On Friday, I got a very special treat. Not only did my sister and her family arrive, but one of my dearest friends, Ginger, came to visit! Ginger and her family moved to Stamford when she and I were in the 4th grade. We became instant friends. We were close all through high school despite hanging with different crowds due to boyfriends and church. We went to separate colleges. She went to San Angelo, while I went to Tech. We still stayed friends and went to visit each other. After 3 years of that, she got accepted to PT school at Tech and moved to Lubbock! I was in need of a roommate, so she moved in with me. Soon after that, my sister moved out of the dorm and we got a 3 bedroom apartment. We had so much fun! As the end of PT school neared for Ginger, she went to Midland (??) and then Austin for her clinicals. Cheryl and I missed her a lot. She met a guy from Houston while in Austin and it was bye bye Ginger after that. They are now married, have 3 beautiful children, and live and work near Houston. The worst part came when her parents moved from Stamford to San Angelo 3 years ago. We still saw each other on holidays until then. So, it had been 3 years since we had met up when she called to say she and her husband were on their way to San Angelo for the weekend and they were thinking of taking a day trip to Stamford. I'm so glad they came. We got to meet each other's youngest kids for the first time and catch up. The kids had a good time playing together as well.
Friday night after Ginger and her family headed back to San Angelo, we celebrated Christmas with my parents, sister, and her family. Saturday, New Years Eve (Mom and Dad's 35th Wedding Anniversary), we celebrated Christmas with some of my dad's family, my grandmother, and my cousin Blaine. We ate some good food, exchanged a few gifts, watched the kids ride all of their toys since the weather was beautiful, and shot some of Mark and Chad's guns. It was a great time! We didn't get to share it with my aunt and cousin from Houston because Kara will be having baby Sariah tomorrow morning! We missed them so much, but are so excited for the arrival of our newest family member. We also missed my aunt and uncle and cousin from Anson due to work conflicts.
I'm so blessed to have such a loving supportive family. We love spending time together and they are so good to my boys. My boys are lucky to have such love from 2 families just like I did growing up.
This was the first live Armadillo I had seen up close and personal. (right behind our house)
What cuties!
Princess Mya
Zoe and Mya
Hard at work
Braden's first time in the sandbox
Cheryl, Ginger, and me
The stockings were hung. (Matt's is the tiny one!)
Spoiled again
It's been a long time since that many kids played in my parent's backyard.
2 of my favorite people
Braden and Dane
Poor Braden. His little face doesn't stand a chance. He fell face first into the gravel in our driveway that day.
Me and my husband of 7 years
Dad and Matt (I told Matt that he looked like he was having loads of fun!)
Alex, Dane, Braden, Mya, Zoe
Kagen (4), Alex (2), Dane (19 months), Braden (15 months), Mya (3), Zoe (5)
Kagen helping Alex work his new Fire Truck Puzzle
Silly kid
That's one big bag of trash!
Playing with their new kitchen from Matt and Cheryl
3 boys dancing to "Fight Raiders Fight"
Alex got a new train table! It provided hours of entertainment!
Papa and his oldest grandson
Kagen and Alex taking a "nap". It lasted about 3 minutes.
Kagen created himself a "jacket" out of tissue paper.
My aunt and uncle (Mark and Lynda) having fun with Kagen
My mom is standing just out of the picture, so it looks like he is riding all by himself!
Kagen taking Alex for his first gator ride
All 3 boys going for a ride. Alex didn't last long in the back.
Amanda helping Braden ride the scooter
Cheryl and I taking our boys for a ride in the old golf cart
Chad was nice enough to let Kagen steer.
Alex just wanted to run after the toys instead of ride on them. Aunt Lynda was nice enough to go with him.
Chad on Kagen's bike
Target practice at Grandpa's house! I don't think the neighbors appreciated us too much.
Me, shooting Chad's gun. My first time using a scope.
3 handsome boys
3 silly boys
No comments:
Post a Comment