Hello! Well, it's been a very fun and eventful holiday season for us! I know I've added a TON of pictures here . . . I just can't help it! We've been having such a blast! :)
We spent Christmas and the week surrounding it at my parents' in Gettysburg, and then we left for San Antonio to spend New Year's with Brant's family. We're finally back from everything, and now that it's just Brant, Annie, Memphis, and I here at the house, things feel so lonely and . . . quiet! We had such fun spending the holidays with family, especially since the last two years we were in Provo and alone for the most part. So here are some pictures to document the good times we've had the past few weeks . . .
watching the snowfall from our window--it all melted before Christmas--too bad
Holiday dinner in Gettysburg. My brother had just arrived home from Hawaii, where he's in grad school. This picture is special because it's with the cathedral that was always in my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve. I have so many of those magical childhood memories of running around Grandma's house looking for presents . . .
Decorated tables!
Dishing up the delicious yuletide meal! :)
Playing with Great Gram
Christmas outfits!
So tired yet so beautiful :)
Playing with Grandma on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve Eve dinner of cold cut subs. Mmmm. Basically our time in Gettysburg was spent watching football, eating delicious food, and playing a lot of games. Oh, and doing a really hard puzzle! So much fun! Also, Annie started rolling over during Christmas. Yay!
Waiting in BWI airport to head to San Antonio after Christmas.
On the plane! It was Annie's first trip in an airplane, and I was nervous. But she did fairly well. She wasn't one of those babies that's a complete terror and makes everyone around miserable. She did her fair share of fussing, but she just got bored being on the plane for 4 hours! I don't really blame her. We were all pretty antsy, excited over getting see Brant's family. Annie had yet to meet Brant's sister Brielle and his brother Steve and sister-in-law Carolyn! Also Brant's grandmother was waiting to meet her too!
We arrived at San Antonio airport without a hitch!
I love Annie's face here, as she met her aunt. She barely took any time before breaking out the smiles for everyone!
with her great grandma!
We went to a Mexican restaurant in downtown San Antonio. SO YUMMY--and the place was all decked out--very festive. We had a lot of fun.
We went down to Brant's grandfather's ranch one afternoon and had some delicious Texas beef. :) It was so warm and lovely outside.
Annie played on a saddle in the dining room--and she was really, really happy on it. I've never seen her so beside herself with happiness during a photo shoot.
Maybe she's born to be a cowgirl. :)
At the front of the ranch house.
We drove around the ranch in the back of a pick up truck! And I got sunburned! On December 29th!
On New Year's Eve, Brant's high school friend and his wife and all his kids came to hang out with us at a park near Brant's house. It was another gorgeous day! Annie wasn't too happy, but it was great watching Brant catch up with an old friend.
relaxing on the couch--I love that whoever took this picture caught Annie yawning like that. :)
So Brant's family got a Wii and a Wii Fit for Christmas. Anyone who knows me well knows that I really don't like video games and all that, but the Wii Fit is the one thing that makes me actually consider getting a Wii. It was SO much fun! We all spent a lot of time exercising in the living room. :)
I started taking pictures of Annie and she went crazy with the camera. She grabbed hold of my arms and started talking to the camera.
Our little family ringing in the new year!
On New Year's Day we drove up to Fort Worth to see Steve and Carolyn. Steve's in medical school up there. The drive took about four hours, which turned out to be just fine. I was SO excited because we haven't seen Steve and Carolyn since we left Provo 6 months ago! And they got to meet Annie.
They took us to the Fort Worth stockyards to see the cattle drive. The cattle are driven through the streets twice a day, and it's a really neat thing to watch. If I didn't know I was in Texas yet, this surely proved it to me!
On the streets of Fort Worth
There were these neat water gardens in downtown Fort Worth. This is at the top, but we walked all the way down into them.
More of the water gardens
We finally had to leave. Too bad! Here we are flying back on the airplane to Baltimore. We met my mom there and drove back to Gettysburg, had dinner, picked up Memphis (who was sorry to leave Ollie, see below) and then drove back to our house in Harrisburg. Since we got back yesterday, Brant and I have been unpacking and reorganizing everything in our house. It feels good to clean and start new projects. As we were driving back home we made a list of our new year's resolutions. :)
We hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas. Here's to a sparkling new year!
Annie and Poppy scouted out the perfect picnic bench by the lake.
While taking a break from swimming laps in the lake, Annie sported her trendy beach cover-up.
We had so much fun (and got so much sun!) paddle-boating around the lake. It was beautiful!
All ready for the hike up the Horseshoe Trail. See Annie in Brant's backpack??
The trail was marked at a high difficulty, but we figured we could handle it. Boy, it was steep!!
On the way back down, Annie refused to be in the backpack anymore. She was so tired. So I carried her like a little baby all the way across the backside of the mountain. Luckily it wasn't steep anymore. :)
Walking around at the overlook
