TEXAS!-the drive HOME!

We weren't sure exactly when we were going to leave.  Landon was sick..REALLY sick.  He had run a 104 temp for two nights!  Since it was a holiday nothing was open! I really didn't want to sit in the ER with him so we were hoping he could make it.  His fever broke the day we were supposed to come home so we took off-insteading of going to a clinic!

The drive home wasn't too bad at all. The roads were great except for a stretch through Wyoming. 

Madilyn slept TONS more on the way home! But she still loved her movies...and new sunglasses!

As long as we were moving, Landon was content in his carseat...he slept MUCH better there than in the hotel!

We should have stopped to take a picture of the EIGHTTEEN tower pivot!! But these grain bins were huge too!

The hotel we stayed at.  We got a smokin' good deal! Ron talked them down to begin with plus he got us a hot tub! THEN when we couldn't get the cribs we asked for,  they gave us an even bigger refund!  Apparently they were more upset about the cribs than we were-some on going battle about keys for the night shift...

Madilyn and Landon living it up in the hotel!  They LOVED it!

So we made do with what we had...just pushed two chairs together for Madilyn-she didn't seem to mind!...and Landon was too sick to sleep so he didn't need a bed anyway-no, you'd never be able to tell by THAT picture!!

These next few pictures were taken with in hours of each other! 

We thought this little canyon was beautiful!

But we REALLY didn't like what was on the other side!

Luckily it didn't last too long and had sunny skies all the way home!

TEXAS!-InnerSpace Caverns and Temple Train Depot

Granddad took us to Innerspace Caverns! I was a little nervous about going to a cave and seeing the bats. I made sure I was right next to mom and dad. (They were kind of happy since the whole trip I only wanted my aunts and uncle.) But it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be! The only bad part was falling in a puddle!

We got to ride in the pull cart down into the cave!

Some pretty cool formations...

They let me touch this one!

See my dirty bum!

On our way home from the caves we stopped at the train station in Temple. It was lots of fun climbing on the train!

TEXAS!-San Antonio Zoo

San Antonio was lots of fun too. We met up with all the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins from Corpus and went to the zoo! Unfortunatly, with such a big group it was hard to stay together. We all wandered around and did our own thing.

There are TONS of pics...so I'll just put in a few of my favs!

HIPPO...

LOVE this one

and of course Ron is encouraging our child to be a delinquent

ok so this made me just a tad bit nervous..THEN I saw the pictures!  WOW!

Love Love Love this one!

After the zoo, we headed over to Lulu's Bakery and Cafe-known for the "Best Chicken Fried Steak" and their 3 POUND cinnamon roles! Not even kidding, they had a whole page in the menu dedicated to chicken fried steak! (Then again they were HUGE 'steaks'...seriously bigger than both of your hands put together!)
Ron was wonderful. He sat in the car with the sleeping kids while the rest of us enjoyed our dinner-don't worry his order to go came out 45 minutes before anyone else's!

TEXAS! -Fort Worth Stock Yards

Since we didn't make it on a tour of the stadium.  Dad took us to see the old stock yards in Fort Worth.  We were all thinking "Woowho!" Some old corrals!"  We were all pretty impressed with what it was.  I'd have to say it was one of the best "attractions" we went to!

Madilyn and Landon riding the horse...

There was this really cool human maze.  I told Ron I'd only do it if he wouldn't lose me in it!...

He tried pretty hard...till he'd meet a dead end! :)

The over look...planning our route.

Of course the best part was the train!

If you know anything about me...I LOVE TRAINS!

..she was just mad Camille couldn't hold her for our family picture!

Then we waited...

for the cattle drive down Main Street!

TEXAS! -Cowboy Stadium

The ONLY thing Ron wanted to do on our vacation was to go see the cowboy stadium!  If you know anything about Grand-dad, we ALWAYS take the "senic" route. We learned young that that meant THE LONG WAY! Being older, I know appreciate the senic routes! We got there around 1:00 only to find out all tours had been sold out by noon! So we made the best of it in the gift shop...no, it wasn't good enough for Ron!

TEXAS!-Christmas

Christmas Eve

We made cookies for Santa!!!!

!IT SNOWED!
yes, it snowed Christmas Eve in Texas!

...everyone decided to go to the movies. The boys and Dianna went to see Avatar. While the rest of us sisters took Madilyn to see Princess and the Frog! Sounds fun, right? Biggest Pain in the Rear EVER! Not only did the movie shut off on us 3 times, because it had been 100 hours since their last cleaning, but Madilyn had to 'go potty' every 10 minutes! Longest show I have ever sat through! Don't get me wrong it was a cute movie and I liked it...it was just a pain!

Mom's Christmas Tree!

WE had a nice Christmas Dinner. Madilyn helped with the dishes.

Then Mom started a new Christmas Eve Tradition a few years ago. Instead of getting everyone PJ's, she gets us a Christmas book and something little to go with it. Then Grandma and Granddad too the grandkids to see Christmas Lights.

Christmas Eve Jammies for the kids!

Mom, Dad, Phil, and, Mill..reading this years story

The AFTERMATH!

 leave it to Ron to turn an exercise 'resister bungee thingy' into a slingshot!

Christmas Day:

He really came?

and brought me TOYS!!

But Landon's Favorite was the toothbrush!

Checkin' out the new toys!

The famous PJ's!

and the story:  Dad came home from work Christmas Eve with fancy decorated Christmas Presents. One for each of us (sisters and mom). Nobody had any idea what it was all about. Come to find out Dad had been asking mom about our sizes....So we figured they were just some company shirts. Boy were we surprised to find LONG UNDERWEAR PJ'S! ...Don't worry I only wore them once to try them on!!

Texas!-BLORA Festival of Lights

Christmas Lights have always been a big deal to our family. Especially Christmas Eve.  We would always get new Pajama's then drive around and look at all the lights around town. Every year we would also make it apoint to go to BLORA (Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area).  They always have a fabulous display of motion lights around the lake with music. I was excited to take Madilyn I thought she's love it...

turns out she had more fun in the back seat with Dianna and Phil!

Landon was just happy he didn't have to be buckled down!

If you look close you can see all the prestents aren't lit up...they looked like they were on a conveyer...yah, the pictures doesn't give it justice!

Thought this tunnel of lights was pretty cool!