Christmas in Texas

We left December 26 to celebrate Christmas with my family in Houston.

After driving to Dallas for Thanksgiving, we were thrilled to be flying to Houston this time!

on the plane:

We woke up Saturday morning (December 27) and had Christmas. Here's Christian with one of his favorite gifts... a reading light worm! His favorite gift was probably the night vision goggles! He kept going out in the garage to look around in the dark!


Isaac opens his first gift.

How many men does it take to help one baby open a gift?

My sister, Haley, is a serious Dr. Pepper lover. She got Isaac a Dr. Pepper onesie!

Mimi got Isaac just a few clothes! :)

Jacob got some hi-tech flashlight that he loves. Must be a guy-thing.

Christian & Isaac gave Mimi this bracelet with a charm on it that has a picture of each of them.

My mom always makes lots of cut out cookies, then paints them with icing. We've done this for all the holidays, for as long as I can remember. She does them year round, but she really goes crazy at Christmas. I love it!

Here's Christian with a cookie made just for him:

I staked claim on this one:

I know it's rough on my parents being so far away from their grandkids, especially since Isaac is changing so much. We try to send photos and videos on our cell phones regularly since I'm usually so far behind on the blog! :)

Here's Mimi feeding Isaac his cereal:

(Isaac is sitting in his chair that was his Christmas gift from Mimi and Poppy. We love it.)

One day we went to Bellville to a blacksmith's shop. It was so neat! He was a real artisan, still using old, old tools and fire to do his trade.... definitely a dying art! It was really cool seeing somebody who loves his job so much - he was definitely passionate about blacksmithing.

(And, he'd studied and done some work in France!)

Here I am holding a sword:

(I always wanted to take fencing, but man, this thing was heavy!)

There are lots of little antique shops in Bellville, so we decided to check out some of those. Well, "we" means Mom, Aunt Margaret, Kellie, and me.

This is what the guys did:

One day we went to this place called Funplex. It claims to be "Texas’ LARGEST Indoor Entertainment & Family Fun Center under one roof." It used to be a mall, and it's been converted into an entertainment complex with a movie theater, bowling alley, ferris wheel, go-carts, and a roller skating rink. It's huge and can accomodate 10 - 10,000 people!!! We had a great time!

Dusty

Jacob

Poppy

Christian selects the perfect ball.
be the ball.

go-carts!

The ferris wheel was huge!

Our favorite place to eat when we visit my parents is Double Horn. It's owned by a Greek couple, and they make the best hamburgers we've ever had. When Mom and Dad eat there without us, they usually send us a picture on the phone to rub it in.

Here's Isaac at Double Horn... no burgers for him yet!
Haley & Isaac

Double Horn is kind of out in the country (I say "kind of" because it's quickly growing), and there's a really neat patio to eat outside. And in Houston, we could even eat lunch outside in December!

Leaving Double Horn... the 2 is for the 2nd time we ate Double Horn during our visit. Believe it or not, there was a third time too. Jacob never seems to tire of Double Horn, and my parents always indulge him, offering to take him as often as he wants.

Mom always makes lots of yummy desserts and treats, and since Jacob joined the family, we now always have cheesecake because that's his favorite. I had to get video of this because Isaac was entranced with every bite Dusty took of his cheesecake! By the time I got the camera, he was losing interest a little but, but it was so funny. Remember, Isaac had only been eating rice cereal at this point -- that cheesecake must have looked really good!