our Christmas Card 2010

after lots of planning ... big visions ... great intentions ... for a fantastic, amazing, creative, custom Christmas card this year, I found myself completely out of time to get a card put together!  I FINALLY got our Christmas cards created, ordered, picked up, stuffed, addressed, stamped & delivered to the post office on December 23 ... but at least they made it out before Christmas Day!

Here is our family's Christmas Card for 2010 ...

visiting Santa Claus

This weekend we took Kendall to the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine so she could get her picture taken with Santa ... we'd been trying to take her to see Santa several different times this month, but it just hadn't worked out until now.  I LOOOOVE the Gaylord Texan ... I LOVE that they decorate (I mean seriously decorate!) for Christmas ... tons of Christmas trees all decorated in different themes, millions of twinkling lights and all the family-fun things to see & do.  I have been dreaming of taking Kendall there since last Christmas ... and since she literally ooooh's & aaaahhhh's and wow's at just about everything these days, I knew she would love seeing all the decorations, right along with me!  I had extremely high expectations of this outing of lots of family fun, but realistic low expectations of getting even a somewhat-decent, majorly-overpriced picture of her smiling while sitting on Old Saint Nick's lap ... I truly expected a screaming crying picture of our sweet (nearly) 20 month old ... especially after this year's 1st encounter of Santa, when she sat on his lap at our preschool! 

Side Note:  Here's how her 1st encounter went ... she was crying so hard, I could hear her from across the school (for quite a while), so I finally decided to go find her to see if I could help calm her down ... when I got to the room, there she was sitting on his lap & crying and being terrified of sweet old Santa ... and also crying & mad that she was wearing these "reindeer antlers" her teacher had put on her head for the picture.  She would not settle down until I got her ... so together, we sat next to Santa for a picture.  So, I felt my original expectations of seeing Santa here at the Gaylord were well founded after that 1st experience!  ha!

Now back to our outing at the Gaylord ...
We finally got parked & got into the hotel ... we walked in & immediately saw Santa's line and decided to get this part of our outing done & over with first.  We were glad that we did because we were the next to last ones accepted to see Santa before he was leaving for an hour break ... so we made it just in time.  The line moved pretty quickly & Santa's team of helpers were very efficient & good with all the kids.  Daddy had been holding her during the line, so when it was our turn, he took her up to see Santa, sat her on his lap & then we both jumped over by the camera operator ... Kendall had looked up at Santa, he talked with her & she was getting a little scared, but Santa asked her about her bear she was holding ... we sang her favorite song when trying to get her to look up for the camera ("roll the dough, roll the dough, POP it in the pan!") ... she smiled a little ... at least she wasn't screaming & crying like I'd been imagining she would ... the lady took several shots.  I went to get her from Santa and we told him that she wanted a rocking horse that "nay's".  There were a couple of good pictures ... but settled on this one ... (sorry about the quality here ... this is a scanned version of the picture.)

Our Santa Claus Priceless Moment for 2010:
parking at the Gaylord Texan ... $12
getting 1 5x7 picture sitting on Santa's lap ... $15
watching Kendall (and "Baby") see Santa, sit on his lap, interact with him and give a little smile for the camera, all with a low-grade fever (unmediated) ... priceless!

After our visit with Santa, we walked around the Gaylord for a little bit to show her all the awesome decorations ... much to my seriously sad disappointment, she was not ooohhhing & aaahhhing at anything she saw ... she only wanted Daddy to hold her ... she wasn't smiling for any of the pictures ... by then, we realized Kendall had a low-grade fever and we didn't have any Tylenol with us ... we felt so bad for her so we headed home!  (Apparently she is teething ... working on those big molars!  At least it isn't anything more serious than this, again!)  (I'm planning on having us all return to the Gaylord once Huni & GranGran arrive for the week of New Year's ... so I'm still hoping we'll get a chance to see all the decorations!)

Here's a few shots of our short time at the Gaylord ...

for the 34th time ...

for the 34th time, I've celebrated my birthday ... I still can't believe it's already been another year ... these years are just zipping by, it seems ... as everyone always says! Although I really don't like to think of myself as being in my 30's ... hitting 34 just means that next year I'll have to admit I'm in my mid-30's ... oh, whatever ... there is nothing you can do about it anyway, so I'm really trying not to care too much! ha!

Despite getting older, I really did have a very fun day with my sweet husband & even sweeter daughter ... Ash took the day off so we had a nice little family day all together ... and I looooooved it!  We are all feeling great again after our sickness issues over Thanksgiving, so we had a big day planned.

