Trey's Treks

by Mommy.

After (can you tell??) IMG_9107_1

So it only took 23 months, but Trey finally got his first hair trim!! Yeah! And it was by his Mommy while he was taking a bath! T-Rex’s “wings” were getting a little long and fluffy over the ears so I took it upon myself to cut off that little bit of peach fuzz on each side of his head and then trimmed a little from the back. Good thing his hair is so light… you couldn’t see the crooked trim I gave him :-) The very next day I picked him up at day care and his teacher asked me if he got a haircut. I guess it did make a difference! I took one look at him and thought he looked even more like a little boy with his new “do”! I’m sure one day when we’re cutting his hair every other week we’ll long for the days when we could go 23 months before getting it cut!

Wow, where did our long awaited trip to Virginia at Christmas time go?! Last September (yes, September!), my sister and I booked 7 plane tickets to D.C. to spend Christmas with Mimi and PopPop in Virginia. At that time, it seemed as though our trip was eons away (it was…!). On Tuesday (dec 22), we all met at the “big” airport and boarded our plane together for a night flight to Washington. We were all exhausted from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, work, and preparations for our big trip. Managing to get ALL of the kids gifts to Mimi and PopPop’s (and wrapped!) for Christmas morning was no easy fete! But we managed – even with several hours in my parents basement wrapping and wrapping our hearts out!! A little wine didn’t hurt, either!

We arrived around 11pm Tuesday night . As we landed, we could already see the large mounds of snow plowed to the sides of the runway. Wow, a truly white Christmas! Mimi and PopPop were there to pick us up at the airport and we headed “home” where we all crashed for the night. Due to our late night arrival and already being exhausted, we decided to cancel our trip downtown for a tour of the Capital building the following morning (dec 23). That was a very good choice, seeing as how we had a lot to do to get ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And it also gave the kids, including Trey a chance to play in the snow in Mimi and PopPop’s yard that day. About 3 days before we arrived, Mimi and PopPop’s town got nearly 18 inches of snow. It was Trey’s first time to play in the snow. We bundled him up in one of Austin’s old snowsuits and he looked like the cutest little blueberry I’ve ever seen! He had a blast and even picked up on the “snow ball fight” that the boys (Austin, Uncle Paul, Bob and PopPop) were playing. He got a few good hits in of his own :)

Emma Austin Trey

On Wednesday night, we celebrated one of my dearest friend’s birthdays with dinner at her house. It was wonderful and so good to catch up and squeeze her little 14 month old, Corbin. I sure wish we could see each other more often.

The Littles/Marshalls

Thursday, Christmas Eve, my Godparents came over to my parents house for their traditional visit. Growing up, we always had Christmas Eve dinner with my Godparents. It’s a tradition that I miss and it was so good to spend some time with them as I rarely get the chance to anymore. After dinner, we all headed to my childhood church for the Christmas Eve service. It was nice, but certainly not the same as I remember it. Our pastor retired last spring – the same pastor that I grew up with, married Bob and I, and baptized Trey. Without him their to conduct the service, it just wasn’t quite the same. But nice, nonetheless. After church, Austin, Emma, and Trey donned their newest, matching Christmas PJ’s (thanks Aunt Kelly!) and looked adorable! All 3 in red, green and white stripes! After Trey went to sleep, the rest of the gang (including cousin Justin who drove in from Fort Knox, Kentucky) played Left Right Center, in which Mimi proceeded to win all of the loot, even though Emma and Justin played her hand for nearly 1/2 the game!! For as long as I can remember, Mimi has always had good luck playing games. Its nice to see that some things never change!

