It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I truly do love the holidays.  It's probably the time of year I take the most pictures.  You would think that would correspond with more blogging.  You would think.  Yeah, I would, too.  Or I could face the reality that this is also one of the busiest times of the year for us and my track record seems to prove that blogging tends to get a little sparse when we have a lot going on.  In fact, looking back on the number of posts I have had this year I would venture to say that 2011 was not the year of the blog.  My blog, anyway.  This makes me sad, considering what an eventful year it was in our little corner of the world.  But Chris says that I always talk about how much I don't write and that I should just stop apologizing.  Guess he's right, it's just that I think I'm mostly apologizing to myself because I disappoint myself in this area.  But I should be happy that I am writing at all, considering before 2009 documented memories existed only in pictures.  I will say that this is something I'm determined to work on in the coming new year, though.


But enough about that.  Now get ready for the photo blitz of your life.  A whirlwind tour of the month of December, if you will.  Actually a little bit November and a lot of December.  The quality of the pics  is not great because they're mostly from my phone.  I can actually get pretty good pics from my phone, but not always in low lighting.  This is pretty long, so just kick back your feet for a bit and enjoy!

First off, a little visit from our Abilene clan.  This was the little bit November part, because this was before Thanksgiving.  We had a lot of fun at the Aquarium.  Definitely one of our fav spots in Houston.  It was their first time to meet Jaxon, and we had a great weekend.  We also had a big 2 year celebration for City Life that weekend which was also awesome.  

 Putting up the Christmas decorations.  This actually happened before Thanksgiving.  We knew we would be gone a lot in December so we wanted to enjoy the tree.  Jaxon was very fascinated with the sparkles and lights.  This time next year it might get a little interesting because he'll be big enough to probably be pulling the little sparkles and lights off the tree...

Our annual making Christmas cookies adventure.  This year we tried a new thing Granna sent us that made this super cute tree.  I didn't take an aftermath picture, but this tradition is definitely a most messy one.  I picked up little green dough bits that looked like playdough for days and probably still have flour in the cracks of my table!  Jaxon was rocking the bumbo seat all this Christmas- he loved being in on all the action and sitting like a big boy.

Missing photographically from this timeline is a quick visit from G-ma, G-pa, and Aunt Jordo after Thanksgiving.  They came to get the kids to spend the week in Arkansas while we spent the week in Washington DC.  It was a pretty hectic weekend with us all getting ready to travel. G-ma and G-pa if you're reading this, I need some pics from you if you have them!  

Soooo... the DC trip.  I had a lot of anxiety preparing for this trip because we were taking Jax with us and I was really nervous how he would do on the airplane and throughout the week for all the events we had.  Here's how the trip got started: after two and a half hours of sleep we stumbled out the door in a hurry at 5:00 am to head to the airport.  I was so focused on making sure I had everything for the baby I left my phone behind and didn't notice my makeup bag had fallen out of the diaper bag.  We get to the airport and I also forgot that my driver's license had expired, and they almost didn't let me fly.  So I was so thrilled/relieved that Jaxon was perfect for the flights there, despite the rocky start on my part.  He was a trooper and actually did great the entire week.  But since I left my phone at home I didn't get  a lot of pics. I had my real camera with me, but since he was either strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn carrier or I was pushing him in the stroller, it was difficult to capture too many pics.  And I'm really sad about it because there were certainly a lot of photo ops.  I'm sure we'll be back there one day so that made me feel a little bit better.  

These pics below are from Mt Vernon, the home of George Washington.  It was a really cool place where you could tour the old homes, see where he was buried, and then there was an awesome museum there.  

We ended the touristy day at the historic Ford Theater in downtown DC where we saw A Christmas Carol.  Got a picture of "the" booth.  Jaxon was a champ again and did really good.  He was just charming all of the sweet little old ladies that worked at the theater, and they said he was the best baby they had ever seen.  Well, how about that!

Although it was hard to fully unwind and relax with a baby, and we didn't get a whole lot of sleep, it was still a great trip.  We are always very encouraged and refreshed when we're around other pastors and leaders in Every Nation.  It's a blessing to be a part of such a great movement.  And that part of the country is so beautiful- I'd love to visit in the fall when all of those trees are showing off their color!