He got up with Kendall so I got to sleep in til 8am ... I found him cooking us all a special birthday breakfast while feeding & entertaining Kendall ... we had pancakes, sausage and eggs ... and it was all yummy & a very sweet gesture!



breakfast with my 2 loves!

  

After a morning nap for Kendall, we visited the James Avery store and picked out my silver charm bracelet ... I've been wanting a "mother's bracelet" with a girl charm on it for Kendall ... and we can add a new girl/boy charm(s) to it later on (not anytime soon, though!) if we add any additional children to our family.

Enjoying our afternoon together, we headed to dinner at one of my most favorite locations ... Macaroni Grill!  We had a delicious dinner ... pasta malano, my favorite!  Plus, where else can your 19 month old color all over the dinner table?

We ended the night by decorating Kendall's little Christmas tree we are putting up in her room ... it was quite the event for our Little Miss ...



don't worry ... this was NOT the finished product ...
we were just getting started here!

adding the star on top



Kendall's 1st little Christmas tree in her room ... all pink!

 

I had a great birthday and am ready to move onto December ... my favorite month of the year!  I have so many fun events/activities that I want us to do as a family with Kendall, this year ... and I'm ready to get started!

our thanksgiving weekend

We are back home after spending our Thanksgiving holiday in Abilene with my family this year. On Wednesday, Ashley got to leave work a little earlier than we'd expected, so we loaded up our vehicle & headed out of town a little ahead of schedule ... we had a great trip driving into Abilene ... then enjoyed our evening visiting with my parents, playing with Kendall who loooooooved being with them, going to the grocery store with Grams (my mom), visiting MawMaw (my grandmother) and settling in for a long weekend. Thanksgiving day, Ash woke up with a fever & the stomach virus (yuck!) ... poor guy! He stayed in bed at my parents' house while the rest of us spent the day at MawMaw's. We had a very small gathering this year ... which was probably a good thing, since by that evening, I was sick with the stomach virus, and the next day my dad got it. So, we really didn't take very many pictures of our 4 days together ... but we did enjoy a very low-key time together, resting a bit, doing a little shopping (which for the Byers family is unbelievable!), watching a few new movies and just being together.

Here's a few pictures from Thanksgiving Day ...



MawMaw with her beautifully decorated dinning table



Kendall & I arriving at MawMaw's ... all bundled up.  A cold front blew in
overnight, so it went from 83 on Wednesday to the low 40's on Thursday!



MawMaw and Mom



Dad and Aunt Shanny (she's my great-aunt ... MawMaw's sister-in-law)



me with MawMaw



Kendall decided it was nap time just as lunch was ready at 11:30am, so she napped while we ate ... and she ate later ...

Kendall's plate for her Thanksgiving meal ...
This "Little Bo Peep" dish has now been used by 4 generations! 
This was my MawMaw's plate as a baby, then my Mom used it at Ma's
(MawMaw's mom) all the time, then I used it at MawMaw's when I was
a baby (which I was reminded of this weekend), and on Thanksgiving,
Kendall used it for the 1st time.  I looooove things like this! 

I was quite nervous for Kendall to use this very-breakable, priceless dish, especially since she normally doesn't use a plate or bowl, but if she does, it is definitely plastic! I was so worried she was going to toss it off the high chair, as she has done in the past with her sippy cups, from time to time. But she did really good ... and the plate stayed in one piece!

 

Kendall eating her 1st Thanksgiving meal ...
which for the record, she did not enjoy ... not one
thing ... all the food was great, but she is soooo
difficult to feed lately & this weekend she really
didn't eat hardly anything, unfortunately.
Hopefully we'll have a better outcome next year!

(Apparently this is the only picture of Kendall in her outfit on Thanksgiving ... I had a different dress picked out for her, but it was too short on her (especially with it being so cold out), so we went with option #2 ... her brown corduroy dress, which is short sleeved, so I had to add a long sleeve shirt under it ... with some light pink tights & super cute winter boots.  I thought I'd brought enough clothing options for her, but apparently I could have brought more!  It's so hard to pack for every possible situation!  Regardless, in all the sickness & everything else on Thanksgiving, I didn't even get a good picture of her ... or her & I, for that matter ... sad.)

We enjoyed our day at MawMaw's, but as we left that evening, I had a fever & the stomach virus.  My parents took total care of Kendall for Ash & I, as neither one of us could do anything but go to bed.