Minnie & Mom

Me, Mimi and Aunt Kelly stayed up way too late preparing the last of the Christmas morning “surprises” and slipped to bed in time to get a few hours of sleep before Austin and Emma were up and at ‘em, checking out of the Christmas loot! They’re 8… and they’re on the ball with this Christmas thing! Trey on the other hand is just starting to figure out presents so he was not up at the crack of dawn (thank goodness!) begging to open presents yet! We may have another of year or two before that starts… I can wait! It was so fun watching all 4 kids (yes, Justin is still a kids to me although he’s 23 years old!) open their presents and have fun with them. Trey got a baseball tee, bat and ball from Aunt Kelly & Uncle Paul (among other things!!) and a big Tonka dump truck from Mimi and PopPop. He also got lots of balls – soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, etc. and a guitar and his own Nerf gun from Santa. We opened presents until nearly noon, moving from one tree (the “santa tree”) to another tree (the “family tree”). We spent the rest of the day lounging around in our pjs and helping Mimi prepare a big Christmas dinner. (did I mention how much we ate on this trip?!? it was one big meal after another. I’m still trying to get my brain to realize that I don’t have to eat 3 gigantic meals a day with unending snacks and treats in between!) After a wonderful dinner and the kids went to sleep, we enjoyed {several} bottles of wine (and an entire bottle of Kentucky Bourbon split between the men – poor, poor Justin was drank under the table by his father, uncle and grandfather!!), we all (minus Justin!) watched a Christmas night movie and ended a very nice, peaceful Christmas day.

Family tree Santa tree

Aunt “Kullee” love…

More Nerf gun fun!

and my favorite…

And more presents!

Tonka Dump Truck from Mimi & PopPop

More favorites...

On Saturday (dec 26), we got ready for a visit from our old family friends, the Andersons. Bill and Joan, Jennifer and Greg (with Anna {7} and Alex {5}), and Eric and Anne (with Jack {2}, Caroline and Katherine {both 1}) all came for a visit. There were 20 of us in my parent’s house laughing, meeting each other kiddos and spouses, and enjoying reminiscing about old times after nearly 10 years without seeing one another. All 8 kids played their hearts out (it looked a tornado passed through when all was said and done) while we sat around the dining room table laughing about the good old days on our camping trips and beach vacations in Nags Head, NC. It was a fun night and so surreal to see our childhood family friends, each with their own set of kiddos!

Trey with Eric & Ann’s twins, Kathryn & Caroline; and Mrs. A with Jack

Mr. A & Greg with Kathryn; and Anne with Caroline

The WHOLE GANG!

(Dad, Paul, Kelly, Justin, Jen, Emma, Mr. A, Jennifer with Kathryn, Mrs. A with Alex and Jack, Greg, Eric, Anna, Anne, Trey, Bob, Mom & Austin)

It was hard to believe the following day, Sunday {dec 27} we were packing to head back to Texas. We laughed because we had stayed so busy doing “nothing” for the past 5 days! We barely left my parents’ house, but we never stopped! After packing up ALL of our gear which had grown over the holidays, we slipped in a trip downtown to see the National Christmas tree outside the Washington monument and then to Georgetown where we walked around and had lunch to celebrate Bob’s Birthday at Clyde’s. It was a lot of fun and so sad to see it end. After lunch we jetted to the airport just in time to catch our completely booked and long flight home :(Emma entertained Trey most of the ride home, however, we didn’t make it back without a terrible (excruciating!) meltdown while landing due pressure in Trey’s ears. Poor little guy. It was an awful experience! We got home around 9 pm and got ready (reluctantly) to return to work/school the next day.

One last bit of fun in what was left of the snow in front of Mimi & PopPop’s house

Visit to Georgetown and Clyde’s for Daddy’s early Birthday lunch…

We had a GREAT Christmas in Virginia and yes, it was a white Christmas! It was beautiful! Never-ending thanks to Mimi & PopPop for everything they did to make our trip “home” so perfect (did I mention my Mom was completely exhausted from all of the decorating, food prep, and regular holiday hoop-la by the time we arrived!?!). It was an unforgettable and perfect Christmas. We hope that next year Mimi and PopPop are living somewhere nearby so we can celebrate with them again, without the holiday flights and package shipping!!