We headed to Texas on the 15th of December and arrived relatively unscathed despite running through both the Zurich and Dulles International Airports. A complication with our luggage and then a delayed plane just added a little excitement to the journey. The boys had some jetlag but nothing too major beyond the first couple of days. We hit the ground running with Kolb family Christmas, Owen’s second birthday, a trip to the farm and then made our way to Ft. Worth for part 2 of our “Texas Tour”. Don’t worry this post will only be the first part. I will give you a breather before Part 2! After visiting my parents we went back to Houston for a few days, on to DC for 24 hours and then on to Bern. So, before the week is up you are likely to be sick of our pictures and journeys. But I promise the blog will get more interesting soon!
cousin teeth brushing time
closing eyes for stockings…clearly Owen missed the memo!
Seth’s mom has a reputation for needing a bib with spaghetti…just so happens that I found these one of a kind hand embroidered jumbo bibs at a thrift shop here in Switzerland!! And there was even a matching one for my father-in-law. Some gifts are just meant to be!
not sure if this is just something they do in Texas but Santa came around on a fire engine and threw candy to the kids
Seth and I snuck out one afternoon to celebrate our 6th Anniversary! We headed over to Taste Of Texas. It was so much fun but a bit sad being over in my old stomping ground and not having any time to catch up with so many dear friends!! Next time! As you can see above they must have known Seth was deprived of good red meat because this was his cowboy steak!
The Kolb’s have a tradition of having sword fights after Christmas using the tubes from wrapping paper…it was the first time for the boys and I to participate. The boys loved it!
whataburger evidence
We headed to the farm to spend a few days of peace and quiet…or rather Owen learning to climb out of his crib, the addition of kids pepto to our traveling medicine cabinet and some fun things like s’mores by the fire and beautiful fall leaves in December!
(interject Part 2 in Ft. Worth coming soon)….oh wait…
On our way back to Houston we took a detour to meet this little lady, Annabelle, and to have a quick lunch and visit with her parents, Bo and Leigh, along with her big sis Katy Jo.
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Owen and KatyJo catching up…Owen told her she’s “preeeti”
…back to Houston
Our time in Houston with family was so much fun. It could have only been better with the addition of Seth’s sister Claire, her husband Donnie and our nephew Benjamin! We missed you guys!
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Last week we celebrated Owen’s 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday to our sweet Owen! You have filled our lives with so much joy and love!!
For Owen’s party this year we got to be back in Texas and celebrated with Seth’s side of the family. Owen’s 4 cousins came over and we did it up with a puppy themed party.
The kids made collars for their craft and wore felt floppy ears. Aunt Sara painted their noses black! We had a houseful of cute pups! While they crafted they munched on dog food (ie peanut butter Captain crunch)
Seth led the kids in a Simon days game with fog commands. Owen pretty much toddled around watching the bigger kids and enjoying the extra attention.
For dinner we served hot dogs and puppy dog tails (ie curly fries) in big plastic dog bowls. Each kid got their own bowl and thought that was pretty fun!
Er had his party a day early and headed to the farm on his real birthday. So on the morning of his real birthday he got to go with Seth to pick out his first ever doughnut! He approved!
Happy Birthday O!
ps-We are loving our time in Texas….and I am obviously falling way behind on blogging!! Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!
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6 years ago this afternoon Seth and I were married!! It was a rainy December afternoon, the cake was half-cooked, the church looked gorgeous with hanging lanterns and fresh greenery and I was the happiest girl to be getting married that day. I can honestly remember smiling bigger than I have ever smiled in my life as I walked down the aisle. As I was driving the other day I was thinking about our Anniversary and got teary-eyed. No, I am not pregnant. Just so thankful.
My joy was so huge on the day I married Seth mostly because I was so keenly aware that I loved Seth so much and that he loved me with a love no one else had. This is by no means a slight to my family and friends who have shown me love for years and years. But still Seth’s love is different. Seth’s faithfulness, patience and keep calm and carry on have led us through some dark times and some wonderfully fun times.
Our 6th year has been a great one!! We made no international moves, had no new children and had a lot of normal weeks!! (I don’t mean by any means that having children is a bad thing but it is a HUGE thing and most of our married years have included pregnancy or a newborn!) We have had some date nights and celebratory times but mostly just life. And it has been so needed.
Looking forward to more of this adventure. I know we have many more joys and trials to walk through together. Rain or shine, he’ll still be mine!! Happy Anniversary, Seth!
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Well the bags are mostly packed and the house is *mostly*clean. We head out tomorrow for Texas/DC. When we debated last year on when to go home and decided to save extra vacation time to do a longer trip now I was bummed to not go home for Christmas. But now that the time has come, I am so thankful we saved Seth’s vacation time and that we have long enough to recover from jetlag, see both sets of parents, some of our siblings, nieces, nephews and friends! The trip with the boys is a bit daunting but I must admit that at this point we are both too excited to be thinking about how the boys will do. And may I unashamedly say that after hosting 26 house guests over the past 14 months that I am so excited to be a guest!!!! The thought of our moms cooking and me not cooking enjoying is so exciting!!!
Before we hit the road or rather the runway I wanted to post a few pictures from Jackson’s Christmas programs…one was a quick 5 songer at the preschool Christmas market on Sunday…
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jack with his teachers, Jamie, Fatima and Rachel
The second program was the church nativity that the kids acted out. Jackson started out as a shepherd and midway through the service before he went on stage I noticed he had talked the teacher into letting him “upgrade” to a wiseman! It was a family service and the irony of it is that these family services are the toughest on families. Owen in particular. He just can’t sit for 1 hour and 45 mins plus. I peeled 4 oranges before leaving the house thinking I would sneak him a slice now and again to pacify him if things got desperate….he ate 2 oranges during the first song if this gives you any indication of how our evening went. We ended up slipping out before the sermon even began because Owen was beyond oranges, lights going off and on, and being held down and quiet.
shepherd turned wiseman
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