Christmas in Houston

We started our Christmas celebrations in Houston with Richard's family.  We also got to sneak a couple of extra visits in while we were there :)

We stopped in and visited Kim and the 3 peanuts for a little while.  I think my crew might have been a bad influence.  Just look:





This group shot cracks me up! By this point, I was just about pushing my kiddos out the door, so we'd leave before they broke something!
   

I'm being a bit (tiny bit) dramatic. The girls had a blast together, and Gracie thoroughly enjoyed pulling every toy Kate owns out onto the floor, while the boys built a fire outside :)

Love you, Kim! Thanks for feeding us and letting us invade your gorgeous home for a little while :)

Our next visit was with Amber and her crew.  I got to meet Amber and her family right before they traveled to China to get Miss Mia, so I was anxious to meet the newest member of their family.  She is precious and had us laughing all night.

Mia is the teeniest little thing and she fell in love with Bryce.  He sat and played with her most of the night.  She loved to follow him around and I wish I had taken a picture of that.  I don't think she came up to his knees :)  Mia makes the funniest faces you've ever seen and I love this shot of the two of them :)


Now the whole reason we were in Houston in the first place!  We were able to spend some time with Richard's parents and sister. The girls kept Grandma Bec busy playing Memory, reading books, making a gingerbread house








playing at the park and decorating cupcakes

and Grandpa taught the boys new games

Daddy almost gave Grandma Bec a heart attack when he put Gracie on the the table to dance :)

 Heather and the girls
 













The family




Oh...what can I say??


Richard came down with the flu while we were there.  He put on the bravest face he could, but spent all of Christmas Eve in the bed after we got home.

I know Grandpa and Grandma Bec enjoyed us being there, but I'm pretty sure they were happy to see our car drive off too!  lol... They are probably still recuperating!

One More Step

I called USCIS today and found out that my I800A was approved on 3/7!! I should be getting my 797c any day now and then my dossier can be sent off to China! For all of you waiting for yours: my notice date was 1/11/11. My total time for approval: 55 days. Right about average for right now.

Miss Gracie has a birthday coming up so I sent her a birthday package. Wesleigh and I went shopping together for her and she really had a great time picking out some special things. Before I put everything into the box, I wrapped the in princess wrapping paper. I send a family picture and a small album filled with various pics. I hope I get some pics of her getting her gift!!



Our boys were off school for the Mardi Gras holidays so we headed to Richard's parents for a few days. We had a great visit. I didn't take many pictures because we really didn't do anything special....just hung out and got to chill out for a few days. These are the woods behind their house. Richard was bringing Wesleigh to check out what the stinky boys were doing.


Richard's cousin brought Wesleigh this doll as a gift. She was so excited. The doll's name is Ling, but Wesleigh told me her name is Sienna. She did this all on her own without any prompting by me. I love this because she named her Sienna after Diana's Sienna. She sees many pics of Sienna and Ruby. I love that they came to mind.


These 4 boys spent hours playing dominos. They had a great time!


This dress was another gift Wesleigh received. She just had to try it on. She loved it and kept twirling around in it. She walked up to the table and told them to look at her as she twirled around for them. Too cute!


Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Two of the boys went back to school today and one is off the whole week. I keep thinking it's Monday!! We have 2 ball tournaments and 1 band concert this weekend, so I'd better be ready!!