Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Lewallen Christmas Adventure Part 2....Snow in Spiro

Here is where I left off with part 1 of the Lewallen Christmas Adventure:

Granna and Paw had picked us up at the airport in Tulsa and we were Spiro bound


Of course Aunt Kim, Brandon and Taylor were waiting on us when we got there and Granna got all excited on us and went ahead and started handing out Christmas presents. Can you tell that the kiddos didn't mind that?


Oh yes, we hadn't even gotten everything unloaded and the festivities in Spiro were already in full swing.....just look at all the gift wrapping spread out.


And Brandon and Kade in their matching Christmas night-nights playing with their new Christmas trains were not at all unhappy to get those festivities started.
In fact, Kade went home with Brandon that very night and kept his party going. Kade loved getting to go spend the night at his cousins' house. And his Aunt Kim and Uncle B were so incredibly gracious to let him come not just the first night we were in Spiro but every night that we were in Spiro! Well, we did convince him to stay with us on Christmas eve....but other than that he was staying with Brandon, and wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks Brian and Kimberly! You guys are the best!

Day 2 in Spiro
We had a lunch date with some sweet people there in Spiro and hung out at Brian and Kimberly's place for most of the day.
What did we do there? Well, take a look:

Kyle and Brian got some Christmas presents put together.

Had some very special visitors....

My friend Patti Kaye and her newest little guy stopped by.

Last time I saw Patti, Ryne was about the same age as her Baby P is now. So we had to get a shot of both of us with our babies. Okay, so Patti and Baby P didn't come alone. Daddy Greg and Big Brother G were also there. They were passing right through Spiro on their way to Patti's parents' house and took a little break with us. I was SO excited that we got to see them and meet that precious little boy of theirs. It was fun to get to visit and catch up. Thanks Patti and Greg for making time for us! We love you guys!

Guess what else we did at Aunt Kim and Uncle B's....
We played outside and they have SWINGS!!!
We don't have swings in hardly any of our parks here in DuPont and we realized that this was Ryne's first time ever to swing. Check out these pictures and tell me if you think he liked it.



And Kade tried the tire swing.....


Yep, they both had a ball. In fact, I think they would just move right in with Uncle B and Aunt Kim if they could.

After an afternoon of swinging we bundled up and headed out for a train ride.

Here are "the cousins" standing in line to ride the little train around the park.
I say "the cousins" because that is how Kade kept referring to Brandon this whole trip. It was either "my cousin Brandon" or just "my cousin" almost every time he said anything about him. I think he was excited to realize the relationship factor there.

The train ride took us through the park and weaved us in and out of all the big huge light displays. It was fun and it was just a bit chilly.
So here is proof that we were ALL hatted up and staying warm:


This is one of my favorite pictures ever of my Kade and me....I think you can tell he is my son in this one.

Guess what we found at the park for Ryne....

More swings!!!

Granna hadn't been feeling good that day so she and Paw missed the train ride. We were sad because it is one of her favorite things to do and this was the last night that it would be open.
So we at least tried to get a picture of all the kiddos at the park for her.

Easier said than done...I don't think we ended up with even one where everybody was looking.
We missed you Granna and Paw.
After the train ride Brian and Kimberly took us to their favorite steak place for dinner. It was yummy! Thanks guys!
I think maybe Brian was buttering Kyle up to come over and help "Santa" put together a new basketball goal. So while the guys did that Kimberly and the kids and I stayed at Granna and Paw's. And it got later and later and the boys got sillier and sillier. Before you know it this is what we had:

Kim and I are sitting in the living room and Kade bops around the corner with this on his head and walks up to me and says, "Hi, I'm Santa. Whatchoo want for Christmas?" and then he went on to stop at Brandon and Aunt Kim and repeat the same. After we all put in our Christmas requests Kade disappeared briefly and returned with exactly what we asked for. Well, if you have the same imagination as Kade, it was exactly what we asked for...

Here is Brandon with his new train car aka a fancy napkin.

And here is Aunt Kim with her new curtains aka blue jeans.
When he handed Aunt Kim here curtains he realized that Taylor was awake in her lap and immediately said "Hi, Taylor, I'm Santa. Whatchoo want for Christmas?" And without taking a breath or leaving any break for a response he carried on, "oh, you want a piano, okay, I'll get you a piano." And off he went to return within seconds with Taylor's new piano aka a pair of socks.
Kimberly and I were definitely entertained....I mean, come on, look at this kid....

Wouldn't you have to laugh, too?

Day 3
Christmas Eve

Kyle and I were both up and ready for the day and realizing just how nice it was that Brian and Kimberly had taken Kade home with them again and we had extra time on our hands.
Granna was feeling better on Christmas Eve and we all just spent time hanging out together.
And I guess Granna decided to celebrate feeling better and just look what she did:

She passed out more Christmas presents!
Of course those boys didn't mind one bit!
And then look what started to happen:

SNOW!!!!
We were so excited because this would mean a White Christmas for us.
Since it was Christmas Eve we got all four cousins into their Christmas night-nights and tried to get a picture....tried hard....

