Puerto Vallarta Getaway

At the 2011 NatureSweet Tomatoes holiday party, I won a 4-day trip to an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta. We talked about taking the trip early in the year, and never quite organized for that. Then we thought maybe in October for our anniversary. But in June, when we got word of Mark's transfer, we put it on the back-burner as the moving chaos took over. Fast forward to November and we realized we were going to lose it, if we didn't take the trip by the end of 2012. So December 27-30, Mark and I hopped a plane to Mexico!

We stayed at the recently renovated Hilton Puerto Vallarta. It was a gorgeous location in the heart of the resort area. The open air lobby confirmed our tropical location! Loved the citrus green decor accents.

The hotel from the beach. Just the shorter white buildings were part of the hotel. The larger ones in the background were condo properties. 

Looking down on the central part of the hotel. Main pool and restaurant area. We ate breakfast on the patio every morning and watched the people who tried to save deck chairs for their family and friends lose battles to the folks who pointed out the signs on each chair that "saving chairs" was not allowed. 

It was a little contentious for us, so we took refuge at the smaller, adults-only rooftop pool each day. So much more peaceful and luxurious! Margaritas and sushi available all day! 

Restless Mark took flight with a parasail ride right from the beach.

And landed safely in the same spot.

We ventured into town one day and saw the ancient cobblestone streets and historical buildings mixed with tourist shops and small children selling Chic-lets on the boardwalk. 

We stopped in to listen to part of the noon service at this amazing church. Love the tattoo parlor just outside the front doors.

It was a wonderful getaway for Mark and I. Our favorite babysitter, Eva, came up from San Antonio to watch the kids and we enjoyed the peace of mind!

Christmas 2012

Decorating for Christmas this year was an exercise in patience and creativity. Patience in trying to find, fluff, and fix all the decorations, lights, and wreaths in the post-move storage plan. Creativity in trying to find new places for things that fit "just so" in our San Antonio home. I swore I had replaced the four-foot tree my roommate and I first purchased in college, but apparently not, as it was never found. The mantle is totally different. All the garland got used up by the front staircase. The wreath hook didn't fit over the storm door. But with the help of Pinterest and several Michael's coupons, we managed to get up plenty of stuff, including four trees, a new mantle display, and a metal sign suction-cupped to the storm door. No lights on the exterior this year, as the house is rather tall and Mark is rather gun-shy after his near broken ankle after a fall from a ladder a couple years ago. Everyone here seems to either "have a guy" who puts up the lights, or just decorates the trees and bushes in the yard. Maybe next year... 

Christmas Eve was spent with our neighbors, the Matthews, who invited us over for appetizers and drinks. Cindy decorates to the hilt and our kids enjoyed looking at her 12-foot main tree, the Nutcracker display, the Precious Moments tree and various other decorations throughout the main floor. She and Ricky have three grown daughters, the youngest two still in college. After eating all the Ritz crackers and chocolate chip cookies, our kids watched the Christmas Story movie on TV and waited for us to be ready to leave. No other kids, no toys = no fun. But Mark and I enjoyed the company. We went home to wrap and assemble relatively early.

The first Christmas morning in our Dallas home! The kids woke up at a reasonable hour and were ready to go. Stockings first!

Santa got smart this year and wrapped the dead-giveaway smaller boxes in one large, family box. Totally threw them for a loop which made these next pictures all the more fun.

The aftermath.

I cooked a turkey, much to the dismay of the children, but we had a great day. Merry Christmas! 

Christmas at the Gaylord Texan

We visited the Gaylord Texan resort with our Minnesota friends to check out their over-the-top Lone Star Christmas display. 

(Lucas, Sarah, Griffin, Jacob, Sierra, Cameron, Ethan and Sawyer)

The younger three decided to surprise Jacob with a hug. He was not amused. 

The gingerbread house made of real candy and gingerbread!

The rooftop (taken by Jacob!)

 After the sun went down, the lights became even more spectacular!

December Whirlwind

Lucas lost his second tooth on Thanksgiving.

Ethan's scout den had a picnic and clean-up event at Peacock Park, then created trash monsters at their pack meeting.

Sarah's girl scout troop walked in the Flower Mound Christmas parade (with her troop leader, Katie).

Sarah's troop also had their December meeting at our house where we learned about fire safety and roasted marshmallows.

I spent the night at our new friends' house with three of their four kids, as #3 had broken his arm on the trampoline and needed a hospital stay and arm surgery. Thankful to be able to find a new "village" here in Flower Mound that will help our family in case of crisis too.

The kids has their holiday parties at school. Sarah and her friend Ali raced around the classroom while biting both ends of a straw with an empty pop can suspended from it...no hands and no dropping it or they had to start over.

Ethan, his friend Peyton, and his teacher Mrs. Kinney, laughing during the licorice-eating contest. No hands here either!

Lucas made a snowman and I read his class a story about Frosty.

It was an especially fun day after a challenging week when the world was still mourning the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary. We cherished every minute and continue to be reminded to do so.

Highly Annoyed

I haven't been posting very much because:

1) We went to San Antonio over Thanksgiving and I hardly took any pictures,
2) I got very sick when we came back. Bad sinus issues and coughs for me and three of the kids and we're still getting over it, AND
3) My Blogger picture storage has reached it's max capacity and now I have to upload every picture I want to post on here to Flickr first (read highly annoying, extra steps).

We are working on finding Christmas decorations, Cub/Boy/Girl Scout events, van shopping and staying on top of the mountain of paper that comes with having four kids in school.

We are NOT working on Christmas cards (remember, we do Valentines cards), yard work, or finding places for the boxes of stuff behind the upstairs couch. We do not have an Elf on the Shelf. We can barely keep up with the Tooth Fairy around here.

I hope to be back in action with pictures soon!