We had the pleasure of driving back to Dallas at 5 in the morning on Sunday to get back in time for Cody to lead worship at church. Let me tell you how fun that was! Especially since Kyler got confused a few weeks ago and seems to think he is a newborn again, waking up every 3 hours at night...and still doing so.
Before we went to celebrate Christmas in Houston with my family, we had our own little family Christmas here in Dallas. We opened up all the presents under our tree (which were so generously given by Cody's family) and we gave Kyler his gift from us.
Kyler really enjoyed all the wrapping paper. He got tons of books, a few precious outfits, and hand puppets that we have way too much fun narrating for.
Our gift to him was a swing for our back patio. Now some (namely the manufacturers) would say a baby this age is not ready for a swing like this, but ah..the benefits of having a huge baby with impeccable head control. We push him very very slowly and he just loves it. Notice the squealing of joy.
After we did gifts at our house, we went out to breakfast. Kyler had a great time in the high chair wishing he could eat pancakes with us.
The day before Christmas Eve, we drove down to Houston to spend the holiday with my family. We made our usual stop at Bucee's, which is like the Disneyland of Texas, and little Kyler tried to drive the rest of the way.
Once we were in Houston, everything was so nice. My whole family was there, though I did not get many pictures, and we had so much fun playing games, eating way too much food, going on Christmas-light-looking-walks, and even some crazies went for a "polar swim".
After Christmas was over, we then packed up our entire life in my little car once again, but this time we drove to South Texas for a hunting trip. We stayed on a great ranch of some friends, and enjoyed the company of Cody's parents and brother, and lots of friends and hunting folk. I grew up with a hunting Dad, so the whole animal-killing aspect is not too bothersome to me, but I did see a few too many dead animals for my liking over this trip. Please skip the next picture if this topic is already making you cringe. Actually I'm kind of wishing I could crop that deer out of this picture, but this post is already far too long and I'm quickly growing tired of navigating my way around this computer.
Cody definitely got to add a few punches on his man card and I'd like to think I can add a few punches to my wife card just for going on the trip. I showered with spiders, watched hunting videos, played poker, and glanced (not without cringing) at several prized kills.
My favorite part of the weekend was the ride on the "War Wagon" through their property. This might have been the best mode of transportation I have ever seen. This family basically built a double-decker-bus by creating an upper level of seats on top of an old suburban. We drove around the ranch at night with spotlights, and got to see deer and tons of elk. I had never seen so many elk, they were huge and cute at the same time. It was great.
Once we returned home from all of our travels we were exhausted. So exhausted we had a very low-key New Years Eve at home. We rang in the new year by cooking one of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (it took us 45), watching The Other Guys, and eating cookies. And yes, we actually stayed up past midnight.
2010 was incredible, with the birth of our son making it a monumental year in our life. We are excited to take on another year (no babies to be born in this one) and see where it take us. We have some pretty awesome goals and I am taking on a killer reading list. Maybe after I (and you if you are still reading this) recover from this post, I will whip up one for the new year.
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