanted us to all match on Christmas morning. I think the picture ended up pretty cute. We had fun with it.


Here is the picture of the quilt I made for Dad. He was very excited about it. I had a lot of fun making it for him. I also had fun teasing my brother over giving the best gift. If any of you know Aaron, he had always been very competitive. Many of you have heard the wisdom teeth story. I always love bringing that side of him out. I enjoy watching how it plays out. We both had a good laugh.


I posted pictures of Brenna and Bella while were in Houston. I tried to get a cute picture with Avery and Bella, but Avery wasn't in the mood. The picture is pretty cute anyways. Don't worry, Avery isn't scared of Bella, she is just not happy with the world as all 8 month olds become from time to time.


Tanner couldn't wait to share his reindeer food with Brenna. He had apparently been waiting all night for them to go out. He reminded Aaron as soon as he got up on the first morning they were in Houston. It was quite fun to watch the three of them.


One morning before Christmas, Aaron, Liz, and I took Tanner and Brenna to the park. It was wet, but the kids had a great time together. They especially loved jumping in the puddles. If only I had known to bring Brenna's rain boots.


Once Brenna realized how wet she was, she was ready to be home.


Then there was Nena's birthday. It was presents all over again. Although the kids just watched. But they did love helping her blow out the candles and they helped make the birthday cake.


After that celebration, it was time for the Jones' round two. Keith, Debbie and BJ came into Houston late on Friday, and we all left on Saturday morning. I am so glad they were able to come. We had a great time with all of them. Brenna got to open more presents when we got home. Again she had lots of fun. If you look closely, you can see her lips saying, "oooh".





We all went to San Antonio one day. BJ wanted to see the Alamo and the river walk. What fun to be there with them. Brenna especially loved the boat ride. What child would prefer the Alamo to a boat ride? Not Brenna, although she tolerated our time at the Alamo quite well.





Everyone had a great time. I was sad to say goodbye to family and face normal life again. I look forward to seeing what this new year brings us. So, fair-well 2008. You were a good year. May we all find joy in the next one as well.