We had a very fun Christmas season this year. We kicked off our Christmas break with a Princess Sofia play with my mom and Sloane. Sloane is OBSESSED with the Disney channel show Sofia the first, and my mom surprised her with tickets to the live play/concert along with a Sofia dress to wear. Sloane was beyond excited. That night, Finn, Sloane, and I made our way to Dallas to hang out with the Braxdale family. We went to a fun Kids' Christmas exhibit in Richardson, then hung out at the Galleria the next day.
Our next stop was hanging out in Lindale with my mom, Doyle, and Erin. Erin was able to some into town for almost two weeks. We had our annual Christmas Eve celebration in Lindale with an abundance of food and presents. Ginger came by too- along with my Aunt Amy and cousins. We didn't leave until the next afternoon to head back to Austin, so the kids had to wait to open their Santa gifts. Finn's big gift was a football net to practice throwing footballs into and Sloane's big gifts were an easel and a Baby Alive doll. The next day, Rick's sister, her husband, and nephew came over to celebrate.
The next day we started our journey to Santa Fe. To say that it was a tight squeeze with all of our luggage, ski gear, two kids, and three adults is an understatement. Poor Erin got the brunt of it, squeezed in the middle between Finn and Sloane in the backseat. My pregnancy got me a permanent shotgun pass. We made a stop in Alpine, a cute little town in West Texas. The next day Erin and I convinced Rick to drive a little out of the way so we could see Marfa, which I had always heard was the Santa Fe of Texas. We got there a little too early before everything had opened, but it looked like a quaint, cute town. Erin and I were really sad to find out that the famous Marfa Prada was 30 miles away. Next time, next time.\
We arrived in Santa Fe to meet up with my Dad and Aunt Susan. It was really nice to see Susan, since I hadn't seen her in years and she had never met Sloane. We had our first Santa Fe Mexican food, which I love because of green chile sauce. My Dad rented a gorgeous adobe house for us to stay in. Sloane was in awe of how beautiful the house was, and said when she grew up she would come live in that house. We visited the Chimayo sanctuary while Rick and Finn went snowboarding on the mountain. Chimayo is known for having holy dirt inside the sanctuary, that has healed people of various ailments throughout the years. Sloane bought a vial of dirt to keep, which she proudly displays in her room. Finn ended up being a boss at snowboarding, making his way up to boarding on blues. Rick attempted to show Sloane how to ski, as ski school was full. It was not a success. Let's just say that Sloane learns better from others and that girl was not having the cold. Finn is a cold weather kid and is planning on going to college in Colorado so he can snowboard on the daily. Other fun things we did were going to a sculpture garden, going to the Children's museum, exploring the Square, and enjoying lots of great food. Rick and I even got to have a date night on the Square one night. We had a great vacation and it was really good to spend time with my Dad and Susan. It will probably be our last vacation for a long time with the baby coming.
It's always so sad when the Christmas breaks ends, as it is always one of the few times of the year I get to see almost everyone in my family.
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| Making a door hanger for a senior citizen's center |
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| Sending a letter to Santa |
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| Cookies with Santa- Finn is looking like this is the last year I'm getting on Santa's lap |
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| Christmas photo booth |
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| Sloane making sure Santa gets all of the specifications right for her Xmas request |
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| Sloane and Addison at their first time seeing the Nutcracker |
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| This year's Christmas card photo |
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| Sloane's Christmas party outfit- fabulous! |
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| Mr. and Mrs. Clause came to her school- Sloane snubbed Santa for Mrs. Clause |
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| Class party |
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| Finn's class party- celebrated all culture's holiday celebrations |
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| Sloane and Noni at Princess Sofia show |
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| Toy soldier at Galleria |
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| The bigger the bow, the closer to God |
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| Christmas in Lindale |
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| Pretending to get along for Santa's benefit |
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| Christmas Eve gifts |
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| Luggage of their own! |
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| Cousin time |
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| The infamous Baby Alive |
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| Santa came through with the football net |
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| Nail polish set from Aunt Tera |
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| Marfa |
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| Sledding time |
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| Snow angels |
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| Chimayo |
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| Twister time |
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| Family time |
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| Sloane's Indian outfit form Aunt Sue |
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| Finn's Indian top |
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| Such a pro! |
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| Santa Fe Children's Museum |
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| Our adobe abode for the week |
