Christmas in Austin

Our weekends have been filled with family this Christmas! Last weekend we went to Austin to Carrie and Chris' new house for an early Christmas with my family. My sister Jennifer and her family and Mom and Dad came too. Nathan loved all of the attention he got, especially from my niece and nephew, Alexandra and Robert.

Chris pretty much spent all day Saturday in the kitchen making us a wonderful Christmas dinner. We felt bad that he had to cook so much, but our tummies were very thankful!

Alexandra, Nathan, and Robert. When I bought Nathan's Christmas sweater, I had no idea that Jen had bought Robert the same pattern in a vest! Although it took a little coaxing to get Robert dressed up, he finally gave in :)

To give the chef some space, we took the kids to a Gingerbread House decorating workshop in the grocery store. The houses were already made so all the kids had to do was go crazy with icing and candy!

Here is Robert making sure each M&M is perfectly spaced.

Alexandra is putting on the finishing touches.

The final products! They looked so good! It was all I could do not to "sample" the houses :)

While Alexandra and Robert took their time decorating, Papa got his exercise from strolling Nathan around the store. Nathan was so tired but just couldn't bear to miss anything.

A peek from inside. "I wish I could decorate a gingerbread house too."

Auntie Carrie and Nate

Mama and her baby.

Nathan loved looking at the tree and ornaments!

This is the present I want!

Otis (Chris and Carrie's baby) felt a little left out because of Nathan. So Wayne and Robert gave him some much needed attention.

"Daddy, you told me we were going on a SLEIGH ride....I may only be 4 months old, but I know this is not a sleigh!"

"That doesn't look like the Santa in my books."

Mama and her grand babies waiting to open presents. Of course Nathan falls asleep right before the main event!

Time for presents!

Jen and Mom

Once again, Nathan got lots of goodies. This book was from Carrie and is really special because it's the one that Mom used to read to us when we were little. I've always loved it but it is no longer in print. But Carrie found a copy for Nathan!

Nathan got a bit upset after opening presents, but Papa calmed him down.

And you wonder where Nathan and I get our sleep habits from???

This was another one of Nathan's gifts from Aunt Carrie and Uncle Chris, and it is a lifesaver for me! We're on to El Dorado this weekend!