 

Black Friday 2010 ... in the Byers' family, it is tradition to get a newspaper on Thanksgiving so we can check out all the good deals, get our shopping-game-plan together, wake up early (and sometimes SUPER early) on Friday morning and shop!  Ash had been checking out the websites for early store ads, so we'd even been planning this year's shopping event earlier!  This year was a little different ... everyone slept in ... I did not get to participate in the thrill of Black Friday shopping, since I was still sick ... Ash was much better by the morning, so he, my mom, MawMaw & Kendall went shopping for a few hours.  I know that sounds odd, but he was the one that needed some items (ie new dress-shirts) ... and do some Christmas shopping for some people on our list ... so I was really thankful that he was able to do that ... and he picked out some great shirts for himself & gifts for the others!   

Saturday we spent the day at my parents' ... just resting, playing with Kendall & watched Toy Story 3 & Iron Man 2 (after Kendall went to bed for the night).  My mom took these pictures of Kendall & Pops while we were watching Toy Story 3 ... this girl loooooves her Pops and looooved sitting in his lap or being held by him ... she is such a Daddy's/ Grandfathers' girl (to both of her grandfathers).  While we were watching Toy Story 3, she sat in his lap several times ... she enjoyed snuggling in his big brown leather chair with him.  Each time my mom would try to take their picture together, Kendall would sit up, look at the camera and smile ... she can be such a ham!

Sunday, after we had all gotten ready for church, Kendall seemed like she was getting sick next.  We decided to leave Abilene earlier than we'd planned ... so we changed into comfy clothes, loaded up everything & headed out.  We took these pictures of Kendall & her Grams just before we left ... a few smiles were captured during a few times of "pat-a-cake" ... which explains some of Kendall's hand motions, which were also captured here.  She really loooooved being her Grams ... and helping Grams do whatever she was doing at the time.  I am so thankful that Kendall has 2 wonderful sets of grandparents ... she adores all 4 of them, loves all of their attention and spending time with them ... and I know she will learn many important lessons from each of them!

Before we left, Mom wanted me to open my birthday card & present from them ... she'd been trying to celebrate my birthday all weekend she said, but someone or another was sick the whole time, so the timing was never right.  We were going to do it at lunch today, but then we decided we were going home early.  I got 2 bracelets I'd picked out from Premier, from my parents ... and I love them!  MawMaw came over too ... with a birthday present ... a set of 8 books called "My Bible Story Library".  I looooooove books and will cherish these!  My Grandfather had purchased these before he died (12 years ago) and MawMaw had just recently found these and wanted to give them to us.  We will read these often ... and before long, Kendall will be reading these to us!  I will always think of them when reading these ... there are lots of things that remind me of my grandparents.  I am so thankful for them and I miss my Grandfather soooo very much ... I sooooo wish he could have met & known Ashley ... I know he would have loved him & loved having him in our family ... and I can only even imagine how happy he would have been having Kendall as his 1st great-granddaughter ... just as MawMaw does!  I am so thankful for all the memories that I have of & with my grandparents ... I'm thankful for the time with MawMaw and the memories that we're still making ... and I'm thankful Kendall is making so many great memories with her grandparents too! 



MawMaw & Kendall holding our new
Bible Stories to read

We had a great drive home, much to our happy surprise!  Kendall slept the entire 2hrs 45min drive ... and the long nap must have done her some good! She woke up as a new refreshed girl ... in the best of moods ... and we have enjoyed our evening together at home getting unpacked, playing together & running a few errands!

We just have soooo much to be thankful for!  We hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!  We pray that God continues to shower you with His countless blessings!

wonder pets

what's got this girl so intently watching ...
in her pajamas & bed-hair, with "baby"bear & her blanket in hand ... sitting in her perfect-sized little chair ... with her favorite dog "Cas Cas" lying near by?

It's nothin' else but a little show on "Nick Jr." ... called ...

And this girl is hooked ... well, as hooked as she can be for a very busy little 18 month old! She'll watch about 5 minutes of a 15 minute segment, then moves around the house onto other things throughout the episode playing, but will stop to listen or sing or dance (or all of the above) when they are singing or music is playing!  She looooves their beginning & end music and theme song ... and I must admit, it's quite catchy, cute & clever ... and can certainly get inside your head for the day!  This is her 1st cartoon ... her 1st of anything that she's been interested in watching on tv ... well, besides (what she calls) "BOOM!" (with both hands raised high in the air) or better known to the rest of America (and the world, for that matter) as (American) football ... which is really on for us, but certainly does make her Daddy mighty proud, of course!

