Christmas 2009, Part 2

Mark, the boys, and I drove back from Houston on December 23rd, a typically eight hour drive that managed to take a little over ten hours. Why? Well from Houston to DFW, it was a rain storm causing the delay and from Abilene to Lubbock it was snow! When we arrive at our house around midnight, we had a little more than a dusting on the ground. By the time the boys woke up around 7am, we had a good six inches! In some places it was even more because it was also very windy and blew up in snow dunes in certain places. Kolbe was fascinated by it, but wasn't too thrilled once he got out in it considering it came up to his knees. The "nose" as he calls it, was also very powdery and "dry" so it was hard to make a Frosty the Snowman. We tried though! (sorry, forgot to take a pic) We didn't even attempt to take Reagan out in it as it was freezing cold and as I mentioned, windy. (In Lubbock??? No way!) Even though it has warmed up off and on a little bit, we STILL have snow in some parts of our yard! Here are a few shots of us enjoying our white Christmas!

Christmas 2009, Part 1

If you're anything like me, 2010 has begun and you are already behind. Just about the only thing I hate about Christmas falling at the end of the year is that I'm pretty much forced to start the new year with an overwhelming to-do list! And, of course, on that list is getting all of our family Christmas pics posted! We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year that literally lasted 3 weeks! I'll start with our fun trip to Houston...

When we realized that Mark had off an entire week before Christmas, we decided to go visit my parents. We had a blast! Other than Reagan not sleeping much, the trip went off without a hitch.

Opening a few presents at Pinkie and Pa's house...

Every time we go to The Woodlands we make a trip up to Market Street, or as Mark calls it "Time Square" or "Central Park". It's a fun outdoor shopping area that wraps around a green area with a splash pad. At Christmas time, they have a huge tree and fun Christmas decorations. We had a great visit made complete by our meal at Potbelly's!

Um, is it just me is or Reagan getting cuter and cuter by the day!?!

Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed...

Stewart's Grape Soda

Somehow, Kolbe's grandfather, Pa, thought it would be a good idea to buy Kolbe a special treat while visiting our favorite sandwich shop in The Woodlands, Potbelly's. The "special treat" could further be identified as a Stewart's Grape Soda. Our family became a fan of these drinks while living in Mississippi (where they are made), and as many food items created in Mississippi are, these are the farthest thing from nutritious! Needless to say, 11 of 12 ounces later, Kolbe was one high pitched squeal away from completely out of control. And Pa shamelessly stated, "That's the joy of being a grandparent!" i.e. He can do things any sensible parent would never let their two-year-old do. Besides, ever two-year-old needs a Stewart's Grape Soda!

The first taste....(P.S....pretty awesome that Kolb can finally drink from a straw! Less than a year after his palate surgery! Yea!)

Apparently the straw wasn't getting it done fast enough...

Can't you just see the mischief in those eyes!?!

And of course, he had to show off his purple tongue afterwards!

Gaschen Family Christmas

The Asmussen Family is currently on "vacation" down in The Woodlands, and hopefully I'm going to use some of this time to get caught up on a few blog posts! Last weekend, back in Lubbock, we had a great time reuniting with all of the Gaschen Family. (this is my mom's side of the family) All seven of her siblings were in town to meet up for the weekend and celebrate. We had a lot of fun attending mass together on Saturday night, followed by a good portion of the baby-less crowd going to my Uncle David's concert at the Cactus Theater. (In other words, not Mark and me.) On Sunday we met up for lunch at Orlando's and then headed to my Uncle Paul and Aunt Pam's house for an afternoon of good ol' fashion fun.

Because my hands are usually full with one baby or another, I didn't get many pictures, but shortly before the night ended, I managed to snap a few of Kolbe with his new love, Molly, and then several of Kolbe and Reagan's first experience with bunk beds. Kolbe was totally fascinated and his cousins were eager to show him how to get to the top bunk. (These are actually my cousins...children of my mom's brothers and sisters.) For photo-record's sake, we stuck Reagan up there for a few pictures too! They had so much fun!

Kolbe and Molly...they were inseparable for a while!

Rudy Clause and Brooke

Kolbe with his chief bunk bed trainer, Christopher, owner of the beloved bunk beds

One final shot of the cousins having lots of fun

The Polar Express

As I mentioned in our Thanksgiving post, while my parents (aka: Pinkie and Pa) were in town for the holiday they took Kolbe on a special trip on the Polar Express. Last year a group in Lubbock started this Christmas time activity and it has been quite successful. Kids and families get to board a real train that travels around the outskirts of Lubbock while The Polar Express is being read aloud. "Elves" join them on the train ride and assist with Christmas carol sing-a-longs and even serve hot chocolate and cookies. About half way through the trip, Santa Claus boards the train and visits each kiddo and gives them a little gift. The kids even get to wear their jammies on the train so it makes for quite the exciting evening. Kolbe had an absolute blast and even now, about a month later, he still mentions the "chain" that he saw "ant cause" on with "pe-e" and "pa"!

A little brotherly nonsense...

I was flipping through our camera and came across a few fun pics of the boys cruising in their car. It seems like yesterday that I was taking pictures of Kolbe riding around by himself. And just one year later, he has a riding companion! Reagan definitely gets a kick out of this and Kolbe loves showing him how it's done!



And I couldn't pass up on posting this one of my favorite spaghetti face! Being his mom is so much fun!

Thanksgiving 2009...a few weeks late!

I really have no excuse for not getting our Thanksgiving pictures posted sooner. Maybe I thought that I already had or something. The Asmussen House has pretty much been business as usual...just with lots of Christmas decorating, baking, and Frosty the Snowman reading and watching. (Kolbe got both the Frosty the Snowman book and DVD from Pinkie and Pa and he's obsessed...)

But a few weeks ago, we had a lot of fun celebrating Thanksgiving here in Lubbock. My parents came in on Tuesday and Pat came in on Wednesday evening. We had a great time eating and hanging out over at Abby and Andy's house. There was SO much food that it provided for about a week's worth of leftovers! Here are a few pics:

Roo-Roo flirting with Pinkie

Mom, Dave, and Andy celebrating the not-so-favorite part of Thanksgiving...dishes!

Pinkie, Pa, and their precious pumpkins!

Also, while my parents were in town for Thanksgiving, they took Kolbe on a very special trip...The Polar Express! Unfortunately I didn't send my camera with my parents so the only pics we have are on their camera. Hopefully when my mom comes for the Gaschen Family Christmas this week, I can snag them from her and get them posted. He had a blast!