Saturday, December 20th - Well, today we have a lot of driving ahead of us since I quit early yesterday! We did get up, exercise (yes-Aaron I did), eat breakfast, load the car again and leave Little Rock by 9:30 am. I think that was pretty good for a mom and 4 little kids!
We arrived in Amarillo at 7 pm. Just in time for dinner at The Crossnoes' new house with The Langleys. Thank you to our great Amarillo friends for opening their homes and calendars for us this weekend! The kids enjoyed playing with Will, Alyssa, Autumn and Cole on Saturday night. They really needed to "break loose" for a while!
We checked into our hotel room late tonight. We planned on sleeping late tomorrow morning! We will see how that works for a 2 year old who does not understand!
Sunday, December 21 - The kids let me sleep a little later this morning. We were up by 8 am! The kids already have the "hotel routine" down now. I get breakfast started for them and an appropriate TV station for Lyndsey. Then I get to go exercise for 40 minutes (Aaron, that is day #2). While I exercise, they finish breakfast and start showers. They did it!
We were very shocked by the frigid temperatures this morning. It was in the teens. We were very fortunate that the wind was not blowing! We met The Langleys after church for lunch at Chili's.
Then Alyssa took us to meet her horses. The last time we were in Amarillo, she was waiting for her first horse to arrive. Now, she has 2 going on 3! The kids had a great time out at the horse barn. Lauren and Lyndsey first rode Moe, the Jeruselm donkey. Moe was so kind and gentle.
She let the girls sit on her forever. Tyler tried to take a ride. He mounted Moe a couple of times, but the second time he was tossed to the ground. We all got a good laugh!
After riding Moe, the girls were ready for pony rides. Alyssa and her friend from the stables, saddled up Jedi. I really did not think that Lyndsey would ride, but she asked for her turn after Corynne and Lauren. She is a big girl in a little girl body! Lynsdey commented, "horsey go fast." I think she wanted the horse to go faster!
Monday, December 22 -
This morning we woke up and continued our normal "hotel routine" followed by check-out! It is FREEZING today. I had a hard time reloading the suburban and my hands not becoming numb! ( I called JM yesterday because I realized I had forgot my gloves!) We delivered a few Christmas gifts, went by B& N for Tyler a new book to read, and made it to the airport to pick up JM. We are now officially on our way to Red River, NM. I am so glad that JM is here to drive the last leg of this vacation!
We arrived safely to our rental house late tonight. We got everything unpacked and kids setttled. My Mom and Dad arrived about an hour before us. It was great to see them. The kids were so excited.
Tuesday, December 23 - This morning the kids were itching to get out in the snow. We all bundled up and walked over to the "slopes". It took us quite a while to get lift passes and
equipment for everyone. Our skiers this year are JM, Tyler,
Corynne and Lauren. Lauren is the most excited since this
is her first year. Corynne is the most nervous. Tyler is
the most detail oriented - "how many days do I HAVE to do the ski school thing. I already know how to ski." JM is out of patience and ready to hit the slopes alone!
The kids are now ready for ski school in a few hours!
Grammy is the cook for this holiday season. She had a hot
meal waiting on us when we returned. The kids fueled up and we headed back to the slopes for afternoon ski school. I will show pictures later!
Tonight we "decorated" for
Christmas. I brought a small (2 ft.) tree with us. It actually had a set of lights in it from years ago. I think it might have been my tree from college! The kids had decorated foam ornaments one morning in Amarillo that we added to our tree. Then we had a Candy cane hunt, read the Legend of the Candy Cane, and used the candy canes to decorate our tree. It was a lot of fun.
Thank you to Corynne's teacher, Mrs. Baldwin for the great idea!
Wednesday, December 24th - Wow! I can not believe it is Christmas Eve. The kids woke up excited to get back to ski school this morning. While the skiers headed to the slopes, I took some time for a morning workout and laundry. While we brought a ton of stuff, I was counting on the washer/dryer in the house to give us enough clothing to last for 2 weeks! I did make it to the slopes in time to see the end of ski school. I brought Lauren and Corynne back to the house while JM and Tyler skied the harder slopes a couple of times.
Uncle Michael and Jacqline arrived after lunch today. We were so excited that they got to join us for Christmas again this year.
We found out just days ago that Michael proposed to Jacqline! We are so glad that she will be a part of our family. We love her already!
Tonight we went to a Cowboy Christmas Eve service down at the Community Hall. It was oustide, so it was COLD.
They had fires to try to keep us warm, so it was SMOKEY. The had hot chocolate, cider, cookies, and caroling. It was an experience we will not forget! Actually we smelled the smoke on our coats for days!!!! Oh well, we tried to continue the annual "go to a Christmas Eve service together" tradition. Don't we get points for that!
After we got back, we set out cookies and milk for Santa. We left our Santa hats out for him this year since our stockings are hanging on the mantle in Alabama! I think Santa will understand and figure out who's is who's since we left them in age order!
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