Christmas 2020

For Christmas this year, things were still a little unsettled.  While we had originally hoped to be in a new home by now, we were starting to realize we may be spending an extended time in the corporate apartment.  It also threw a wrench in school planning.  I had full intentions of Brenna attending either Atascocita or Kingwood High School.  Her 8th grade year was quickly coming to a close and if we were in the apartment when that happened, she was getting districted to Summer Creek.  This added even more concern to finding a home quickly because I really didn't want to switch high schools.  The whole point has always been that we would relocate with company as needed until she started high school and then we wanted to stay stationary for those 4 years.  It would be ridiculous that after all these moves she would have to change high schools simply because we couldn't find a house in the place we were already located!  But again, Covid's impact on the housing market was not making this an easy task.

We decided that spending Christmas in the apartment wasn't really what we wanted so we went home to Mississippi for Christmas for the first time since Brenna started Kindergarten.  It was a nice visit after being away for so long in Scotland.  We enjoyed the time with family, visited Christmas in Columbia for some ice skating on Main Street, and caught up with all the cousins. 

Pawpaw's New Boat

After Pawpaw retired, he invested in a bass boat and Brenna was very excited to break it in!

The Summer She Learned to Swim

The day after Brenna's birthday, she and I packed up and headed to Mom and Dads for a few days.  Like always, Brenna enjoys her visits to Mississippi because she never hears the word "no" while we're there.  She gets to do all the things that she enjoys with an ever attentive audience.  Mawmaw says yes to things like eating Chef-Boyardee in the living room while watching her favorite show and drinking pink lemonade (big no-no at our house).

Mississippi Summer Trip

Jacob had a business trip to Belgium, so Brenna and I flew home to Mom and Dad's to spend the week while he was away.  Here's Brenna all packed up and headed to the airport.  She's a pro at flying and looks too cute handling all her Minnie Mouse luggage through the terminal.

Christmas 2011

Back to blogging!  It was a very long and very busy December!  Finally, all the candy has been eaten, the decorations have been put away, and I have time to share a few pictures from the month.

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with friends, family, and a few unexpected surprises!  We started off the month with parties, parties, parties! We had three birthday parties, two Christmas parties, and a Disney Character breakfast that kicked off our celebration season all in the same week!  Whew!  Here's a few shots from Avery and Brady's birthday parties!  I don't know how my friend Jamie does it with both her children's birthdays and Christmas all in the same month! Brady's birthday was a cowboy theme, hence the hat!  Avery's birthday was at our gymnastic gym and the kids had a blast!

An Early Easter

Well, Jacob's away so Brenna and I are at Mom and Dad's for the week.  We all drove to the airport together Saturday morning.  Jacob left for Paris and we made our way to Mississippi.  Needless to say Brenna is beyond thrilled since she gets away with everything at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's.  She came home to an early Easter, since the Easter Bunny left her a basket under Mawmaw's Easter Tree.

She wasted no time plundering through her loot.  She was thrilled to find activity books, crafts, clothes, bubbles, play dough, a butterfly net, umbrella, and shovel.  All the things she needs to keep her busy for the week.

Hello 2011!

Well, another year has come and gone.  I guess time flies when your having fun!  We had a wonderful and action-packed Christmas.  We enjoyed a slow week at home with Jacob being off work.  On Christmas day, we all hit the ground running.  We had to wake Brenna to kick off Christmas and in her sleepy state her only concern was whether Santa had eaten all the cookies.  Only after we closely evaluated that he did indeed consume both the cookies and the milk "He must have been hungry, Mama!" did we moved on to gifts.  Once we made our way through the pile, Brenna began to play, while I began unpackaging toys and putting together our new Toy Story tent and Jacob went outside to jerk down (literally) all the outdoor Christmas decorations.  Within 2 hours everyone and everything was crammed into the car and we were headed to the airport!

Visit with Mawmaw and Pawpaw!

Once again, Jacob had another business trip that carried him away to Phoenix for a week.  Since the last trip was a bit of a strain for Brenna and I, we decided it best to fly home and spend some time with Mawmaw and Pawpaw.  Help for me, fun for her!  And Oooh Boy did she have fun.  Seven straight days for undivided attention, unlimited activities, and staying up late.  So, sit back and relax because this is gong to be a long one.  I don't know how many pictures you can put in one post, but we're about to test the limit.  The week in pictures, here's how it went:

"The Play House"

The playhouse was complete with patio and air conditioner (see photo below).  She practically lived in this thing the entire week.  But who could blame a her, it was stocked with books, toys, playdough, a play kitchen, markers, musical instruments, it even had its own Christmas tree, which was requested by Brenna.

Trip Home to Mississippi!

We made a quick trip home to Mississippi for the weekend. Brenna thoroughly enjoyed her time at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house. Undivided attention along with a swimming pool, makes for good times for a 2 year old! After a great time at Anna's birthday party, we spent the rest of our time visiting and enjoying the pool. We also had some family photos taken by a local photographer, but more to come on that later. Here's some pictures from the week.