And we owe this new entertainment of Wonder Pets to her cousin Mason!  Over the summer, Mason, whose 18 months older than her, came to visit us ... he loves this show so we recorded a few episodes and my sister told me all about it. We watched the episodes with him ... Kendall really wasn't interested at all (as she was only 12 months old).  She's never been interested in any of the Praise Baby DVDs (which even I enjoy and we listen to all the Praise Baby CDs in our car constantly) or the Baby Einstein DVDs.

I decided to record a couple of episodes over the past 2 weeks to see if she'd like it now ... and she does.  She enjoys watching it while she's eating, as a special treat ... or sometimes when she gets up in the morning, we'll watch a segment while we snuggle in the rocking chair together while she's waking up ... don't worry, the tv is not on all day long ... and she is a very active little girl who doesn't stand or sit still for more than a few moments at a time before she's moved on to something new ... ha!



this is the happy face of a little girl who has
quickly become a huge fan of the wonder pets!



So we can remember this for our family history books ... here is a little about the show from their website ...

the wonder pets ...
Linny the Guinea Pig,
Ming-Ming the Duckling &
Tuck the Turtle

Wonder Pets! follows the adventures of three classroom pets--Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling, and Turtle Tuck--who travel around the globe helping to rescue animals who need their help. These three unlikely heroes don't have any actual super powers, but by working together they can conquer any obstacle: "What's gonna work? Teamwork!" Each episode is like a mini-opera with dialog often sung to an original score by some of Broadway's top composers. And each episode encourages teamwork, empathy, problem-solving skills, and an appreciation of music and humor.

Linny the Guinea Pig is the group's leader. Linny is the brains of the outfit, a fearless guinea pig who will do anything to help a fellow creature in need. She represents the developmental age of a five-year-old and is also the oldest of the Wonder Pets. Linny reminds her fellow creatures to value teamwork and trust. Her favorite food is celery.

Ming-Ming Duckling is outgoing and confident. She has recently learned to fly, and she loves flying more than anything, even though she can only get about 4 or 5 feet off the ground. Ming-Ming enjoys being the center of attention, can sometimes be overzealous, and often gets ahead of herself, which provides comic relief in the show. Ming-Ming represents the developmental age of a three-year-old.

Turtle Tuck is a very sensitive young turtle. He is the heart of the group and he has a deep emotional connection to all living things. Tuck loves to give and receive hugs. Developmentally, Tuck is a four-year-old. He is the least physically advanced of the Wonder Pets. He is, however, an excellent swimmer and demonstrates keen observational skills while out on their adventures.


And these three little pets on this one little show make this Kendall one happy little girl!



As the shows says ... "Goooooo Wonder Pets! Yayyyyy!" ... and you'll usually hear lots of clapping by Kendall & a loud "yayyyyy" out of her!

howdy, uncle Rhett & aunt YaYa

welcome to TEXAS!

We got to see Ashley's younger brother, Rhett, and our sister-in-law, Yulia last night ... they were flying back home from their big 10 year anniversary vacation in Jamaica ... they had a 3 hour layover in Dallas, so we picked them up at the airport, took them to our house (that they'd never seen before) and enjoyed a yummy Texas dinner of BBQ, before dropping them back at the airport for their flight home! It was a quick time together, but we were so happy to get to see them ... they live in Washington state ... we saw them in Canada over the summer & probably won't get to see them again until we return to Canada for Christmas next year! So we had a great time together while we had the chance ... including Little Miss Kendall who thought her aunt & uncle were fabulously fun entertainers!


Kendall (STILL teething!) with her aunt YaYa and uncle Rhett





Red Barn BBQ ... our dinner location for a yummy Texas BBQ meal!



R & Y with their yummy BBQ plates ... they were not disappointed!



we enjoyed our BBQ too ... since Kendall is not much of a meat-eater,
she has not gotten into loving BBQ yet, so she enjoyed some cheese,
avocado & banana (she'd already eaten a little earlier at home).



with love, from Texas!



Thanks for a fun dinner, Rhett & Yulia ... we are so happy we got to see you here in TEXAS!

thanksgiving feast

On Thursday we had our pre-school's Thanksgiving Feast for the kids & their families.  Each class made several keepsakes and dressed up as a pilgrim or an indian or a turkey.  Ash was able to join us for lunch which was a special treat for both Kendall & I.  We are out of school next week for Thanksgiving ... I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving ... this year has flown by!

Here are a few momentos of our time together at our Thanksgiving feast ...



Mommy & my little turkey ... waiting to go out
to see all the families who arrived for the program





Kendall's hand & footprint turkey bib
she made in her nursery class



Kendall's 1st Thanksgiving placemat ... I love her little handprint turkeys!