Happy New Year

Well, that flew by. Didn't I just put the Christmas stuff up? And now it's tucked nicely away in the attic already. I don't know what's wrong with me but I just didn't get into Christmas this year. I'm still a little annoyed that the world has taken a perfectly perfect thing like the virginal birth of my Savior and stuck a man in a big red suit all over it. I wish they would have chosen, say, Valentine's Day, or President's Day or something else instead of The Most Amazing Event in the History of the World. But I'm going to stop talking about that and spend the latter part of this year figuring out how to focus my family on the Advent and Birth of Jesus without getting bothered by the materialism of the holiday for next Christmas.

I decided today that I want to write a book. Only I'm not a very good writer, and I don't have a story to tell (that's very interesting, at least.) But I would like very much to have a (different) purpose for my day--one that involves sitting at a computer and putting words on a page. I decided that I'm tired of spending 90% of my waking hours standing in a kitchen, putting it back in order or opening the refrigerator. I want to forget about the kitchen and write a book. I'll let you know how that goes.

So we went to Austin for Christmas and had a great trip. If anyone is looking for a family-friendly resort, we found it. Lost Pines has so much for everyone to do: horseback riding, lazy river, white-water rafting, golf, tennis, 18 miles of hiking, archery, s'mores, Camp Hyatt, activities for the kids (as in, 1:30 beading, 2 pm icicle taste-test, 3 pm kickball, you get the idea... nonstop fun for all ages). Plus they had a mini buffet next to the adult buffet with chicken strips and gummy worms. Gummy worms! My kids loved it.

My brother and his family live in Austin and my parents live there in the winter. So we got to see them every day and spend Christmas with them. They have a great church there, and we went to the Christmas Eve service. My girls still talk about the sermon and how much they liked it. The girls did a horse camp and I went on a trail ride with them one afternoon. We had lots of family time and, for the most part, the kids did a great job handling the traveling. Tucker tried his hardest to be good. Bo was off schedule but did his best. And if anyone is looking for a challenge, try having your 3-year-old (un-napped) child leave his carry-on suitcase in the hotel room and not realize it until you get to the airport. Then get on the plane for 2 hours and have to entertain him. You'll work up a sweat. I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip.