Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful time of year! I love watching Allison's face light up when she sees a Santa Claus or tree full of decorations. The hard part was doing the shopping for presents. I loved going out with my mom Christmas shopping. We would go down every aisle looking for just the right gift for everyone on our lists. This year, my heart wasn't in it without Mom!

I knew I had to get presents for both kids. JR because it was his first Christmas and Allison because she was finally old enough to understand about Santa! I waited and waited, hoping I'd catch some of Allison's excitement. Finally, 10 days ago, I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Allison had been begging for a doctor kit (a booboo kit in her words) from Santa for the over a month and I was afraid if I waited too long I wouldn't be able to find one. As it was, I had to go to 3 stores to get it! I got each kid 4 presents, one thing they wanted, one thing they needed, one thing to read, and one thing to wear. Allison got her doctor kit, PJ's, a matching/memory game, and a shirt. JR got a set of cars, PJ's, a bedtime story, and a second set of PJ's (he really needed some that would go over his huge night time cloth diaper!).

On Christmas Eve, James got a bonus and went to the Cal Ranch Store (think Tractor Supply Company). He got the kids a pedal tractor, a wooden train set, and wooden Lincoln Logs. He also got me a 3 cookbook set of Crockpot meals and a play yard for JR. I love it and it will be well used!

Thanksgiving

The kids and I went to visit my dad for Thanksgiving. Since Mom passed away, my dad goes and lives where he wants (he spent most of the summer in Williams and headed south when the weather got too cold!). He's staying in Parker and loving it! We invited James but he was completely uninterested in going anywhere so we went on our own. It was my first time driving a long distance with the kids alone. I was worried because JR doesn't always like his car seat and Allison gets antsy being cooped up in the car for too long.

It was a lot of worry over nothing. The kids did great, I had fun, and we had a blast in Parker! We decided to stay at a motel for the 3 nights instead of cramming 2 adults, 2 kids, and a dog in Dad's travel trailer. They were in rare form- it was $75 a night for a Motel 6! I paid it though.

We went to the local casino to have a buffet Thanksgiving dinner! Lots of yummy food but lots of people too. I managed to get 3 plates of food (1 for me, 1 for Allison, and a small one for JR) back to the table in one piece :)

Daddy's 1965 TravelEze Trailer

Grandpa and JR

Allison eating