Here Comes the Snow!

Despite the fact that there was snow starting to fall, Ben, Carol, the kids and myself loaded up into the Sequoia this morning and headed out to run a few errands... including a stop at the Carter's outlet. I could have spent two hours there... and more money than I should have! Afterwards, we got back to their house to find Sylas and Marian waiting for us. Sylas was way excited to give Noah and Ellie their Christmas presents, but Noah was {almost} more interested in going to play with him! Funny behavior for the kiddo who just a few days ago wanted to rip into any and all presents he could!

We spent the rest of the day indoors, avoiding the snow and enjoying each other's company:

Later in the afternoon, Eric and Amanda came over too - to spend some time and eat dinner with us and to get prepped for the evenings snow removal work.

After dinner and everyone else left to work {Ben's parents own their own snow removal and landscaping business}, Ben, Marian and I attempted to get a photo of the three {of the four} grandchildren:

It's was pretty hard to find one in the midst of all the ones I took in which all the kids at least had a "normal" facial expression!

But this photo, was definitely one of my favorites from the day and showed just how protective Sylas is over his Momma... every time Noah tried to snuggle up close to Marian, Sylas was right there to snuggle up close too.

Love it. Love them.

Meeting the Colorado Family

We had a super full and super fun day today in Colorado.

We started with playtime for the cousins:

Sylas was very good about sharing with Noah.


Noah, on the other hand, was not so good about sharing with Sylas.
We've got to work on that Buddy.


Ben clipped a massive stack of coupons, gearing up for taking over the grocery shopping.

Grandma Haze and Ellie enjoyed some special, quiet time.

We also met up for dinner with the Crews side of the family for dinner at Cracker Barrel {YUM!}. Obviously, none of them had met Ellie yet and, with the exception of Eric and Amanda, no one had met Noah either. And, despite the kids' crabbiness, it was nice to see everyone, let them {finally} meet the kiddos and enjoy a perfectly prepared chicken fried chicken.

Great-Aunt Linda was just in love.

So was Aunt Marian.

And Great-Aunt Diana too.

The boys, however, were much too busy coloring to be bothered with a photo.

And, I couldn't help but giggle a little when I saw this picture... I'm pretty sure Great-Aunt Linda was hoping that Ellie would talk her kids into making her a Grandma too. ;)

Driving....

to Colorado is fun when you have a two year old and a three month old.

But it's even more fun when the two-year-old gets a little stir crazy too.

All four of us were very glad to finally make it to Colorado and I'm pretty sure that there were several people who were pretty glad to see us too... though I didn't take a single photo once we arrived. Undoubtedly due to all four of us being just happy to be out of the car!

Getting Ready

We're gearing up and getting ready to leave tomorrow for the second portion of our trip. It goes without saying that everyone was soaking in as much Noah and Ellie time as possible.

Thank you, for everything. Seriously.

And see you again in just a few days!

Great-Grandparents and Old Friends

Two people that we haven't been able to see much this trip {partially due to weather and partially due to busy schedules} is my Grami and Papa Snow. Luckily, they were able to come over this morning and spend some time with us, see their great-grandbabies, and laugh with us at all the crazy antics of these silly little monkeys of mine.

Grami and Papa Snow, we love you, more than you will ever know!

***

We met up with one of my oldest friends for lunch. Shannon and I have known each other since fifth grade {at least} and I have so many memories with her of birthday parties, camps/retreats, Prom, OBU, and the list goes on. Shannon and her husband are currently living in India and have been stateside for about the past seven months with their three darling little girls. They leave tomorrow to head back home and I'm SO glad that they were able to take the time to see us today.

And Shannon, I apologize now - I haven't gotten after these photos yet with PhotoShop... and probably won't until I get back home.

Shannon and Ellie {and all the other kiddos in the background}

Us, with the kiddos.... and Ellie hidden behind Noah's balloon!

Until next time, we love ya'll and are praying for you!!

New Year's Day

This afternoon we headed over to visit Grandma Lucy one last time before she left to go back home to Arizona. She was pretty excited to get in some Ellie and Noah time.

And, of course, Aunt Marsha was more than happy to get in some Noah and Ellie time too!

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve

Ben arrived back in Oklahoma City bearing gifts that had arrived in the mail from Grandpa Mike and Grandma Brenda. Noah couldn't hardly wait until he was in the door to tear into the gifts.

I'm pretty sure he opened up all of Ellie's presents too.

Thank you for their goodies!

Both of the kiddos were pretty happy to see their Daddy and I know that he was happy to see them too.

Morgan and Aunt BB were busy reading in the quiet of Mom and Daddy-Man's room and Noah decided to join them with his newest book from Nana.

"R", said the captain.

Generally, on New Year's Eve, we go out to eat and then come back home to play games, watch movies, and just hang out while we count down to the New Year. The girls and I posed for our traditional New Year pic!

Great-Aunt KK and Ellie posed for a photo too.

Every other year, it's been no big deal staying up until midnight, but this year, for some reason, all of us were having a hard time staying awake. But, we made it to 2010!

Going on 34 years of New Year's kisses and still going strong.

Lunch and Football

This afternoon, we had lunch with one of Mom's childhood friends, DeAnne and her granddaughter, Chase. DeAnne also just happens to be Jessie's boyfriend's {Bryan} Mom! Needless to say, while this was something that they were no doubt plotting for some time {at least as far back as their births, but possibly once they realized that neither of them were going to marry one of the other's siblings}, it was kinda funny to get together knowing how their relationship is growing.

Noah, on the other hand, had little understanding of what all was going on. He just knew that he had a new friend to color and play with:

***

After lunch and naps, Noah decided that just watching football wasn't good enough - he wanted to get in on the action himself...

... while Ellie was quite content with talking with Great-Aunt KK.

Relaxn'

With all the leftover snow {and with Ben and the Sequoia back in Texas}, we've spent a good portion of our time just relaxing at Nana and Papa's house. Tonight, after dinner and baths for the kids, we watched Rudolph's Shiny New Year... and, for once, neither of my kiddos were snuggling with me while we watched it:

I don't think Papa and Nana are complaining.
Neither are the kiddos.

"Sno!"

Ben has to head back home today, so we decided that this morning would brave the cold before he left so that Noah could "play" out in the snow.

Fourteen inches of snow looks like a lot more when you have huge snow drifts!

Noah kept falling into the drifts while trekking across the yard.

So did Ben!

Yay for "sno [that] iz sno-ee!"