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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Well, if jetlag doesn’t kill us I imagine nothing will. Our first night back went pretty well. We arrived back in the morning, took great naps, went to bed early and only spent 2 hours up in the night with Owen…and 3 short wake ups with Jackson. Not too bad for a first night. Things should get progressively better from there right? Our Sunday included short naps, early, uneventful bed times for the boys. As Seth and I headed to bed Owen woke up crying. He persisted to be wide awake until midnight. Jackson woke up around 11:00 pm and didn’t get back to sleep until 4:30 in the morning. I love my sleep y’all. Let me rephrase that, I need my sleep. Praying this too soon shall pass! They say a day for every hour of time zone change! Only 4 more days to go.

SO, all that to say, I am eager to upload pictures from our crazy Texas tour of 2011 but bear with me as I am a wee bit overtired and dealing with some very sleep deprived shipmates!  We had a wonderful time with family and friends and as awful as this jetlag gig is, it really is worth it to keep up with the people we love and miss so much.

We have lots in store in 2012..including 6 months left in Bern, another international move, a house hunt, growing boys, new job, and who knows what else. I am excited when I see the new fresh calendar on the counter. Until we got back I was pretending that we had a clear calendar in 2012. As I slowly come back to reality I am scribbling in things left and right and it is proving to be filling up to fast! Looking forward to all that is to come.

For today I have to conquer the grocery store. Which will likely be enough of a mission with these 2 sleepyheads in tow.

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