Beyond Christmas

Christmas was more than just one day for us! In fact, Austin kept asking, "Is Christmas tomorrow, too?" We opened WAY too many gifts, but saw all kinds of family. We saw people in Missouri, Arkansas AND Tennessee! It really was a great Christmas and New Year.

This year for New Year's Eve, we stayed at Bill and Mary's house and had a fun night with the family. Matt and Paula and the kids were still in Little Rock and after the three youngest ones went to bed, we played Wii. Nate and Anna got Rock Band for Christmas, so we started off with that. The boys rocked it...as you can see by the picture of Brian!

I'm sure you also notice the "what in the world are you doing" look from Mary! :-)

I think Matt had the hardest part...the drums are NOT easy. I played them later in the night and that takes a LOT of coordination. Coordination that I, apparently, don't have!

Nathan did a great job with the vocals. He's even holding the mic like a rocker!

The next afternoon, our family, John, and Bill and Mary loaded up the van and drove to Memphis. Brian's cousins live there and his aunt was still there visiting (his uncle had to go back to North Carolina before we got to get up there). We also had Liberty Bowl tickets to see the Razorbacks play.

Colten doesn't exactly like getting put in his carseat, but once he's in there, he's pretty good. On longer trips, it helps that we have a portable DVD player that we put Baby Einstein videos in for him every once in a while. He gets so excited about those things!

I'm also very lucky because Austin is great in the car as well. He plays with toys and watches movies the whole time.

Our hosts, Michael and Wendy have a BEAUTIFUL house. I really loved the layout and the color choices. It was a perfect house for all of us guests since there were plenty of rooms and bathrooms for us to use! They have a little boy, Wade, who is only 5-6 months younger than Austin. That can be good AND bad! They had a lot in common and loved the same toys. Which brings me to the bad point. LOL

Yes, they fought a lot over those same toys! I just happened to catch this little argument with the camera...it was NOT planned. They had actually been playing very nicely and then all of a sudden this happened! I can't even count how many times we had to break them up. However, no matter how many times they fought, they would go right back to playing and having fun.

The day after we arrived, Matt and Paula got up there. They had spent an extra day in Little Rock. It was fun visiting with everyone and catching up. I can't even remember the last time we were able to see this side of the family!

Right before the Liberty Bowl game, we got some pictures taken. I really need to learn more on camera settings. I definitely didn't have them right this time around, but the pictures still look pretty decent. (Remember, I just don't like flash...which makes it hard getting things in focus in lower light...can't wait until my new lens gets in!)

We had a great time in Memphis and want to send out a great big Thank You to Michael and Wendy for having us at their house and Aunt Kay for cooking for us! Amy did quite a bit as well and we don't want to leave her out! :-)