Christmas 2011 found us traveling across the country for a Texan holiday with family. Most times when we go visit I don't think of the fact that we are traveling to another culture and climate....we are just visiting our old home and family. But this visit I was keenly aware of the fact that Texas is indeed a unique place and way of life.
Evergreens and green grass are replaced with rugged Live Oaks and often dry landscapes. Limestone and river rock homes mark the neighborhoods with wide open blue skies. Highways are filled with aggressive drivers and oh-so-convenient access roads, fast food and billboards are scattered everywhere along main free-ways, and fantastic Mexican food spots are readily available. Spanish is often heard wherever you go, and my favorite.....the accents. I never seemed to adopt the lovely and warm, true Southern accent, but many of my family and friends have and it just makes me smile to hear their words. By the end of my time there I am usually twanging a bit, just because it is fairly contagious!
Part of our visit in Texas was spent on a road trip into West Texas to Abilene where the rest of John's family converged for a mini family reunion. There is nothing like a road trip through the small towns of West Texas
(which there is SO much of!) to give you a really authentic feel of the state. As the saying goes, "it isn't a town unless it has a Dairy Queen", which, by the way, is also considered the stop sign of Texas. We frequented a few on our trek west, and Ben sampled his very first Blizzard from the generous spoons of Pops and Gran. I am pretty sure it was the highlight of his four hours strapped into a carseat, both ways. :) We had a wonderful time with family, catching up, playing with the kids, and celebrating Grandmother's birthday. What a gift to have that many generations all under one roof to enjoy each other.
Our time in San Antonio was full of special time with cousins Hayden and Garrett and Aunt Melissa and Uncle Greg and of course, his beloved Gran and Pops. Ben fell in love with his aunt and has quite a special place in his heart for Aunt Missa, and followed his cousins around with wide eyed wonder. It was pretty mutual.
Here are a few of our holiday highlights:
- watching Ben enjoy Pops' trains
- watching Ben get excited about the cats ("kee-kee's")
- family dinners
- sleepover with cousins
- breakfast at our favorite Magnolia Pancake Haus (easily the best breakfast spot ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH!!!)
- watching Ben fall in love all over again with his Texas family
Our least favorite holiday moments: the travel day(s) home........
We were due for a travel nightmare, and in the season of gifts, boy did we receive a doozy. Are you ready for the saga?
Our flight from San Antonio to Dallas got cancelled before we even rolled away from the gate (because of mechanical difficulties), so we de-boarded, and waited a few hours to be re-routed. We made it to Dallas, but had missed our connection to Seattle so we got on a flight to Orange County. This flight had us separated, and the good people on that flight felt no need to move to help us out. So I spent the 3 hour flight with a wiggly, cranky, restless little boy on my lap while the seats around us closed in. I am pretty sure our designated postage stamp of a seat got smaller and smaller as the time passed. At one point Ben did what he does best and filled his diaper with a potent package but the two sleeping passengers next to me pinned us in for the rest of the flight. What a joy that was!
As we came into Orange County, the fog prevented us from landing, though we got darn close before the pilot quickly pulled up and got us out of there. We were required to fly over to Ontario, CA to refuel and then were left there for a couple hours, waiting for what would happen next. Being that it was New Year's Eve, most everyone de-boarded and found other ways to get home, but we got to stick it out. Back to Orange County on our second attempt, we were met with the same thick fog. Finally on the third attempt we landed. Once there, we discovered that our bags had been luckier travelers than we had and were waiting for us in Seattle. At this point it was midnight (Happy New Year to us!) and we had no bags, no car seat and needed a place to sleep. We got a hotel room across from the airport and stumbled into the dingy room, two bleary eyed adults and one overtired, confused and worn out toddler. We fell asleep immediately, even Ben (it was 2:30am per our body time) but did I mention that it was New Year's Eve? So outside our room the courtyard had a rip-roaring party til 4:30 in the morning. The music, singing, laughing, and yelling kept us all in and out of sleep before we had to get up at 5:30 for our flight home. And of course, even though he hadn't slept hardly at all the night before, Ben didn't fall asleep on the 3 hour flight until we were touching down in Seattle. Welcome home.
A couple days like that give one
such appreciation for cozy beds, showers, clean teeth, non-airport meals and on-time travel. Maybe
that was the real gift!
Besides the drama-filled travel days, our trip home was wonderful and we are so grateful to have such special family to share memories with.
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| Gary collects many (an understatement!) trains, one of which circled the Christmas tree. Ben loved watching it go round and round, but I think Gary had even more fun introducing Ben to his new hobby! |
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| Cousin Hayden and Ben |
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| Daddy, Ben and Aunt Melissa |
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| Cousin Garrett and Ben |
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| John, Ben Sarah, Linda, Gary, Melissa, Greg, Lucille, Garrett, Hayden |
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| "Pops, you're so funny!" |
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| Ben's Christmas morning church outfit--never could get him to hold still long enough for a good shot, but he sure did look handsome! |
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| These two would entertain each other during the meals. I think Hayden may have taught Ben how to open your mouth and show your food. Cousins sure are fun! |
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| I don't know who enjoyed the snuggles more....Ben or GG (Great-Grandmother)! |
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| "Wow, look at all the trains!" Gary has multiple tracks that line the ceiling of a few of the rooms in their house, including a whole wall of shelves full of trains in one of the bedrooms. He really likes trains! |
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| We took Ben to our favorite Mexican food place, Alamo Cafe, and were so excited to introduce him to the best homemade tortillas ever. And what did he love to eat most? The lemon slices in our water. |
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| Oh boy, Dairy Queen Blizzards! |
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| Happy Birthday GG!! |
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| I put together a photo book for GG as a gift from the whole family. It had pictures of all the family, dating back to when she was married with young kids. It was quite the collection of memories and her heritage. She LOVED it, and it thrilled my heart to watch her enjoy it. |
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| We had a photographer take pics of the whole family. This one is of all the grand-kids. Back row: Hayden, Griffin, Garrett, Gage; Front row: Ben, Avery and Adalyn |
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| GG and her great-grands |
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| My favorite! |
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| All the boys: Garrett, Griffin, Hayden and Gage in the back, Ben, John, Greg, Gary, Larry, Josh and Luke in the front |
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| All the girls: Avery, Melissa, Sarah, Linda, Lucille, Alisha, Lindsay, Adalyn |
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| Brothers Gary and Larry, the train aficionados, and their new recruit, Ben |
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| More lemons at Magnolia Pancake Haus.....seriously kid, try the pancakes! |
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| New Year's Eve breakfast party! |
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| "Is the party really over?!" |
