The Holiday Scoop

We hope everyone enjoyed Christmas. Our home was full of excitement and joy as only 3 kids can bring. All 3 had a great day and were well behaved. There weren't any Christmas meltdowns which is a pleasant way to spend the day. We also enjoyed having Sean's grandma, brother and mom with us. Sean's brother has decided to make it a holiday tradition to visit during Christmas. That's great for us since we don't get the opportunity to travel to NC very often.

My favorite present is a Swarovski crystal necklace from Sean. He went to pick it out with Emma and she couldn't understand why Sean didn't choose the kitty pin or the cherry earrings. I did a treasure hunt for Sean with several clues to find his big present since it wasn't one that I could easily wrap. A few years ago, he received a map of Mt. Vesuvius in Italy and I decided to get it framed. It came out great and Sean is excited to hang it in his office. Alex is feverishly working on his projects including a Legos Hogwarts castle (Harry Potter) and a K'nex roller coaster that will be 5 feet tall. Emma is quite pleased with all her ponies. I never knew there were so many items with horses on them. Benjamin is thrilled with his new tricycle from Uncle Jason and Grandma Mindy. He patiently helped Uncle Jason put it together.

Uncle Jason has already flown back to NC. Time went way too quickly even though we didn't do a whole lot. While he was here, he saw Alex's 3rd grade musical. Alex did an awesome job. The show was very cute and we all enjoyed it. The kids did a great job handling the microphones, singing and dancing. One of my friends recorded the entire show and gave us a DVD copy complete with credits. For your listening enjoyment, here is Alex's solo..."I Ain't No Willie

Nelson"

We also went to a Transiberian Orchestra concert. They have a spectacular lights and laser show complete with indoor fireworks. We certainly got our money's worth since the concert was almost 3 hours. Jason really enjoys the group, so he was happy to go again.

After Christmas, we got an extra special treat. Our wonderful friends, the Laytons, who moved to Las Vegas 2 1/2 years ago came back to Austin for Christmas. We visited with them for several hours on the 26th and had lunch with a group of my former co-workers and kids on the 27th. Alex and Kenneth were buddies again from the moment they saw each other. The friends they were staying with have a 2 horses so we got to see the horses as well. Emma even brushed them a little bit. She was pretty shy around the horses, but eventually figured it out.