Our 30th Birthday Trip!

First few pictures were taken on the River Walk... Happy Birthday Laurie!

This was the garden at the Gage.... very beautiful to walk around in
Our front porch at the Gage
Our sink at the Gage, it was so pretty in that room
Our expert at the Del Rio Winery
Our modest, but cheery room in Del Rio
Beautiful fruit plate to start off our breakfast... yummy!
Delicious Mayan recipe... papaya with sugar and spices
Grand Canyon Scenery....


The area where you can see the Rio Grande and the Pecos Rivers

The next few were at Ozona



For our birthdays (both in January), Paxton planned a tour of the Wild West (south west Texas) for the 2 of us. I was skeptical.... 6 days of traveling from town to town, very little to no TV, no Target, no malls, no civilization basically. But, what a great experience it turned out to be! Time together, time to soul search, time to think about what we wanted to do better when we got home, and of course time for fun! The trip started off in San Antonio where Paxton was finishing up a conference, then led to a bed & breakfast in Del Rio, then to Marathon to stay at the Gage, on to Big Bend and spent the night in Lajitas, and then on to Ozona to see some college friends, Ryan, Angela and Baby Chandler. Big Bend was beautiful once we finally got in there. The long drive into the pretty part was very boring, but worth it! I think the best part was getting home to Channing and Jaxson, and realizing how much we take them for granted. It's been great to spend time with them this week. And- my mother-in-law had my house all clean and fridge stocked! That is an awesome way to come home!!!

Christmas... more pictures!

Me and Stac at the Cowboys party

Michael, Brook, and sweet baby Karlie

Channing loves baby girls!

My sweet Pappy
Christmas at Farmersville
My babies with all of Mimi's wrapped presents!

Cousin Meg

Cousin Gracie

Jaxson sleeping after a day of swimming at the hotel and ice skating

Channing opening clothes

My sister and Sean

Nanny Deb with kids

My young dad ice skating!

Chloe, Molly, Caden, and Channing

Jaxson on his new "4-wheeler" (channing likes it more than him)

With Cooper and Jade and the ice sculptures

It keeps hanging over my head that I haven't really published a real post about Christmas, especially given that it was the first where Jaxson kind of knew what was going on. We had a blast all season long! Channing helped decorate the house, we listened to Christmas music non-stop, and used the fireplace almost everyday. Jaxson was excited for Santa, and they were so cute getting their gifts together. I loved it! We were on the go, traveling to Frisco and Abilene for Christmas with my family (had fun ice-skating in Frisco with Dad, sis, etc...), and then to Farmersville for all of Paxton's family. Payton and Laura are expecting in March, so it was fun to think about another little one being here next year! Also- we saw the "Grinch" ice sculptures at the Gaylord and they were amazing. Don't know how much the kids appreciated that, but it was something to see!

Happy New Year!

Can't believe the new year is here. Caught me pretty off guard actually.... I had this fairytale in my mind of waking up on the 1st, giving my little family a kiss, and heading out the door for a jog wearing tights and cute little fitted top (oh, in my dream I had a bowl of fruit with a big glass of water, instead of a frosted pop tart and cup of coffee which is what I actually had). But, instead, after only four hours of sleep, I woke to the sound of jaxson's screaming, dragged myself out of bed to his room, and spent the rest of the day depressed. So today- I woke up determinded to turn it all around. Afterall, I told myself, I am so blessed and lucky to have a beautiful, healthy family, and the opportunity to start all over and really continue becoming a better wife, mom, and person this year. And my kids give me a lot to laught about by the way! I mentioned something about a fire, and Channing immediately broke into "somebody call 911, shorty's fire's buring on the dance floor". No matter what word I use, she can find some inappropriate song to tie it to. And Jaxson decided to pour cheese on the floor this morning. I told him if he did it again he was going to his room (at 18 months, I didn't really think he would get it). However, he looked at me, grinned, threw a handful of cheese on the floor, and starting jogging to his bedroom and shut the door. I guess he did get it afterall!