A Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends in blogland from the Becks! Old and young....

....it was just us this Christmas Eve since the girls didn't make it home this year.

But there was lots of excitment just the same...the boys could hardly wait for us to open the gifts....

.....so they went and cuddled in the big chair in the living room while we cleaned up the supper dishes.

And then it was finally time to open gifts....Aidan was the elf and handed out the presents....

...there was lots of time to play with each one!

Time to figure out a new game of 'Trouble'....

....and play a game before bed.

Christmas in installments is how we are celebrating this year and we are embracing it! Hopefully you are enjoying your Christmas too!

A very wild(e) Christmas

Last night we celebrated Christmas with my sister and her family(our maiden name was 'Wilde' for those of you that didn't know) so I just had to post some pictures for our girls since we were missing them.

The 'kids' end of the table...still called that even though the kids are now parents already....instead it is the younger generation end of the table. Amazing to have 4 generations sitting down together for Christmas Dinner.

Cousin Jon, the Mountain Man, reading books to Aidan and Ethan(second cousins). Jaxon wasn't at all sure if he was safe to be close too!

 My amazing dishwashing crew who cleaned up the dishes while I cleaned up the turkey! Thanks guys!

 

 It was fun to see the second cousins playing together.

We also celebrated Ev's birthday yesterday....

Oma always enjoys her great-grandchildren, especially the little ones.

Opa was chosen by Aidan to sit beside him all week long. So last night he got the honors of filling up his plate too!

After dinner we all headed downstairs for fun games of Wii and Foosball...something for all ages!

I am so thankful for the blessing of family! and Christmas is a wonderful time to get together and celebrate it!

Texas Christmas

There's a turkey cooking in the oven(the second in the last two weeks) and tonight we will host my extended family Christmas with my parents and my sister and her family. But our Christmas Celebrations actually started a month ago when we were visiting Jody and Darin. Since we are going to missing our Texas sweethearts this Christmas, I thought today would be a good day to post these pictures of our Texas Christmas.

I stayed up late the night before and wrapped everything in pink wrapping paper. Caily could not believe her eyes when I started taking them out of the cupboard and stacking them on the coffee table!

 We had brought gifts down for the girls from their cousins.......

 Bath Barbies from Aidan and Jaxon were a huge hit!!!

 Matching outfits from Kai(aka Auntie Heather)....

 We brought them dishes, pots and pans and food for the kitchen Darin is building them for Christmas. The look on Caily's face says it all.....she could hardly contain her excitement!!!

 She knew exactly what to do with each utensil.....even checking to see how the 'food' in the pot was doing!

Putting on Lip Balm from Auntie Megan....Aunties sure do know what little girls like!

Tonight there will be empty places at the table where our girls and their families should be sitting.....missing you but thankful that we can celebrate Christmas in installments this year!

A Few Last Texas Memories......

On Sunday when I posted the pictures from the Christmas Train I realized that there were a few last pictures from our time in Texas that I had wanted to post and never did.....we had soooooo much fun with the girls, just watching them play together and enjoy life.

 We slept in their toy room so they were always quick to come in and hang out.

 They have matching microphones and like to sing together.

 Caily knows how it's done.....

 Washing dishes with Buppa was always a highlight......so many great memories!

Bright Nights Christmas Train

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening with our two favorite Abby boys and their parents and headed into Vancouver to take in the Bright Nights at Stanley Park and take a ride on the Christmas Train. We had done it last year when everyone was home and the boys were so excited to be going again!

 We got there early enough so we could walk through all the animated displays. The boys were quite taken with everything and the weather even cooperated at first.

This Polar Bear was really, really big!!

 

It started to rain so we decided to go stand in line under the shelter.....even the engine had an umbrella on it to keep the Engineer's seat dry.

  

 We had fun while we waited.....

And we're off......

 Such excitement.....the boys both loved it! From there we headed to the Petting Zoo and then out for dinner.....and it even snowed on the way home! It really did feel like Christmas must be just around the corner!

A Trip to the Zoo

One of the things that Jody and I had planned months ago that we would do on this trip was a trip to the San Antonio Zoo. In all the years we have been taking trips to Texas we have never been there.

Caily and I matched for the day......(don't you love the way she is posing for the picture?)

The Grizzly Bear was pretty imposing.....

....just look at those claws! Sure wouldn't want to meet him in the woods.

.......from caterpillar to butterfly. Lexi wasn't too sure about sticking her head through but Caily thought it was great fun.

Lexi had to climb up on the fence to get a better look....

 ....or right up to the glass, whatever the case might be.

....or right down on the ground. Nothing shy about this little girl!

.....I love this picture of sisters! So sweet!

 What's this? A hooded merganser which we see all winter long in the pond we walk around. Just seemed strange to see it in a zoo so just had to take a picture close-up! I marvel at God's creation everytime I see the detail on these birds in the wild.

Hugs! We've come a long way from Christmas two years ago when she wasn't even sure that she wanted to come to any of us!.....and for that I am truly thankful!