Merry Christmas!

We missed you all, but we were able to enjoy a nice, relaxing Christmas after all. I know you're all waiting for pictures. Here are a couple to get you started. I'll post more later. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Love to all!


Christmas Eve


Christmas morning

Making Memories

Since we couldn't go to Texas this year and especially since Steve will be deploying soon, I decided we needed to try extra hard to make some special memories for Kaylee. So, when I saw the gingerbread house kit at Wal-mart, I thought to myself, "perfect!" Kaylee waited anxiously as I finished some last minute cleaning, so we could start building the house. It was finally time to start, so I called her in and we began reading the instructions. First, put two sides together - hold for a few minutes, and continue with the rest of the walls. Wait 30 minutes. Put the roof on - hold for a few minutes. Wait 30 minutes before decorating. Okay, so now we're talking at least an hour before she can start the fun part. So, I started putting walls together, and Kaylee watched and waited while the walls fell apart and I put them back together again several times. This lasted for about an hour, and then we had to wait the 30 minutes before putting the roof on. At this point, she got bored and went to watch TV. I finally got the roof on, but we had to let it sit for another hour as it kept slipping down every few minutes. I eventually got it done, and Kaylee and I decorated it. After the explosion of icing all over the kitchen, I now realize why we only made one gingerbread house when I was little. When I told Mom I had bought a gingerbread house kit, she simply commented, "that sounds fun." Now I know that she was actually secretly cackling to herself. Here are some pictures of Kaylee decorating her house.

One more thing...

...oh yes, one more thing - every Christmas present, including Santa's, I bought online and had it sent to Texas. Now, we have to try to buy everything again before Christmas and in a snow storm. Hooray!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Well, after 6 1/2 hours we are back home. We left at 4:00 this afternoon to pick up our friend, Chris, who bless his heart, rode with us through the snow storm, so that he could bring our car back home. We were going to stay in a hotel tonight since our flight left at 5:30 tomorrow morning. After Chris dropped us off, we found out our flight had been cancelled and nothing is going to Houston until the 26th. (This is the part where I started bawling.) So, do we stay in an uncomfortable room and have Chris come back tomorrow, or have him turn around and come get us. We had him come back. Poor Chris, he was half-way home already when we got in touch with him. I feel like the worst friends in the world! So, he got back, we dropped him off, and we're now back home where we get to unpack. The storm is terrible. I was so scared, and felt horrible that we drug Chris into it all. I'm so sad not to be in Texas for Christmas, but we did everything we could and it just didn't work out. I'll tell you all Merry Christmas and we'll miss y'all when I can do it without crying. Love to all!


on the way to the airport - this was one of the good roads


waiting for Chris to come back


Outside our hotel room window that we paid for to sit in for approximately 2 hours.

Keep your fingers crossed

Our bags are packed, but now we're hoping that our flight doesn't get cancelled. Here's an article on the latest at Seatac. http://www.komonews.com/news/36529414.html

Poor Bailey

Because of the weather, we can no longer drive to Texas for Christmas. After much stress, we finally have plane tickets for Monday. We were so excited that we were going to be able to bring Bailey with us, but now she has to stay here. When Kaylee found out that we would be flying, her eyes teared up because she couldn't bring her best friend with us. Steve and Kaylee dropped her off this morning, and I already miss her. I know it seems silly, but I'm so sad about her not coming to Texas with us. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that this all happened so fast and I had no time to mentally prepare for it. Again, I know, silly - but she is the sweetest and best dog in the world. I think she will be more than fine. She gets a turkey dinner on Christmas day. Maybe they will post some pictures. www.greenacrespetresort.com

Merry Christmas, Bailey! We miss you already!

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

Every time I think the snow is slowing, it starts up heavier again. I just took these. Keep in mind, it's 4:00 in the afternoon. And yes, as you can tell from Kaylee still being in her pj's with bed head, our day has been very productive. I hope that we will be able to still make it to Texas. I can't bear the thought of being here on Christmas. It would be a pretty miserable Christmas since I had all the presents mailed to Texas. Let's also pray that Steve makes it home safely tonight.

Snow Day

Today, school was cancelled because of the ice and snow. It didn't snow today, but Kaylee wanted to play in what was left from yesterday. She was determined to build a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and there wasn't enough of it to make a good one. Here are some pictures of what we ended up with and Kaylee playing in the snow.

Battalion Christmas Party

Sunday was our Battalion Christmas party. I told Steve that we should stay home because the weather so was so terrible, but he assured me it just wasn't that bad. We drove through a blizzard to get there, and a 30 minute trip home took us an hour. It was pretty terrifying to watch the cars in front of you slipping all over the road knowing you were about to go over that same part of the road. My knuckles were white and by the time we got home, I felt like I was going to vomit from being so tense the whole time. But, we did get a picture with Santa. Woohoo!


Getting ready to go




The drive to post



Santa!

Kaylee's World

Kaylee's blog has been updated. Go to www.kayleerobins.blogspot.com to check it out.

Rawr!

I've been looking for something warm to put on Wyatt when I have to take him out to go get Kaylee from school. Today, I found this. Adorable! I think Steve will hate it, but I couldn't resist.

Nutcracker

This past weekend was Kaylee's dance theater's performance of The Nutcracker. They did two performances on Saturday and one on Sunday. She did a great job and looked beautiful. Her class did the Mother Ginger scene. We were told we couldn't take any pictures and if we were caught with cameras they would be confiscated. They take their dance very seriously. It's very unlike me, but I did manange to bend the rules, and I snuck in some pictures of her before she went on.