Back in Texas: Holiday Photo Dump

We were so blessed to be busy this holiday season, but that didn't leave a whole lot of time for blogging! Here's what we were up to instead:

Trains at North Park. We went last year and Jackson loved it, but this year he LOVED it! What's great about this age is that he generally can't remember things from a year ago, so everything to do with Christmas is so new and exciting. He thought the trains were great and he ran around looking at all the buttons. Since we went in the middle of the week, before school let out, it wasn't very crowded.

Brenna came along to check out the trains too and was great at keep an eye on my coat and Starbucks cup - sorry Brenna, you really were more than a glorified coat rack.

Waiting for the trains to pass by!

Dallas skyline - Reunion tower (the one with the ball on top, in case you aren't familiar) is my favorite part of the skyline - makes me feel like I'm home.

I think it was after taking this picture of Jackson in front of the Dallas skyline that I thought to myself "Oh hey, Jackson's been crossing his legs a lot...." so I asked if he needed to go to the bathroom. He said no, and then I told him that we could come back to see the trains afterwards. He agreed and was so ready to go to the bathroom, that he didn't even wait to leave the train area before he started pulling off his pants. Haha! I pulled them back up and we ran (almost literally) to the nearest bathroom. I was so proud that he made it!

As promised, we came back to check out some more trains. Here are the trains in front of the Cotton Bowl, which is apparently now host to the TicketCity Bowl because the Cotton Bowl is now being played at Jerryworld... I mean Cowboy Stadium? Whatever, here it is all dressed up for the Red River Showdown, which begs the question - why is there so much available parking?

Texas State Fair, complete with Big Tex.

We took two vacations this year - Washington DC and Canada - so it was really special to see this scene from DC (no matter how inaccurate - haha).

This is (unfortunately) the best picture I got of Jackson in front of Grand Central Station. My sister, aka Aunt Emily (Ehmly) lives in Brooklyn, so I wanted to get a picture of this one for her.

About half-way through the time we spent at the trains, Jackson found these red buttons that would move some of the elements inside the display. Sometimes a light would come on, or a person would swing on the playground, little things like that. So we had to go back through the entire exhibit and press every button 15,000 times. Good thing Brenna had fallen asleep by then.

A couple days before Christmas, my family and Steven's family got together for an Allen Americans hockey game. There are 3 reasons I like the Allen Americans: 1. They play at the AEC, which is just 10 minutes from our house, 2. The tickets are cheap, about $15-$30 each, 3. They are actually pretty good! In addition to that, the sense of community it brings is so uplifting. I don't think I have ever been to a game and not run into at least one person I know.

Since we had such a large group and the kids were going to be with us, we decided to rent a box for the night. It was so much fun! There were 16 seats, plus a little seating area behind. Since there were only 12 of us (including the kids) there was lots of room to mingle and hang out.

Jackson has already been to a few Allen Americans games. We have somehow wormed our way into free sets of tickets a few times, so that's when we bring him along. We figure that if we have to leave early, we won't feel as annoyed by it if the seats were free. So far, we've been right. He loved the box and even got to see the mascot, Biscuit, up close when Biscuit visited the box next to us. Jackson has a little Biscuit toy at home that he sleeps with sometimes, so we made sure that little Biscuit was there for the game. Brenna is looking after him in the picture with my Mom.

This is my sister's friend from high school, Caroline and my sister. Caroline is kind of an honorary Scott - she's come to a lot of our family functions over the years and she is lots of fun.

I tried to get a picture with my sister and it turned into a silly photo shoot - surprise. Emily is way better and being silly-pretty than I am. She looks like she's asking for a new pony for Christmas and I look like I'm trying to imitate a fish on the phone.

Brenna had a great time being passed around the room to all her family members. Steven's brother even held her and played with her for a while. She spent a long time at the end of the night on the floor with my sister and Caroline. They were so good with her and seemed to really enjoy playing with her. Jackson and Brenna are so lucky to have a sweet aunt who is crazy about them.

I didn't get any pictures of Steven's side of the family, but I swear they were there. In total, we had Steven's parents, his brother Chris and wife Robin. On my side, we had my parents, my sister and Caroline, and then of course Steven, Jackson, Brenna, and me. It was a great way to spend time together and relax while enjoying the game.

The next day was Christmas Eve, which we spent with my family since my sister was only in town for about a week.

When we were leaving, I wanted to get some pictures of the kids in their Christmaswear, but first, Jackson wanted to get a picture of Brenna and me. I think he did a pretty good job!

My Dad and Jackson looked like accidental twins in their jeans and blue and white button-down shirts. Jackson really loves his Poppy Scott.

This may be my favorite picture of these two so far!!! They both look so happy and festive. I loved putting Brenna's Christmas Eve outfit together. I found each piece separately and I love how it all came together. I've said it before and I'll say it again - girls are so much more fun to dress than boys!

Finally, here are some pictures we had taken of Jacks and Brenna in their Christmas PJs. I am so glad that I got matching PJs for them! I was worried that Brenna wouldn't grow into her pajamas in time for Christmas, but luckily, Gymboree's pajamas are made to fit snugly, so they were just fine. They looked so cute in their matching jammies. I think this is going to be a tradition, at least as long as they'll let me!!