Well... Thank You, BUT We Didn't Really Ask for Bikes.

Ok. It's been a while. I'm sorry. So, there was Christmas. Then there was Albuquerque. Then there was tile, then there was Evan's birthday. And throughout all of this was croup, a stomach bug, another gross bug, a throat thing, the flu, and then a sinus infection. SO LAME. But, I'd like to enlighten you as to what a magical and joyous holiday we had. Please enjoy...

So, for Christmas Ben and I really wanted to get the boys bikes. Ben agreed that it was a worth while investment and went to 5 bazillion stores a few days before Christmas to find bikes. Then a few more stores after the bike we bought for Lucas was broken.
Christmas morning, Lucas woke up really early. We held him off upstairs for an hour and finally agreed to wake Evan up and come downstairs. The boys saw the room with the little tiny tree and presents and new bikes. And you know what? They could have cared less about the bikes.

But they were excited about the presents. And that Santa ate the cookies. And we should have let Evan sleep in. He was tired and just wanted to lie on his pillow. Poor kid. Lesson learned.

 Everyone had fun with scissors opening their presents. Evan LOVES scissors.

Lucas got a new Lego Star Wars book, and they both got cool Indiana Jones hats that I bought for my mom to give them if she was desperate while we were on our cruise. She didn't need them!
Lucas made that cute plane for Evan at one of the Lowes workshops. He loved it. 

After a simple breakfast of grits, eggs, and bacon/sausage we finished opening presents and got ready to head to the airport! I wanted to make it to ABQ in time for Christmas dinner. The boys were great on the airplane. Evan was an angel and sat/slept the whole time. Lucas took a nap, too.

 

In Albuquerque (where they grow bigger trees) we had lots of fun. It was FREEZING for us whimpy Austinites. And dry - our skin got dry and flaky, and our lips got chapped, and then there's all this stuff that happens to your nose.  I was sick the whole time and had horrible sinus headaches, so I didn't get to see any friends. But we still had a lot of fun playing games, hanging out, and cooking fun food. Lucas and Evan enjoyed many adventures to the zoo, aquarium, museum, and lots of other places. And there was BAHAMA BUCKS. Just a couple miles from the house. Dreamy. 

Carrie had her birthday while we were there. She got a cool $20 paper airplane from Evan. Rad, right? 

And bath time in ABQ is always loads of fun. And annoying, honestly, with the whining and fighting over toys. So we started bathing them separately. 

And as you can see from Evan's face, IT WAS SO FUN!

 One of the greatest things about ABQ is the view from my parents' house. We have little bison friends occasionally, beautiful sunsets, great lighting, and mountains.

 And SNOW!

We were so happy to get to spend time with our family. Lucas and Evan had lots of fun with their ABQ cousins, aunts, uncle, and grandparents. And of course the fun sleepovers and adventures were super-awesome.

We were extremely happy to see my dad on Christmas Day! A couple weeks before Christmas he had some internal bleeding from an esophageal ulcer (that he didn't know about). He ended up in the hospital with a dangerously low blood count. He stayed several days and received 10 units of blood. It was scary and he was a lucky man. Thank you blood donors! And thank you, friends, for your thoughts and prayers. Thank you, Dad, for staying strong!

 

Here we are on our flight home. Evan loves the safety instruction manual. Loves it. The boys were well behaved. We got home in 4 pieces and I don't remember any horrible feuds. But my minds a little foggy... I've been sealing tile with cool chemicals for a couple weeks, but that's a story for a later time. 

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!