Christmas 2011 Overview

Christmas this year was fantastic. I always enjoy this holiday, but this year was especially great because I got to watch my two-year-old experience it and understand it for the first time. We spent about 11 days away from home visiting family in Houston, San Antonio, and Pineville. 

In Houston, we baked lots of cookies, got creative with some artsy projects, sang around the table, watched several movies, had a bonfire, went caroling, celebrated Christmas, relaxed, played a few games on the computer and Wii, watched the kids play together, opened presents, took a family portrait, talked to Elder Nick (my brother) on the phone, went shopping, etc.

Cousin EVA watching the boys chop firewood for the Bonfire.

Cousin Eva on Christmas Eve. Cutest dimples ever!

Halle and Eva hanging out at the Piano. They were great friends on this trip.
They're finally about the same size, and can actually share a lot of activities together.
This picture also shows how crazy Halle's hair gets after sleep. It's a daily battle keeping her hair calm.

Me-Mere and Eva sharing the Love.

The yummy Ginger Snap cookies we baked one night.
We sat around the table for about an hour singing Christmas Music (in parts of course)
and sampling from the cookie selection. I found the recipe on Pinterest.

My kid is SO CRAZY and SO FUN sometimes.
She loves color, and this particular day she wanted to wear as much purple as possible.

In San Antonio, we got to explore the Riverwalk, see the Alamo, celebrate cousin Joshua's birthday, have some quality "cousin-time", and play at the park. Anne-Marie is about to have another baby soon (and I only have 6 weeks left), so we were fairly limited in what we could do as a group, but we still had a great time! Halle developed a cough while we were gone and her sleep schedule was CRAZY (which was really hard on me) but it didn't slow her down too much. She enjoyed mimicking everything her older cousin Emily did or said, and she was in heaven playing with their toys in the huge upstairs playroom. 

Cousins at the Park, enjoying the swings.

Daddy and Halle across the street from the Alamo.

Touring the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

Sweet Baby Joshua, getting ready to meet Little Sister.

In Pineville, we ate lots of good food, slept and read a lot, had more cousin time with the other Huddlestons, watched lots of football, celebrated New Year's Eve with fireworks at a lake house, and just relaxed. Jacob and Halle were both a little under the weather by the end of the trip, so we tried to just take it easy.

Now that we're back, I'm changing focus and trying to prepare for baby! Jacob goes back to school tomorrow. The National Championship game is tomorrow. January is always SLOW in comparison to those weeks surrounding the Holidays, but I'm looking forward to the break from activity so I can change gears and be mentally prepared for next month. Can't wait to meet this little boy.