But this was about the best one I got. My boys were the reason it was so hard! Ryne wanted to get up and Kade wanted to hold him down. See just look at this:

Kade had his baby brother in a head lock for most of the photo session.
Kyle and I decided to join in the photo fun and get our own pic with the boys on Ryne's first Christmas eve.


It seems to work better when Daddy or Mommy holds Ryne than it does when Kade is holding Ryne, go figure.
I don't know why Ryne would want his big brother holding him in a head lock. They are both such sweet angels....look here is proof:



Day 4
Christmas Day

It was presents and stocking galore at Granna and Paw's on Christmas day





And then a yummy Christmas dinner prepared by Granna...

This guy had to have some reason to wear his "My first Christmas" bib! Thanks Granna, it was delicious!

And then on to what we had all been waiting for....
The SNOW!!!
Yes, remember we had a White Christmas in Spiro this year and I'm not sure if the kids could decide whether they were more excited about the presents they got or the snow to play in outside. Of course, now they realize that the presents last longer!
Bundled up and out we went....





They all had a great time. It was Ryne's first time to get to play in the snow and he couldn't get enough of it. I finally had to force him inside for a warm bath because I was afraid he might be getting too cold...just look at how much snow he had caked on his gloves.

After some good times with the snow everyone got bathed and cleaned up nicely for the family Christmas photo session....and I'm serious....it is an all out photo session....here is just a sampling:






See, a real photo session....we got all the family combinations covered.
It was such a serious photo shoot that it completely exhausted Kade:

He fell right to sleep in his Daddy's lap and folks, that NEVER happens!
He slept right through dinner and woke up at about ten o'clock saying "I'm ready for some food."

Day 5
Day after Christmas Extravaganza

The day after Christmas was a beautiful day and we had plans to go shopping...ALL of us!
That second family photo up there in the group of family photos...that is ALL of us....all TEN of us out to do some shopping!

It was such a glorious day that I had to let Ryne borrow my sunglasses.
I think the main reason that the sun was shining so bright on this particular day is because all the world new that I was going to be one happy girl....my one request for the trip south was going to be fulfilled on this very day.
We would be eating at Chic-fil-A!!!!
Thanks family for enduring the busy-ness of the Day after Christmas Chic-fil-a crowd so that I could get my favorite chicken sandwich in the whole wide world.

See, here is proof that we made it there....I might just have to make an entirely separate post to celebrate this yummy lunch day because I even have some cute pictures of the kiddos playing in the play area and pictures of Ryne having his first waffle fry....okay I must move on.
We had a fun time shopping with everyone...of course Kyle and I were mostly along for the ride because we knew whatever we bought would have to be packed and flown to Washington. We just got a couple of things that we would be needing for Ryne's first birthday party.
Kimberly found a really cute "cousins" frame so when we got home we tried to get another picture of the four of them together.

Yea, I'm realizing that my boys are the reason we can't get a good picture. Just look at how adorable Brandon and Taylor are in this picture and then Kade and Ryne are over there just goofing off. Sorry Aunt Kim....hopefully you got a better shot than I did.

This was our last night in Spiro. And how could a day in Spiro be complete without presents to open?
This time it was Birthday presents!

Ryne was excited to tear into his first birthday present! Not sure that he realized it wasn't still Christmas. With a December 30th birthday it may be a few years before he realizes the difference in Christmas presents and Birthday presents! He was happy just the same! Thanks Granna and Paw!
Then there is Kade....whose birthday is in January....and who definitely knows the difference in Christmas presents and birthday presents.

And he is learning to open the card and read it first before opening the presents. When Kade opened his card we asked him to read it to us and he did....for five minutes he read and read and read and I was beginning to think that he forgot he had a present to open. But he finally said "the end" and tore into the present.

His very own "hummer" to take apart and put together and take apart and put together and take apart and put together and take apart and try really hard not to lose any of the parts so it can be put back together again. A big hit, Granna and Paw, he loves it!

And then it was time to pack up the suitcases and carry our Lewallen Christmas Adventure to new places.....stayed tuned for part 3!

Granna, Paw, Kimberly, Brian, Brandon and Taylor we had such a good time getting to be with you at Christmas. Thanks for everything! WE LOVE YOU!!

1 comment:

kapjones said...

Great pictures Terry. I love the one of you and Kade! Sounds like a busy fun time. I am SO jealous you go to see Patti and baby P. On our Christmas adventure, we made a pitstop in Arkadelphia and visited with Mike and Melissa Carozza. It was so much fun! Did you know they live next door to Dr. Kluck?? What a hoot!