Christmas 2009 and Moving Day Finally Came

We had a very busy Christmas break. We finally closed on our house in Stamford on the 23rd and got most everything moved in that day before the storm hit. Zach and I stayed at the new house, but left Kagen with my parents for the night while we got his new room set up. We woke up the next morning, Christmas Eve to a blizzard. We had planned on leaving that morning for Hale Center to spend a couple of days with Zach's family. However, we didn't end up leaving until early that afternoon when the snow quit falling. The usual 3 hour drive took 5 1/2 hours instead. Thankfully, Kagen was good the whole trip. He watched Alvin and The Chipmunks, then his Mickey Mouse Sing-A-Long 4 times before finally arriving at Mammie's house.

In Hale Center, we had dinner that night with Zach's immediate family. The kids opened a couple of gifts that night. Then, early on Christmas morning, we woke up to Santa Claus gifts. Santa brought Kagen a big tractor and some boots. We spent about an hour opening piles of gifts. Kagen got a big comfy chair from his grandparents, along with many many toys and clothes.

Later that day, we headed to Floydada (on ice again) for Christmas at Zach's Papa's house. We had a very late lunch, played Play-Do with Kagen's cousins, then opened more presents. Around 4:30, we headed back to Stamford so we could do Christmas all over with my family. We ended up not having Christmas with my family until lunch on Saturday because Cheryl and Matt were stuck in Gruver with the stomach bug. We were all a little hesitant to be around Cheryl when they did arrive for fear of catching it. We all remained healthy though, thank goodness.

We had lunch on the 26th with my mom's family at her house, then Cheryl stayed the rest of the week, so we could spend time with Alex. She and I took both boys shopping in Abilene on Monday. That didn't last too long. We very rarely had a free second to shop. We went back on Wednesday to finish and left Alex with my mom. Kagen sure did enjoy spending time with his Aunt Cheryl. He wasn't real fond of us all making a fuss over Alex.

Zach and I spent that whole week moving the rest of our stuff and settling into our new house. His mom and Grandma came down for a day and helped me hang everything on the walls.

New Year's weekend, we finally had Christmas with my dad's family in Stamford. 5 of my cousins stayed with us, so we broke in the guest house. Kara and Ramon stayed out there with 2 space heaters and a small water heater. They said it wasn't bad except for the water situation. It is sure nice to have that extra space for guests.

Our new house has 2100 sq. feet like our house in Floydada. 3 bedrooms, 1 3/4 baths, and 2 living areas. It has siding, no brick, and an attached carport that is pretty nice. The guest house has a kitchen (no range or fridge yet), 3/4 bath, living area and bedroom. We are loving it all!

Zach also got a new pickup over the break. He bought my uncle Mark's old business truck, so it's not new, but a step up from what he had. He managed to sell his old pickup this week, so we came out pretty good.

Now, we have been back to the grind of work for 2 weeks. Kagen is now staying with a lady in Stamford rather than at day care in Anson. He seems very happy so far, and we feel lucky to have her. She helps us with potty training, so it is making a big difference. Before, he would do great with us, but would not go at all at school, so we were going no where. Now, he has been in big boy underwear all week with only a few accidents. M&Ms seem to help more than the Monkey Sticker chart we had been using. Chocolate always wins out!































The last two pictures are of our house on Christmas eve morning.