Cotton Bowl

This weekend Daniel and I got so very lucky to go to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Natalie gave us tickets to sit with them in their suite and we had a front row parking spot! It was so fun. We headed out on Friday morning after a quick breakfast with the kids. Daniel's parents came to keep Hayes and Emmaline at our house. They brought their new puppy Scout for Gauge to play with. We then drove North on I35 and dropped off Georgia & Dixie with my parents. We were off and so excited..it felt weird and quiet and a little strange to be in the car by ourselves for the first time in a while. Daniel & Brian, a fellow Aggie we met while in MS, he was in the Sanderson Farms suite (who he works for) We got in town just in time to eat lunch at Mia's with Jeff and Natalie. Brisket tacos and margaritas!! Then we headed to the hotel to get ready and off to the stadium we went. We parked in the front row and 2 minutes later Reveille walked bythen 2 more minutes later the Aggie Band marched by. It was so exciting and talk about perfect timing!! So we tailgated and hung out in front of the amazing new Cowboys stadium. Finally it was time to head to our seats. There was yummy food waiting in the suite along with lots of beverages. The truffled mac 'n cheese was the best! Our seats were amazing but as most know there is no bad seat in that stadium.So as we know the Aggies didn't win, but the first half wasn't so bad. There were glimmers of hope here and there.
The next morning we woke up nice and late (forgot how that felt) and headed to State & Allen for brunch. Daniel had fried chicken and waffles and I had some random egg thing, but the real stars were our mimosas and bloodymarys. After a while there we were headed back to hang out at the room and as we stopped at a gas station fate stepped in. We were right by the hotel that Natalie likes to stay at..Hotel Zaza.
She was talking about the bar there and how much she likes their drinks..so what were we to do??! We walked over to the Dragonfly bar and tried out some of their signature drinks. We had a Big Flirt, a Pomerita, a Peach & Jalapeno drink, & Strawberry Fields. They were yum! Then we decided we needed some cheaper drinks and some food. So we met my cousins and their little boy at a more kid-friendly place to watch football. We only made it back to hotel to change clothes before we made it to our last stop of the evening. We had a great time and the whole day was so fun.
The next morning it was time to head home. Unfortunately, it was sleeting before we left and started snowing really hard before we made it too far. It was not good to drive in, but it was pretty. Luckily it didn't last past Waco and the rest of the day was smooth. Georgia was pretty adorable when we picked her up..saying she missed Daddy. She was excited to get home to see Hayes and Emmaline. It was great to see Emmaline and Hayes' sweet face too. We missed them, but it was great to get away for our upcoming 5 year anni!

Many Christmases - CS

Our holiday vacation ended up in CS with my family. Daniel unfortunately had to head home to work, but the kids and I went to celebrate Christmas with my parents and brothers and their girlfriends. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and the girls got completely spoiled with all their presents. Hayes was a doll and took it all in stride. His favorite gift was a basketball goal.
The girls got tutus, crowns, jewelry, monogrammed capes, new outfits, baby dolls and clothes for them, books, toys... Of course there was candy and chocolate and more pie. We also rounded out a few nights with late night games of Mexican Train Dominoes.
We finally got home on the eve of New Year's Eve. It was a long break but almost crazier when we came home. I feel like I was trying to find a home for all of our new stuff and it just kept overflowing. Now we need a bigger house!

Many Christmases - Louin

After our brief stay in Gulfport we made the 2 hour drive back to Louin just in time to hop in the car and take cousin Cody to the airport an hour away in Jackson. You would think we are just gluttons for punishment in the car, right. The girls did well and just slept almost the whole way. Emmaline usually doesn't but didn't feel well so she slept a lot. Georgia usually sleeps so it worked out well. And Hayes, well he just gets drug around with us, poor thing, but he is a good sport and flashed his sweet smile between naps.We ate a yummy burger, shopped a bit and played at a park while we were there. It was nice to be in Louin with our little family of 5! 5 -whow, crazy how fast that happened.We got lucky and had fairly warm weather the next day with a beautiful clear, blue sky! So we darted out the door to the land,
rode the 6-wheeler let the dogs fetch in the Lake, took pictures and ate a yummy lunch. It was a nice day for our family. That night we made gingerbread houses and I am pretty sure ate more than we decorated.
The girls were giddy with excitement of Santa's impending visit - Emmaline still stuck on her pink Barbie and Georgia still not wanting to see the fat guy come down the chimney. It was fun watching lots of Christmas movies by the fire.We made chocolate chip cookies for Santa and the elves got busy wrapping presents. Emmaline & Georgia kept sneaking into the kitchen and getting into the supply of cakeballs! Yummy!
It was Christmas morning and the girls actually slept in a bit til 7. They came in the living room which was still only lit by the tiny tree so they couldn't really see their presents. Emmaline sat on the couch by me and I said, "Did you see what Santa brought you?" She said without looking, "Oh ma'am, I missed Santa Clause!" It was so cute. She thought that Santa was supposed to be there when she woke up. I then explained to her that he leaves the presents but has to hurry off to other kids' homes. Hayes' first food - bananas! He did great!there was even makeovers being handed out!
So then she and Georgia saw their Barbies and other goodies and all was right with the world. It was a sweet morning and there was lots of laughing and fun. The day was dreary so we never made it outside but enjoyed a warm bath, playing with icecream parlor playdough, eating way too much pumpkin pie (maybe that was just me) and painting toenails.
The next morning we headed out bright and early back to Texas..so the story continues...

Many Christmases - Gulfport

We arrived 10 hours later in Louin, MS to my dad and a little Christmas tree all decorated with a few presents underneath for each of us. It was nice to be home. The home where our little family began. I am not going to lie that going there is not always my favorite thing..you see, there is not really anything else to do there unless you are outside. It is hard with 2 young children, a house that is not child-proofed and really cold weather. So we were forced to spend lots of time indoors doing randome activities or just trying to survive and not get windburn outside. It is always fun, though, and we leave with lots of memories. It is good to see our old family and friends there. I do think the winter is not the best time to go there, though. So, with all that being said, the kids and I loaded up the next morning and headed to Gulfport to see my aunt for a few days. We left the boys to hunt and enjoy their time but opted for a town with restaurants and stuff to do!
We went to a Children's museumGulfport Children's museum- it is really one of the best I have been to!



We had to hit up the beach..it was a bit blustery! my aunt's school, ate po-boys, got icecream and even made an impromptu trip to an Urgent Care for Emmaline.We had a good time and Emmaline got some medicine and felt better by Christmas Eve. The gifts from Aunt Jennie!Hayes and me got boots with the fur!The girls were wild and woke up every morning at 5:45. I don't know what was going on, but that does not fly for me. We did take good naps each day, so that made up for it!