Christmas in Cleburne

Our 3 weeks in the states for Christmas this year was a total blur, which I'm beginning to think is the new norm for me.  There are so many things we want to do, people we want to see, and things we need to buy, and no matter how prepared I am we can never quite fit it all in.  We had a few added hurdles this time though - my mom had emergency surgery just a few days before we flew in, and she is definitely my right hand gal in the states.  She watches kids while I run errands, goes shopping before me beforehand, makes appointments for me, etc... well she was out cold and ended up having a horrible recovery.  They even had to go in and redo the first surgery about a week after we left, since the first one went so badly.  So that sucked.  For her obviously, but selfishly for me too.  By the way, it was a hernia/appendix/intestinal issue - not cancer or anything so I knew she would live and therefore couldn't help but think how annoying the timing of all this was for myself.  Rude, I know.  But true, so true.  

Hurdle #2 was a happy one, Merilee was getting married in Utah.  So, we flew into Dallas, drove 2 days up to Utah, drove some more to Idaho, had Christmas there, and drove back.  Trust me, I priced out and thought thru every other option and that was the best one.  So I guess that is more of a logistical hurdle than the actual wedding itself, but still a hurdle nonetheless.

When we were actually in Cleburne, we tried to focus on the fam.  Here we are post Christmas, grandkids all excited to get even more loot...

Reunited and it feels so good.

Cousin Love

Sleepy Linky

These uncles take fun to a whole notha' level.  Walk around the house with kids crawling all over me?  No sweat.  Take an outing to build-a-bear to check out the new outfits?  Anytime.

I caught him checking out the new bears with no kids in site.  He probably went back and bought one when no one was looking.

We had to load up on fireworks for New Years Eve.  Just had to.

Aves got a little scared, but Papa's chair was just what she needed.

We definitely played with the cousins as much as possible.  You can't beat the springtime-like Texas winter either...

We all fell in love with Hudson, who, at 9 months old, met the Andersons for the first time.

I should also add that Ryan and I emptied my parents entire garage where all our things are being stored, swept, sprayed for bugs, and set new traps.  Gotta keep that stuff fresh, you know?  That was an exhausting day.  So we worked hard, played hard, and got just enough Texas time to make us all homesick for the next few weeks in Holland.  My friends that are expat-lifers have their home leave down to a science.  I'm not there yet.  I always feel like there was more I could've done or people I could've visited.  At least the kids get plenty of time with their cousins.