Vacation in Durango

Woo hoo! We went on our first vacation as a family to Durango, CO, and had a blast!! It is official...Taylor LOVES the snow and enjoys playing in it as much as Tyson and I do. Grady also seemed to enjoy it....at least, he didn't object to it!!

While we were there, it proceeded to snow over 40 inches in three days. That's quite of bit of snow for us Texas folk!! It truly was a beautiful sight. Of course, it made it more difficult to ski in, but hey----skiing is skiing (or in Tyson's and my case, snowboarding is snowboarding)! We were so happy to be back on the slopes!

We stayed in a beautiful townhome with Mimi and Poppa, Haley and Ryan, Aunt Patty, Tyson's uncle Rex and aunt Yvonne, cousins Brian, Carmen and Kevin, and his wife Nicole, and their two kids, Colson and Ellie. Taylor and Ellie were serious buddies!! It was so cute to see them play together. It was also cute to see Grady's face light up every time Colson played with him. Thank goodness for Colson and Ellie...they really kept Taylor and Grady entertained!

In an effort to save some money, we drove to CO with Tyson's cousin, Brian. We broke up the trip on the way there and stopped overnight in Tucumcari, NM. I think we could have spent the whole trip there---the kids LOVED staying in a hotel (yuck!). We decided to make it home in one trip, so that's what we did.....13 hours in a car with two little ones....what were we thinking?!! They actually did pretty well until the last hour. Then everyone (including myself!) had a meltdown. I think it's safe to say we won't be making any long-distance trips for a while!!

All in all, the trip was a success and we can't wait to go "snowing" again!!

At the Best Western in Tucumcari, NM.
They were CRAZY kids in the hotel.

Who needs snow when you can play in the luggage rack?

Taylor was ready to go sledding the first day we were there.

Taylor and Colson playing in the snow that accumulated on our driveway.

Snow buddies!

Taylor watching her daddy play on the bunny slope
(after the lifts had shut down for the day).

Taylor was getting some help from Colson when trying to bury Tyson in the snow.

Trying to catch a snowflake!

The snow just kept falling and falling!
(Note the snow piled up next to the Stop sign!)

The view from our patio looking toward the bunny slope.

A view from our bedroom patio.

The "wall" of snow that we saw every time we looked out our window.

Notice the snow on top of the rental minivan (on the right). There was no snow on it when we got the vehicle. The car on the left had the same amount of snow, but we had knocked some of the snow off already.

Taylor ALWAYS had to have her full gear on to go outside!

Finally! The sun appeared on our last day of skiing so we were able to get some nice shots!

A shot of the snow-covered trees from the lift chair.

Grady and Taylor posing with Daddy.

A group shot with Mommy.

The fun part....taking all of our snow clothes off.

Warming up next to the fire.

A happy boy glad to be back inside!

Henrietta Snow!

Snow!! We love snow!! When we moved to Henrietta last year we were told that it usually snowed here at least once a year. I think it only "snowed" once or twice last year....and it was only ice, not snow. But while we were in Houston for Christmas, it snowed 12 inches in Henrietta on Christmas Eve!! We had heard that it was going to snow, but we figured it would be gone by the time we got back in town. Thankfully it was still here for us to see it! Not only that, it was snowing on us the day we got back into town. So not only did we get to play in the snow, the kids got to experience actual snow falling down. Pretty cool!

All bundled up and ready to play!

Taylor and Grady's first real snow!

Belle's first snow, too! She LOVED it!!

Mommy and Grady enjoying the snow.

Taylor standing next to her first snowman. She helped her daddy build it.

Daddy and Taylor playing in the snow and looking at the frozen creek water.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! It was so much fun to watch Taylor and Grady spend their first Christmas together. Of course, Grady was clueless about the whole thing. He thought that it was cool that he was getting new toys, but even cooler that Taylor was getting new stuff!! He was more interested in playing with everything that she got, and in turn, Taylor wanted to play with all of Grady's new toys. In spite of the craziness, we had a great, great Christmas and received lots of goodies. We are truly blessed with such loving families.

Probably the best part of the whole trip was watching Taylor and her cousin, Jackson, play together. We actually got to see Jack three separate times the week we were in Houston. My grandfather passed away the week prior to Christmas, so we had his funeral service the Monday before Christmas. Doug, Kelley and Jackson came to hang out with us that Sunday before the service and then again that Monday following the service. They also came back to Houston to spend Christmas Eve with us at my Aunt Marsha's and Uncle Alan's house. Taylor and Jack always have a great time together, but they had even more fun playing together with my cousin Steffanie's kids, Vayley, Sadie and Luke. We had a lot of fun with everyone on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas day we opened gifts at Nana and Doodah's house that morning, and then headed to West Columbia to spend Christmas with the Crumpler side of the family. We had such a fun time visiting with our family. Grady got to meet his great-Granny and Poppy for the first time, and got to see his baby cousin Joshua again.....Grady thought Joshua was pretty cool! Grady doesn't see too many babies, so seeing Joshua was all new to Grady.

The day after Christmas we packed up and headed to Allen to spend Christmas with Mimi and Poppa. Unfortunately by the time we were heading that direction, we were all starting to feel under the weather, so we weren't the funnest people to be around. In fact, we had to take Taylor to see a doctor the morning that we were going to open presents together. Even though the kids weren't feeling that great, they still enjoyed being around Mimi and Poppa and Haley and Ryan.

For those wondering about Grady's head appointment....we took him to a clinic that specializes in cranial reshaping. They pretty much confirmed what we already knew...his head was flat on one side, but not severely. They recommended us using their product, which is a helmet, for approximately three to four months. We are currently seeking a second opinion just to clear up any concerns/hesitations that we have regarding the whole thing. We'll keep you posted on what we decide to do!

Standing with Nana's Christmas yard decorations.

Our sweet little Christmas gift! He wore that bow on top of his
head the entire time we opened presents.

Posing with her Dora The Explorer earrings that she got
from Aunt Kelley and Uncle Doug.

Taylor and Luke became good buddies. She had so much fun
playing with Luke, Sadie and Vayley.

Grady playing with his Elmo gloves.

Taylor playing with her new My Little Pony.

All of the girls getting Jack!

Woo hoo! Santa came!

Grady looking at his new toy from Santa.

Taylor was ready to give Grady a ride in her new car. Grady was all for it!

What a smart guy Santa Claus is!! He gave Taylor a new toothbrush to
brush away the sugar from all of the candy he gave her.

Grady was trying to figure out how to shove his new football into his mouth.

Grady didn't know what to think about opening all of the presents. He generally just roamed around and tried to get into whatever Taylor was playing with.

Taylor mustered enough energy to try out her red four-wheeler that Mimi and Poppa got her. Poor kid wasn't feeling very well that day. She had already been to the doctor that morning (hence the sticker) and had already taken some medicine (hence the chocolate smeared on her face!).