Post Christmas Post

We're back! And we've got tons of photos and videos to share!

I've been away from the blog scene for nearly 2 weeks. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years with family. Sorry I wasn't able to post pictures while we were away at my parents. I forgot to bring the memory card reader again :-( . I decided that a blog post from me is not much if it doesn't have pictures to accompany it. I checked email a few times, but it was nice to have a bit of a vacation from the internet as well. Because I like to be thorough and because I have a nearly-10-month-old son pulling at my leg, my recap may take a few posts. I'll try to keep it brief. I wonder how many pictures I can post each time?

First, we spent Sunday, the 23rd, here in town and enjoyed our very first "Christmas" together as a family. Noah "opened" presents from his Gigi and Papa and Uncle J and Aunt J. He got some clothes, books, stuffed animals, and a Busy Ball Popper. His favorite thing was to tear apart the tissue paper and stick stuff in the gift bags, then dump it, then do it again. He also got a cute little suit outfit from Grandma Salter/Esther, pictures to follow soon. Here are a few from Noah's first Christmas night.

(By the way, he wasn't sure what to think of the Grinch at first. The first couple photos I took, he looked real scared!)

The next 8 days flew by. Well, to be honest and specific, the first and last days (travel days) couldn't have dragged by any slower. But the 6 days in the middle while we were in NE were great. We had a great time visiting my family. We have really been looking forward to seeing them and also just to get away from town for a vacation. My dad and brother hadn't seen Noah (or us) since July. For being in "the middle of no where" as they actually call it in Ainsworth, (population: 1700?) we sure kept ourselves busy. My parents tried to plan a few things we could do, and that was a nice surprise, because I expected to stay at the house the whole time.

Christmas was spent inside, opening presents, playing games, and of course eating--a wonderful meal of ham and the fixings.

My parents and brother and sister got Noah several really cute toys that he could play with while we were there, which was great, because I didn't bring him any! The next day we went out in the snow with Noah for the first time, (not overly thrilled with the cold, but he did love the ball pit at my parents' church' nursery!)

That evening we went on an outing to an Indian Casino about an hour 15 away, just over the border of South Dakota (Matt went to 3 new states while we were there!). The big draw? An rib-eye dinner buffet for 12 bucks. It was good, but the best part was driving in our sweet rental, an extended Dodge Dakota. (no pix:-( Thur. we went out to someone's cattle Ranch and spent the afternoon four-wheeling through cows herds/terds in the snow. Then enjoyed another great meal of potato soup and biscuits, cheese and crackers. See a trend here? It was a couple from my parents' church and very sweet of them to invite/host us. Friday the girls made gingerbread houses-- a new tradition?--and the field trip was to the local bowling alley for a couple throws down the pine--Noah loves the sound of the bowling alley. Yummmy steak and baked pototo dinner. And then Saturday we shot a little B-ball at the town gymnasium--surprisingly very, very nice. The gym, not the athletic showcase. Carrie and Matt lasted through the longest game of 21 ever, I bowed out after like 20 min. If you're wondering, dinner was a wonderful homemade lasagna. We also did a little browsing at the town Dollar General and Alco while in town (which is like a Kmart) and were all impressed at the amount and variety of items they offered. Sunday we attended church and were overwhelmed by the friendliness of the people at my parents church. They are all very sweet and are taking good care of their pastors.

The highs of the trip? Other than spending time with my family, of course, 1)It snowed ON Christmas and there was several inches on the ground the whole time we were there. Yeah! 2) Playing with Noah and enjoying watching my family play with/delight in him. 3) Noah started to walk, really walk, while we were there! And then, he just took off with it, walking all over the house. It was pretty crazy how fast and far he could go after just a few days. Tomorrow I'll post the videos... 4) Wearing my dad's huge coveralls to go four wheeling in--see the photos!

The LOWS of the trip? 1) Traveling days that lasted 18 hours! 2) They "lost" 2 of our suitcases on the trip there--thankfully we received our car seat on time and brought all our presents to give in the carry on suitcase...but Noah and I were without our bags/clothes for the first 2 days! Ugg. That was sooooo frustrating to me. More than it should have been. I admit I was sooo put out. 3) Having to say goodbye.

Quick Summary? We ate GOOD, every meal. We played more games than I ever remember playing. Noah entertained us all. I could say more, but I think that's most of it! Enjoy the pix! I'll post some more on my flickr account and will upload vids to youtube.com asap.