So we return home from that trip and have exactly one week to pack again and hit the road.  And to have our huge Christmas party and me to help host a baby shower before we leave.  Whew!  The Christmas party was a blast, as always.  Whenever our church gets together it's always a good time.  I don't have good pics at all from the party, but I'm sure most of you saw the ones on Facebook that someone else took.  The kids stole the show with their dancing and craziness!  And we got a little crazy, too!  Oh yes, I sure did dance with Jaxon strapped to the front of me!  Do what you gotta do!

And as soon as that wild weekend ended we were on the road again to begin the tour de grandparents.  First stop, Abilene for a quick visit on the way to Elk City.  We did get to go to church on Wednesday night to visit some of our friends and Chris ended up speaking in youth that night.  We took a day trip a couple of days after we got to Elk to Apache, OK, for the Darnell side of the family Christmas.  This picture is of Grandma Darnell with all of her great-grandkids. Must be really cool to live to see that many great grandchildren.  That's the first time we have all been there, because we hadn't seen that side of the family in quite some time.  Grandma looks so happy and cute there, and she looked so happy to have everyone in her home together.  

This being Jax's first Christmas and all, of course I took a ton of pics of him.  Look at that cute little elf. Ah, that face. He was having a great time at Granna and Poppy's house.

Just a few pics from hanging around.  Uncle Bryce enjoyed the Bjorn, and of course the kids were happy to wrestle and play around with their uncles.  And Cadence was Poppy's companion.  Every time the door was open and someone was doing something, she was a part of it.  This picture is of her idea to plant pine cones in the river bed.  She's always on the move, that one! 

Something that was new for our Elk City adventures was having girls around this year.  My brothers had their cutie girlfriends at the house, and they are both very sweet.  A glimpse of the future and the changing times, perhaps...I'm glad we took these pictures because we hardly ever take a family pic! (This applies to all of our families- gotta make a point to do it more often!)

Next stop, Lubbock to see T, Nannie, and more uncles.  We had a visit to Santa Land, which is something from my childhood for the holidays.  The goal was to see Santa and get a pic, but when we got there and saw the line was 2+ hours in the cold, we changed our mind and just walked around and stayed a little while.  Mom, I need all of those great pictures you took of us with Nannie, the boys, and you!  I have none!! 

And speaking of not having any pictures, we did not take the cousin pic we all talked about in Abilene when we were there.  Boo to that, everyone!  I think with all the kids running around, it's harder to remember to stop and take pictures because they're too busy playing and having fun!  

And finally we landed back home the night before Christmas Eve.  Logging almost 30 hours of road time and three different destinations, we came home pretty tired and the boys and I got a cold.  But it's always good to spend time with family- just wish everyone was a little closer!  

Here's my Christmas Eve babies after our special service that night.  Aren't they the sweetest thing you've ever seen???

And here's our Christmas morning shot.  They of course were well taken care of between us, our generous families, and Santa!  Cadence got this little baby play set with a bouncy seat, play pen, stroller, etc.  It was so cute because I found all of the little baby toys next to the real baby toys, as seen in the pic below.  So funny! 

Just a few more pics from the sights of Christmas around the house.  Yes, it got cold enough some nights to have a fire.  And yes, this fire in the picture looks like it's about to jump out and consume the stockings along with the whole house- that was the very beginning when it was really big!  And Christmas breakfast was waffles made on our new waffle maker, which we love!  We also had oranges fresh from our tree in the backyard.  It was nice to have a quiet day together after all the commotion of the last few weeks.  It also gave us some space to reflect and talk about the true meaning of Christmas and have some special time with the kids.

I think we fit just about everything you could possibly cram into one little month!  With us being gone a lot of the month, it really flew by and is over as soon as it began, it seems. Aside from getting sick and not having as many pictures of everything as I wanted, it has been a lovely holiday season.  Thanks for hanging in there with me through this long post.  Peace out from the Pate house.

But Merry Christmas Anyway

Back-slidden. Fallen off the wagon. Gone to the dogs. And any other phrase that comes to mind along those lines. Yep, that's how I would describe my current status with this blog. And during the most wonderful time of the year, nonetheless. It should not be so. I'm coming back to you, I promise. I'm currently traveling sans computer so I cannot access photos to put on here from our adventures of late. But we are still here, trying to enjoy our holiday and embrace the season. There's a great irony in life that things, left unattended, tend to drift towards complexity. It is a more difficult battle in which one must be fully engaged to try to keep it simple. Working harder to keep it easier. It's a strange thought. And that's where we're living right now, trying to embrace and adopt that for the holidays as well. I hope you and yours are simply enjoying the season. I have some fun pictures and adventures to share with you soon! Peace out from the traveling Pate house.