We left Virginia just in time to escape the record snowfall that hit the east coast. Thank goodness. If we had not left when we did, we might not have made it for several more days.
We began our trip by meeting Crystal's family in Rusk, TX (a rural community about 2 hours east of Dallas), where we enjoyed a wonderful country bed and breakfast (see
link) and some quality family time.
Just a short drive away from the bed and breakfast was the Polar Express (Texas style). We enjoyed riding the train to The North Pole and sipping
luke-warm chocolate. When we got to the North Pole, Santa boarded the train and Austin loved that.
Once we made it back to the Dallas area, we spend the first few nights at my parent's house. One of those nights, my Mom and Aunt took Austin and his cousins to Six Flags Over Texas. The report from them was that Austin absolutely loved everything there. Here he is riding an airplane ride with cousin
Aly in the back. I think he is saying, "talk to me Goose, where are those bogeys?" Maybe not.
A couple of nights later Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ronnie came by to visit. They brought Austin a toy bowling set, with which he has been having a blast ever since. He hasn't quite figured out that you are supposed to roll the ball to knock over the pins, but he loves to knock over the pins any way he can (which is usually by throwing his body at them and rolling around on the floor).
On Christmas Eve, my Mom held her annual cookie decorating contest. This started long before Austin came along, but this year he got to participate (minimally, because it was nap time and because he wanted to eat all of the cookies). Blake, Lindsey, and Luke (Austin's cousins from Crystal's side) have gotten to be quite the creative cookie decorators. This year's cookies were some of the best yet.
Here we are at Crystal's parents' house for the Christmas Eve festivities. Yes, I am wearing a
bow tie. I normally put a piece of red wrapping ribbon around my neck, but I thought that I would dress it up a bit this year, so I went with the
bow tie. Crystal and Austin looked great in their Christmas outfits. We had lots of fun at Crystal's parents', as we always do.
The collection of cousins from Crystal's side. It appears that Luke is the main non-conformist, as he is the only one whose wardrobe is out of sync with the rest. I guess we can blame
Melinda (Crystal's sister) for that.
Austin became quite the effective present-opener this year, and with each present he would let out an "
Ohhhh,
Wooooow!!!" That became the theme of this Christmas..."Oh Wow!!!"
Austin must have been a good boy this year, because Santa came to visit him at my parents' house. He got lots of fun stuff.
Austin went straight for his new guitar on Christmas morning.
Here we are in our Christmas pajamas. We love Christmas morning.
My parents gave Austin his first tricycle, with official Texas license plate and all. He is still learning how to ride it, but he has certainly mastered the bell. He can even ring the bell with his teeth.
On the day after Christmas (better known as the official-day-you-take-everything-back-and-exchange-it day) Austin became quite fond of the mannequins in
Nordstrom. Here he is giving one of them a hug (when he does this, he says "
Awww").
Crystal and I had our 10-year High school reunion while we were in Texas. Here is Crystal with some of the girls that we graduated with. Aren't they a gorgeous bunch?
We had Christmas with Aunt Brittany (my sister) on the 27
th. She gave Austin a real pair of Cowboy boots. He looked really funny trying to figure out how to walk around in them. Also, my parents gave Austin this Dallas Cowboy jersey and it must have been good luck because the Boys shut out the Redskins the day Austin wore it. He will be wearing for every game now!
Here we are with my brother and his family and my sister. We really enjoy getting to see them when we are home, which is not often enough.
It was such a whirlwind trip, I don't think Austin really ever figured out what was going on. When we finally made it back to Virginia, he curled up with his new pal Scout and slept the night away.
Here is a pic of the house BEFORE the snow began falling. The snow that you see is from earlier in the week. Notice how much of the tree you can see. Also notice how far above the ground the sled is hanging from the tree.
The street was completely clear of snow when the storm began.
Here is our back patio before the snowfall began. Notice the table with no snow on it.
Here is the patio at 8PM last night, after about 4 solid hours of snow. 
The patio at Midnight. Up to about 13 inches by then.
The patio this morning at 9AM - 18 inches. Currently, we are up to 23 inches and it's still snowing.
My neighbor and I decided that we would begin shoveling last night. We traded off shoveling each others front porches and walkways at 3-hour intervals.
Here a pic of my latest shoveling adventure. We never knew this much snow could fall in the city. Can we please move back to San Diego?!?!
