Christmas In Texas 2007

Well, today is exactly one month since our last day in Texas, so I figured it was about time to upload the pictures we have of our trip.

I must start at the beginning, when we were still in Troy. About a week before we left Sarah gave me a baby backpack so that Jude and I can hike tandem more comfortably. Then on December 19th, we gave Jude his first Christmas presents at home by the tree. He got a djembe drum and a frog-noise maker. He knew exactly what to do with the drum after only being shown once. Also pictured is Jude taking his Praise Baby very seriously, Jude in a pair of his Christmas PJs (Cars), and Jude playing in his crib.











On Thursday the 20th, we took off at 4am and began the long haul to Texas. After about an hour out, I realized that I had forgotten my phone (it was the one thing that I couldn't pack in the car the night before because I use it as an alarm clock), when Sarah woke up, I asked her if she had hers, even though I already knew the answer. So, when we got to Texarkana, I borrowed a cell phone from a kind gentleman and got Dustin to break in to our house and overnight my phone to me. We arrived in Temple in the late afternoon and enjoyed seeing Brandon and Heidi's house, and especially Brandon's outdoor Christmas lighting. Jude thoroughly enjoyed playing with Emma and Esther (Mason was out of it). Then Brandon showed me the church and his office and we all ate at McAlister's.

Afterwards, we headed on down the road to get into Junction around 10 pm. Sarah's parents were excited to see us and especially Jude. Dale had decked out the house with great Christmas decorations. Jude loved his Granny Kathy. He would just sit and snuggle with her in the recliner and be oblivious to the world around him. While we were in Junction, we got to meet Sarah's stepbrother's family, Dale fixed a masterful Christmas feast, Jude and I hiked and rode the 4 wheeler, we took a day trip to Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock (It was incredibly windy on top), and we took a daytrip to San Angelo. We went to San Angelo Sunday morning to worship with Sarah's Grandmother and Granddaddy at their church. Afterwards we hung out at their house all afternoon while they played with Jude.

On Christmas morning, we drove up to Abilene expecting to be able to eat Taco Bueno for lunch. Unfortunately, the entire food industry in Abilene decided to take a day off! Minions! So we arrived at mom's house where she offered us stale bread and water, but thankfully I discovered her secret stash of tamales she was hiding from us. After Brandon's fam arrived from Temple and Angie's fam from Ranger, we went over to Dad's for a Christmas brisquet. The grandkids loved playing with Papa John. The rest of our time in Abilene was filled with feasting, talking, walking, watching Brandon play with his computer, sleeping, and more feasting. One of the best highlights was getting to see Michael and Rachel's new baby Mason Riley. Jude has been waiting for a long time to see his new best friend. Now Johnny and Jessica are really going to have to hurry up if their kid expects to be included in Jude and Riley's adventures.