New Year

We are currently recovering from celebrating our first Christmas in our house.  Everything became official on December 23 when we FINALLY closed on the house.  Randall's family came for Christmas and my family came the week after.

Our Very White Christmas

Randall's sister and her family came up on Christmas Eve.  What is normally a 4 1/2 hour trip was turned into a 6+ hour trip by ice and snow.  The highways were all closed shortly after they arrived which meant that Randall's parents could not come up on Christmas morning to join us as planned.  The roads were so bad that Katrina, Kevin, and Andrew couldn't make it to their hotel.  They stayed the night at our house (which is what I thought the plan was anyway).  Sad as it was to be missing Namaw (as Audra calls her) and Grandpapa, it was so much fun watching Andrew and Audra open presents on Christmas day.  Audra and Andrew had so much fun together.  Audra would read to Andrew.  Andrew walked all over the house with one thing in each hand.

Audra Helping Andrew Open Presents

 We drove to Kevin and Katrina's home in Frisco to celebrate Andrew's First Birthday (and Christmas with Namaw and Grandpapa).  It was a wonderful time with Randall's immediate family.  It was our first time meeting several members of the extended family.  Let's just say we won't be going out of our way to meet up with them again.

Audra and Andrew Mesmerized by Yo Gabba Gabba!

My family drove down from Kansas City on Sunday night and we had our second Christmas with them on Monday.  Audra had to help EVERYONE open their presents, and Eleanor slept through the whole thing.  It was Aunty Em's first time meeting Elie.  I think she liked her (though she'll hate that I called her Aunty Em if she ever reads this).  Audra loved having her Grammy, Poppy, Mimi, and Aunts all here to play with.

Aunt Allie, Aunty Em, and Elie

I'm so glad Mimi was able to come.  It was the first Christmas without Papaw, which wasn't easy for any of us.  I don't know how she does it.  She even wrote a Christmas letter.  She's so strong.

Mimi Cuddling with Elie

It was so much fun hosting Christmas and cooking for everyone.  I got lots of new kitchen items to play with in my big new kitchen.  Randall finally convinced me to start a food blog so I'll be sharing kitchen adventures and recipes there.

Christmas Dinner #2

Randall is still off from school for a week or so.  He's determined to get things done around the house while he has time.  There's a fair amount for me to get done with unpacking and finding a place for everything.  Eventually I'll get to paint everything, but that's a task (and probably a story) for another day.