December 2010

It is hard to believe another year has passed by! It has been an eventful year, with the birth of Colin and lot's of fun with family and friends, and also a long year, with Allan being gone most of the year. We are so glad to have him home now and looking forward to our next adventure. Here are a couple of pictures and videos from December that I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Daniel was playing with Playdoh at the table and he was being super good, so I decided to go off and clean the bathroom. I kept peeking around and I could see that he was still sitting nicely in the chair. After a bit, I went back into the kitchen and found this - he had smeared it all in his hair. Luckily it all came out really easily in the bath. :)

Dad and Colin

Dad and Daniel

Colin Dancing and Playing with Daniel’s New Train Table

Daniel and Cousin Aidan Dancing

Colin Playing with his Basketball Goal

Colin Playing with his Elephant Toy

Colin Playing his Piano

Daniel On the Trailer Ramp

Tour of Cowboy Stadium

Today, Allan and I went on a tour of Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, TX. I have been in the stadium one time for the A&M vs. Arkansas game, but Allan hadn't been there yet. We took the VIP tour and it was pretty neat. We got to go on several levels of the stadium, into a suite, several club areas, the Cowboy's locker room and cheerleader's locker room, and onto the field. We even got to go into Jerry Jone's private little perch. It has an elevator up from his club so he can be alone during games - crazy! Here are some of the pictures from the tour.

View of the Field

Giant Scoreboard (TV) and Roof That Opens

Club Area - Lights Shaped Like Footballs

Fountain in Ford End Zone Area

Cotton Bowl Offices

A&M vs LSU for this year's Cotton Bowl

Big XII Helmets at the Cotton Bowl Office

View from the Suite - and yes, the windows open :)

Rolls of Turf

Under the Stadium

Down on the Field - They had the Cotton Bowl logo out.

Cheerleaders' Locker Room

Field View

Cowboys' Locker Room

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was so nice to have Allan back home for Colin's first Christmas! The only downside was that Allan was sick for most of the day - boo! We spent Christmas Eve with Mimi & Granddad (Allan's parents) and opened presents and stockings there. Then we had a nice Christmas morning at our house with lots of gifts from Mom & Dad and Santa. We also had all the family over for lunch. Later in the day, we went over the Grandma and Grandpa's house to open gifts with Melissa's side of the family. Thanks everyone for all the great gifts! That evening Grandma helped us decorate our gingerbread house (finally got around to it!) - a great ending to a wonderful holiday! Hope everyone enjoys the slideshow - sorry it is so long!

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ICE!

Today we took Daniel to see the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Texan with Mimi & Granddad. Each year, they carve a new story out of huge blocks of ice. This year was A Charlie Brown Christmas. The exhibit is housed in a special tent/building area and ice sculptors/artists are brought in from China to carve the ice and assemble into the story. It was really amazing! Of course, it is super duper cold inside, so they provide giant blue parkas to wear while you are inside. They were really warm. The only problem we had was that Daniel wanted to be held the entire time, by mom only. He gets pretty heavy after a few minutes and the parkas didn't help, being super thick and a little slippery when held up against each other. :) The display was really neat and partway through they had a ice slide, which we opted not to ride. Daniel said "NO!" After the exhibit, we had lunch and walked around the Gaylord hotel and Daniel watched trains. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

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Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Park

Tonight we took the boys through a Drive-Thru Holiday Light Park. Of course, I couldn't get Daniel to take a nap in the afternoon, so he was super tired when we started out from the house. We stopped to grab some dinner on the way and he was totally passed out asleep in the car seat. Allan carried him in and laid him on the booth bench. He completely slept all the way through the meal and only woke up when Allan carried him back out to the car. At least he finally got his sleep! Then we went through the light park. It was neat to see the light and Daniel liked all the "tunnels" under the lights. There was also a place partway through the display where you could stop and walk through a lit up area. Enjoy the pics!

Daniel Sleeping at Taco Cabana

Train

Nativity Scene

Allan and Daniel in the Walk Through Area

Melissa and Colin in the Walk Through Area

Light Tunnel at the End

Dad Comes Home!

Today Allan came home from his deployment - woo hoo!!! He was originally supposed to come in on the upcoming Saturday, but got finished with his outprocessing quicker than he originally thought. So he changed his flights to come in on Thursday! He was supposed to come in late Thursday night, but one of the flights was late and he was going to miss his connecting flight to Dallas. So early on Thursday, we jumped online and booked a new flight and he came in around 5PM. It was great because the boys and everyone was able to be there and welcome Allan home. We are so glad to have him back!

Waiting at the Airport

Dad Sees Colin

All Together

Trains at North Park Mall

Today, Aunt Jennifer and I took the boys to see the Trains at North Park Mall. Last year, I took Daniel and he absolutely loved it! He kept running back and forth to look at the trains when they went by. He was a little more subdued this year, but still loved seeing all the different trains. He could stand and watch them a lot longer than anyone else is interested in doing! One of the highlights was seeing Thomas the Tank Engine and Percy.

Daniel at the Entrance

Tree Centerpiece with Trains All Around

Aunt Jennifer and Daniel Looking at the Trains

Thomas the Tank Engine

Percy

Mom and Colin

Getting a Better Look

Watching the Trains

More Down Here!

Colin at Going Bonkers

Today we went to Going Bonkers. We haven't been there in a really long time, since Colin was a little little. This time, he was able to play around a little bit, which was fun. Here are some pics from our visit.

Allan's T-Shirt Quilt

Today my grandmother and I finished up Allan's t-shirt quilt. We've been working on it pretty regularly the last couple of weeks. It was really neat to see how the big quilting machine works and help with all the quilting and finishing. It was a big project and I am forever grateful to my grandmother for helping me do it. It was a really special memory for me.

Setting up the Quilt Top, Batting and Back on the Quilting Rack

Ready to Go!

And this is how it's done!

Close-Up of Stiching

The Finished Product