We Love The Holidays!

Ahhh, bahumbug! I say that because the holidays are almost over and we will have to go back to school and work. But there are good things that come out of that, too, and one of the best is that is gets us closer to Chris graduating! We will be moving to New Mexico in June and starting a new part of our lives.

Well, for Christmas we have had quite the vacation! The day I finished teaching we packed up the car and drove a long 9 hour drive to Denver, CO. Chris' folks and sister and her family live in Denver and we decided that it would be nice to see his side as well. His siblings were coming out to CO for Christmas, too, but the final factor in this decision for us was that plane tickets to San Diego were a LOT less from Denver than Lubbock. Like hundreds of dollars less!

We were in Denver for a few days and on the 22nd at VERY early in the morning we left for out 6:30 am flight to San Diego, CA. Hadley was wired in the airport. Wide awake and grabbing at everything! She didn't really want to sleep on the flight. Which meant that Chris and I didn't really get to sleep. Well, we were getting used to it at this point.

Early flights like that are no fun, but they do save us money. And they allowed us to spend the 22nd seeing lots of family. So while in San Diego we got to see a lot family and some friends, too! We went to the outlet malls, got some relaxation and better sleep, too! In Colorado, Hadley decided that she was going to wake up every 2 hours. We were sharing a room with her, and she knew it. But in California, we decided to stick her in the room with my sister, Alyssa who is 20 and can sleep through ANYTHING. My little niece, Keiya (age 4) also slept in the room and she also sleeps through anything. So when Hadley fussed she didn't bother anyone. Chris and I were in the next room so that when she really cried we could get up and feed her. But it went close to her regular night schedule with just one or two wakenings at night. It was wonderful!

We left California on the 30th at another 6:30 am flight, and this time Hadley slept some on the plane. After a minor tantrum, of course. We will probably leave Colorado sometime tonight and will look forward to being home again.

Some of my favorite things over the holidays were...spending time with the family and grandparents, too. It is so fun to play games with them and eat Grams' good food! I was so happy to be able to see my two best friends (besides my husband and sisters). Denise came over to visit and we got to see her parents and sister, too. And I LOVE playing games with Ashley and our group of friends. (The pic below is of her baby and Hadley- about a week apart in age- future best friends!) One of my favorite things about going home is getting to play the best game in the WORLD...Settlers of Catan. I even won twice this time! Chris won't play it, so I only really get to play when I go home.

I also enjoyed seeing my new little niece, Niyah. She is so cute, and so small. It was fun to hold a small baby again. And her sister, Keiya who is four and a half was so fun to watch play with Hadley. I liked getting to eat red cabbage (a family favorite), turkey and all the yummy Christmas treats. It was fun to see Hadley's facial expressions change with everything going on. I think that baby has gotten even fatter over the break! She is quite a chunker! I thought for sure she would start crawling over the break, but not quite. She does try. She gets up on all fours and even lunges. She has done a full arm and foot crawl on one side, but then she falls and rolls over to her back. She is so funny! It is so much fun to be around her and see all her attempts and growths. Even the not so positive ones- like realizing that she can get slap-happy past her bed time and stay up a little longer. That can be annoying, but so funny at the same time!