Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas this year! I went out to Utah and Idaho a week before Jacob and was able to see some old friends (pictures on another post) and my siblings. I took a ton of pictures with my fantastic new camera (my early Christmas gift!), but here are just some of my favorites:

My sister Louisa lives just blocks from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, so we got to go see the lights. It was so pretty!

Lou & me
I also got to meet my brother Will's fiancee, Heather. Aren't they so cute together? We just love her; she is going to fit right in with our family!! They are getting married June 5 in Salt Lake, for those of you who know Will. the girls: Heather, me, Jana
Will being a pesky little brother :)

Jana showing off her beautiful hair

Jana & Rob getting ready for some sledding

We held our traditional Austin Christmas Eve dinner even though it wasn't Christmas Eve and half of our family was missing. We still had a good time and even sang Christmas carols afterward. Mom would've been so proud! Thanks Jana & Rob for hosting us.

a winter wonderland at Jacob's parent's house

Jacob with 2 of the nephews, Liam & Kaden. Kaden loves baby Liam and kept wanting to hold him, even though he is still practically a baby himself. It was so cute how much he loved his cousin.

Rachel & Harvey

us on Christmas morning (we got up at 7 am, so yes, I am wearing makeup!)

Grandpa & Grandma Burch

Truly & Liam

Jacob's family got a fun dancing game that we all played and got a good laugh out of watching everyone try it.

Truly showing us her dancing skills

We both got haircuts from Truly

Jacob and Teagan

We had a wonderful time seeing everyone and were sad to leave. We flew back on Monday, which was our anniversary (7 years, woohoo!), so we will celebrate this weekend instead. I'm so happy we were able to spend Christmas with family and enjoy our vacation. Now it's back to the routine. . .

Christmas Past...

I thought I'd share a few pictures from past Christmases, just for your viewing pleasure...

2008, with my siblings (except Lou)

Rob, Jana, Will, and me
singing carols on Christmas Eve, with my Dad doing what he does best :) my grandparents are in the background

2007, with Jacob's family after Harvey and Rachel got married

2007, my family at my grandma's house

2007, visiting Houston for the first time

2006, at Memphis temple with Jana & Rob

2002, at my grandma's just days before Jacob & I got married!

1987, Christmas dinner with my family

These bring back good memories and I can't wait to make some more this Christmas!

Texas Ren Fest

A few weeks ago we got to go experience the Texas Renaissance Festival, which is held every weekend in October and November near where we live. A lot of people dress up when they go, and we saw everything from Lord of the Rings to Star Trek, and some in between that I would have rather not seen. There were shops selling clothes, jewelry, handmade instruments, etc. We heard music, saw people throwing knives and shooting arrows. Mostly, there was some good people-watching going on. Even better than the state fair. Too bad I didn't get pictures of some of the wild costumes we saw. It was crazy, but fun.

We watched a juggling act which was pretty cool except for all the inappropriate humor from one of the men who performed. Yeah, not exactly a family show, even though there were young kids in the audience. It doesn't show it in this picture, but the guy was balancing on a ball while he juggled.

some of the shops and restaurants

We ate frog legs. They were ok. Jacob said he's had some that were better. But I was starving, so I ate them. They tasted like a mix between chicken and fish.

Who wants to go with me next year?

Thanksgiving '09

We had a great Thanksgiving this year and were so happy to spend it with some of my family. My mom and I cooked for hours in my tiny kitchen, took some breaks to watch the parade, Jacob carved the turkey, and we were ready to dig in!

Here's our beautiful cherry pie right before it slipped out of our hands onto the floor...

. . . just kidding!

We did a little shopping on Friday (nothing crazy) while Jacob was at work (boo), then relaxed at home that night. This was my first Thanksgiving with my family since I left home for college over 9 years ago!! Hopefully it won't be another 9 years till the next one.

Thankful...

I'm so excited because my family is on their way here as I write this! My mom, dad, and sister Anna are coming to spend a few days here. I wish all my family could've come, but I will see the rest of my siblings at Christmas. I'm very thankful we will have family here with us on Thanksgiving. I've been baking, cleaning, and getting ready. It's going to be a great Thanksgiving! Where will you all be for the holiday?

Jana's Texas Trip, Part 3

The last couple of days Jana was here were a lot of fun. One day we drove out to Brenham to take a tour of the Blue Bell Creamery. The lady behind the ice cream counter let us try as many flavors of ice cream as we wanted. I was in heaven! After the tour you they give you a scoop of ice cream. We both had snickerdoodle, which was amazing! I can't find it in any of the stores here though, so I guess I will just have to go back to the creamery to eat some more. Other flavors I liked were southern blackberry cobbler, pistachio almond, and pecan pralines 'n cream. You should definitely go try some Blue Bell if you're lucky enough to have it in your state. just a few of the flavors they offer

the original delivery truck

After filling up on all that ice cream we went over to the St. Clare Monastery to see the miniature horses. The nuns there raise the horses and sell them to earn money for the monastery. We didn't see any nuns though, even in the chapel, but we did see lots of little horses. They were so cute!

Jana's last day here we were able to go to the Houston LDS Temple. (For more info about our temples, click here.) Jana tries to go to the temple in every city she visits, but you will have to ask her how many she's up to. Probably around 15 or more now.

After the temple, we also did some shopping, ate a lot of food, and watched our favorite show, The Office. It was so much fun to have Jana here. I'm happy she was able to come and I look forward to many more visits from her and other family members and friends.