Christmas Holidays

Christmas this year just wasn't the same.....family schedules didn't allow for a Family Christmas. (What's up with that?) Cause what is Christmas....if it isn't spending time with family? Anyway, we chose to focus on the positives and had plenty of good times in spite of the lack of bodies.

I drove in to Houston for Christmas with the 3 K's, (Kade, Kai and Keira) a few days before Christmas Day. We picked up Kade a little earlier than the two younger kids and then picked up Mara and Cayman to give them their BIG surprise Christmas present.......A TRIP TO DISNEYWORLD!!! We will leave the day after school lets out for a road trip and 7 night stay at Disneyworld.....the kids SCREAMED when they read the the little book I had made to present them with their gift! I hate that it is so many months away, but it will be worth the wait! After that surprise, we picked up Kai and Keira. (No....they are not included on the Disneyworld trip and it really makes me feel terrible.....but with the length of the stay and the fact that the 3 older kids are capable of so much more than the two littler ones.....we just thought it would work out for the best. But....that doesn't keep me from feeling guilty and sad that they won't be accompanying us! We're just gonna have to make it up to them somehow!! ) We then ate dinner at Chili's. The kids ate great so we all split desserts afterwards and left there FAT! We dropped off the girls and then had our Christmas with the K's. Mara and Caymi get to come to our place to have Christmas there with us and spend their Christmas vacation. Yeah!! Aren't we lucky?? Christmas with the K's was great....lots of paper flying, playing with new stuff, trying on new clothes and excitement....then a wind down of Christmas TV and off to bed. Grandpa had to go to work the next morning...at 4am!!!....AAAAHHH! We spent the next day just doing fun stuff...we pigged out at IHOP (I gotta STOP doing that!!!) then drove to Kemah and played around and had a picnic. It was a great visit as always.....LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! those kids! Too soon, it was time to take them home. I was able to spend a little time with Edwin and Michelle before the long trip home which is always fun. At least I got to see some of "my kids" this Season. Hopefully next year there will be more time.

Neika was able to come up and spend a couple of days with us and Mom and Dad. We spent one full day in San Antonio visiting the Alamo, the RiverWalk and some cool shopping places. It was a great day and we enjoyed the visit.

Then the Reim clan all came up for a couple of days also. We stayed around Mom and Dad's mostly just enjoying the company. Of course it was loud, crazy and lots of fun! We all took turns sharing Blayke....she is such a cutie and at such a great age......just starting to really have her own "Blayke personality," which is so sweet. So......all in all it was a great couple of weeks. Thanks God for the blessings of your son and family....they are tops on my list!!!! Here's a few pics of the fun times.

Since the girls were coming to stay......I decided to decorate. Well, to be totally honest.......when I told Mara that I had not decorated or even put up my trees, her response shamed me into it!!! "Mimi!!! You have to get into the Christmas spirit!"

These were taken at the beautiful "Walkway of Lights" that the city of Marble Falls puts on each year. There are over a million lights and we enjoy walking through it every year.