Our Holiday Travels and Adventures

Our Christmas season was quite eventful with many days spent on the road. With a newborn, that was quite a challenge, but we survived! We started out in Snyder, with my family. We spent five days there, I believe, including Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We had a great time! My mom, Ronnie, I, and Ethan stayed at my grandmother's house, and they lovingly and willingly took over baby duty at night so Ronnie and I could get some much needed rest. It was great - thanks! Christmas morning, we went over to my brother's house to have Christmas with an absurd amount of presents for everyone. The time spent together was priceless, however. We had Christmas lunch at Bub's house with our family and Stormy's parents. The food was delicious! Ethan had a 'My First Christmas' outfit that I was determined to put him in. It was a flannel suit and it was like 80 degrees outside, but I still managed, just long enough for pictures. Poor guy - I'm glad he's not yet to the age of remembering the ways his mother tortures him!

But, dang it, he just looked so cute!! The rest of our time in Snyder was just spent with family
and a few friends.

Our next destination: Granbury. Ronnie's grandparents live here, as well as his aunt and uncle. We spent about 2 days here, visiting and hanging with his family. His cousin, Zach, and wife, Tammy and nine month old baby girl, Madison, were all in from Colorado Springs so we got to spend a little time with them, as well. And, Ethan was able to meet one of his cousins; not that he'll remember, but oh well! We enjoyed our time in Granbury and are thankful we were able to spend a few days there.

Next: Kerrville via Johnson City. We left Granbury and headed to Kerrville, Ronnie's hometown. On the way, we stopped in Johnson City to visit some more of Ronnie's aunts, uncles and cousins. We were able to have dinner with them and visit for a few hours which was great. We don't get to see them very often so any time is treasured. Onward to Kerrville. Ronnie's parents and his younger brother, Rusty and his wife, Tori live in Kerrville. We were only able to spend 2 days in Kerrville before we had to start heading back north. We had a good time in the short hours we were there. We spent New Year's with Rusty & Tori at some friend's house - pretty low-key but still a good time.

Whew! From one end of the state to the other, but our travels were well worth it! Ethan traveled like a dream - he loves his car seat, as long as the car is moving! We made it home safely and are thankful for our very blessed holiday season. We were sad Daddy wasn't with us - Christmas was his absolute favorite time of year, but he joined us all in our hearts and memories. I look forward to next Christmas because Ethan will be 1, Bub & Stormy's baby will be 6 months old and Reese will be 9 - we'll have a complete blast with them!!

I don't have any New Year's resolutions, but I'm gladly welcoming in 2009. I look forward to a much calmer year than 2008 was, which will go down as the worst year of my life and the best year of my life. Our family lost a member very dear to all of us, but we ended the year being blessed with a beautiful new life in my son and he will always be our saving grace. The void left in my life from losing Daddy can never be filled, but the pain has somewhat lessened with the part of his legacy he left behind, Ethan. I hope everyone was blessed beyond belief during the 2008 holiday season; I know we were.