Here I Am!

Did you miss me? I hope so! I missed writing, I can say that. I didn't miss sitting at this desk though. 10 days off work really makes you not want to go back...that may be a little too long to take off. Note for next time :)

I can't possibly write all about the past 10 days - I'd be writing about it all week, and I think I'd get bored. So I'll just share some key points:
~William sat on a dead animal. Candace's buck she shot!
~William got stung by a yellow jacket and took it like a champ. I would have been crying for hours if it were me. I was nearly crying for hours and it WASN'T me.
~I GOT TO SEE BRIAN!
~Austin shot a buck.
~William validated my decision to fly rather than drive as 3.5 hours seemed to be his limit to happily riding in a car seat.
~I ate a lot of deliciously horrible food. donuts, kolaches, lupe tortilla, fried food, fat food, sweet food - all wonderful. And all to be felt at 12:30 today in sports conditioning!
~William was very clingy to Austin and me - mostly me, I think. It was a nice feeling, but made it hard to do anything!
~Got to sit around a fire pit drinking beer with addie - not a lot of beer, but made me miss college and living with her and jen. An awesome 2 years!
~Cooked a wonderful thanksgiving dinner - had 15 people at my mom's house so we didn't have to make too much...turkey, green beans, stuffing, ambrosia and pies (really didn't need to make those pies - we had more dessert than food!)
~Watched the aggies BTHO t.u. WHOOOOP!
~Black Friday shopping - partly successful. Got to Target at 4:00 to find the one item I was looking for wasn't even in stock. How rude! But then we went to Macy's and went shopping for Dana...got her some cute shirts, so that's awesome. Then I got some clothes, shoes, and did get a couple things for Austin. I didn't buy a single thing for William the whole trip - SHOCKING!
~Successfully cooked deer meat with my first real cooking companion at my side - in college we cooked lots, set the kitchen on fire even. This time - lots of grease yet no fire. Quite the achievement!
~Got to leave the sleeping baby at home one night to go out and see patty and keith. had planned to go to a bar- was really excited at the prospect, but then we all decided staying home and playing mario kart on nintendo64 was better. i told them i'd lose every game, and I did not disappoint. I'm horrible! But it was fun :)
~William got to see his god-family. He was unsure of all the new places and new faces that he was bombarded with during the week, but he did well over there! At the end of the night he even leaned into BB and Nico and wrapped his arms around their necks to hug them. It was so precious!

I think this was one of my favorite trips to Texas that we've ever had. It was long, but it was nice. And its funny - I used to think thanksgiving was a silly holiday, but every year I like it more and more. Now I think it might be my favorite! I love cooking, I love my family, and I love big gatherings. I have such a wonderful, blessed life so the concept of Thanksgiving is right up my alley. I love it!

We were very excited to get home yesterday, though, after being gone for 10 days. I really think William was most excited of all! I told someone that and they said "how do you even know? he can't talk" But oh my, you can tell. He was THRILLED when we opened his bedroom door, he had a blast playing in his crib this morning, he squealed louder than ever every time he saw Nancy - then proceeded to roll all over her. He was ecstatic.

I was glad to be back in my fantastic bed last night, but not terribly excited that I was cuddling with 2 cats rather than Austin. He left after William's bedtime last night for Colorado Springs. He'll be there for 3 weeks, then he'll be home for the 2 weeks of Christmas. This weekend William and I are going down there to see him, then on Saturday Paul, Janell and Brooklyn are coming down too so we can all go to the North Pole and see Santa's Workshop. It'll be fun! It's a whole little town they've created with shops, food places, and of course Santa. I'm sure William, like most babies, won't care for him - but I'm just excited to take him to the town. I've heard there are lots of fun things for kids of all ages.

So, that's the short version of the past 10 days. We really had a great trip and I'm so thankful for the time we spent with everyone.