New Years Weekend

This year, we decided to go camping for New Years Eve weekend.  Mom, Dad and Chelle and Jenny, Chris and Baxter and us all went.  It was really a perfect weather weekend!  Not too hot...not too cold...just right :)

We got there Friday after work and had a nice evening.  We played catch:

There was a pretty sunset:

Ryan was a little obsessed with the water so we had to take him to look at it a lot.  The trees were beautiful! 

We took a walk:

Paw Paw and Ryan played "catch the ball as it rolls off of the awning" game.  Ryan loved it!

Here is fair warning, y'all.  It's about to get nasty up in here.

We went to the snake feeding that they do at the State Park every Saturday.  It was so gross. Michael does not like snakes (me either!). Look at his face in the picture.

She feeds these snakes frozen, dead mice.  Sick nasty.

This snake literally wrapped himself into a knot around her arm.  Oh dear.

This is blurry but this is my reaction.

Life in the wild is not pretty, people.

Ryan was a little interested but didn't pay too much attention to all that was going on.  Chelle was up close and personal with everything. 

Mom and dad met at Hen House Ridge so our family memories there go way back. They were both camping with their families and some of their extended family knew each other.  Mom was 16 and dad was 18 about to leave in the Navy.  They have a running "argument" on which day they met...either my mom's dad's birthday, April 9th or my dad's dad's birthday, April 10th.  Dad went off in the service a few months later and they wrote letters for 4 years with a few visits in between.  And the rest is history!  This is a picture of them in front of the Hen House Ridge sign and the camp spot where they met :)  (Jenny fixed up this pictures on her iPhone:)

Random pictures:

We celebrated my birthday with them while we were there.  Pecan pie is good in the woods!

Christmas 2011

Christmas seems to come around faster every year!  Which makes me kinda sad because the years just go by too fast!  

I love Ryan's face when he is drinking from a straw.  Such concentration!

Michael's parents bought Ryan a box of these Santa diapers.  They are super cute and we had fun using them this year :) (Ryan was sleeping in this picture)

Christmas Eve was our usual crazy 3 party day!  It was lots of fun though! Ryan had a great time opening so many gifts.  He really got good at opening gifts this year. 

Today, we had a nice relaxing morning.  Ryan took his time opening each gift and we had some of his toys out that he got yesterday.  (No, Ryan's pjs don't match.  He had matching ones on when he went to bed last night but might have gotten a little pee on them :)

Ryan playing with some gifts:

Of course, we did not take a family picture today :( but I have to say that this picture of Ryan is on my all time favorite list:

 

Merry Christmas!!

 (this picture was on our Christmas card this year)

Catch up 2

Love this sweet shot of Ryan in the bathtub at Grammy and Pawpaw's house:

This was Michael and me at his work Christmas party:

I got to go to Ryan's Christmas party at his school last week.  Basically, it involved them eating some junk food and listening to some kiddie Christian songs.  It was sweet though.  It is always interesting to observe him with other kids. 

Last weekend was extended family Christmas party weekend for us.  We started with the King family Christmas on Saturday morning:

 Then headed to Friendswood for the Varner family Christmas party.  I didn't take any pictures there :(

From there, we went to the Wagner's to spend the night...

 because Sunday at lunch was Arceneaux family Christmas in Montgomery!  What a crazy but fun weekend!

Sweet Chelle:

 I love this.  We have this Santa that plays "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" and moves his hips from side to side.  Ryan loves to dance with the music and sometimes he will go sit beside Santa and hold his hand.  So sweet.

Catch up

Still trying to catch up on my blogging:

When we decorated the tree the first thing Ryan did was put his cars in the branches.  They are kind of hard to see but his red and yellow trucks are hanging out on the bottom branch.

Ryan loves to put on his daddy's new boots:

A few weeks ago, I went to Fredericksburg with the ladies from work.  I was gone for 2 nights!  Can you believe it?!  I missed my boys but I had a good time with Jenny and the other ladies from work.  

Plus, Michael kept me loaded with pictures of Ryan so I wouldn't miss him too much!  (What did people in the olden days (like 15 years ago!) do?! No sending pictures or using Facetime?!)

Michael took Ryan to Barnes and Noble:

They went to the gun show in Houston with Grandpa and Adam:

Ate at Cracker Barrel:

Saw Santa Clause when he came by the house on the fire truck:

And basically had a great time :)

Fredericksburg was beautiful at Christmas! Jenny and I said several times that weekend that we felt like we were in a Hallmark movie.  So lovely!  (Of course, the pictures do not do it justice.)

 We had to go back to Luckenbach:

 We were standing in an alley looking at an old building and I heard some beautiful music.  I couldn't tell where is was coming from. I was looking all around trying to find the speakers that were playing the music.  Then, this group of people passed in front of the alley and they were singing!  It was so lovely!  Another Hallmark moment :) Fredericksburg was just as wonderful as ever!