And we're back...

So we had a whirlwind trip over Christmas break. We left on the 11th and drove to Atlanta. We stayed with my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Lou...who will forever be known as Uncle Boo. Natalie loved the stairs in their house. She referred to them as Barbara, Boo and steps!! From there we drove down to Mobile, Alabama to visit the Hendersons. It's been 3 years since we've seen them...they had never met Natalie and we'd never met their son Noah. Natalie and Noah had a great time together, which included Noah holding her down and kissing her!! From there we drove 9 hrs (in one day with a 2 yr old!!) to College Station. We were able to see lots of friends there as well as pick up some new Aggie gear and check out how much has changed in the 2.5 years since we moved.

Then we headed up to Corsicana. We were able to see lots of friends while we were there and Natalie loved hanging out with Nana, Papa, Uncle Drew Drew and Uncle Jay Jay (who she also called Drew Drew). Natalie fell in love with the piano at Nana's as well as all of the portraits in the dining room. She continually asked for her friend Morgan the entire time we were gone. And she somehow convinced everyone in the house to put Dan Zanes (her favorite musician) on the computers and watch his videos with her (they saw she has us under her thumb!!!).

We also went to our friend Dylan's wedding. It was a beautiful service and so good to see old friends and meet new ones. We are so happy for Dylan and Heather and all they are about to experience together. We also got our FIRST night alone without Natalie since her birth. We stayed in Dallas after the wedding and went out with one of our bestest friends, Randy.

Natalie was able to see all of her godparents while we were home also. Melynda came and spent the afternoon with us; Jamie came down with her parents for an afternoon; and Randy and Cassie came to visit our last afternoon there.

Christmas itself was good. Natalie still isn't really into opening presents and lost interest in about 5 minutes. So we spent most the day trying to get her to open gifts and eventually opened hers up ourselves. Santa brought her a tricycle (or bicycle according to her) and a Mega Blocks table. She got lots of books and clothes. Paul's big hit gifts were a Steam Mop, blue towels, and a chef's coat. My big hit (that I got when I got home) was a Nook (similar to the Kindle). Loving it so far. We also managed to "need" a new camera and a GPS while we were away!

Finally we headed back home. We drove to Tuscaloosa in one day. Then we headed back to Atlanta and went to the aquarium. Would have been more fun if there had been less people. (hint: don't go during Christmas break or when Virginia Tech and Tennessee are playing in a bowl game there the next day). We again stayed with Barbara and Boo. We also got to see Jay and Stephanie. Natalie kept saying "bye" to all of them as we drove away. We got home yesterday and were OVERJOYED to sleep in our own bed..and to have Natalie at the other end of the house where she could stay in her own bed and make noise and not bother anyone.

Not sure if we will make that trip to Texas again for a while. It was quite an ordeal but we make it home safely.

Happy New Year and I hope that 2010 brings each of you all of the things you want and need.

(if you are wondering what happened to all of the pictures from our trip, we ended up with over 700 of them on our new camera so I will just be posting up the highlights on our picasa website. If you want/need the address, just send me an email!)