photos of our family christmas in texas

it was really, really good to be in houston for christmas. spent lots of time with my dad and gloria and mom and bob. here are some photos...

joy in the journey... on the 12th day of christmas

As our 1st Christmas together as husband and wife, we left Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and came to Texas to celebrate with Dave's family.

We talked about our

Christmas traditions:
Christmas Breakfast
Christmas Caroling
Secret Elves to Mystery Family/Person
Stockings
Scavenger hunt on Christmas Eve (written by an elf)
Advent Calendar
Homemade gifts

On Christmas Day we went to John and Gloria's house in Brazoria and ate (lots) of good food. It was good to see that John was feeling good that day. We were worried since the radiation was so draining. Deana and Buddy came with Brayden. We missed Colton. Gloria made all of the goodies and everyone was sure to mention that I had to eat more since I am eating for two.To tell you the truth, I'm really not that hungry. In fact, I think I am less hungry now than before.
Anyway...
We were going to stay the night but since I was so tired and we had Boone with us, we decided to make the drive at night rather than in the morning in a rush to Deana and Buddy's new house right around the corner from Janice and Bobby's. It was amazingly huge and well decorated. They just have the house decorating gene. I hope they help me with my house when we get one.

With a bag full of new winter and maternity clothes, I am ready for the coming months (am I ready?) David scored too with lots of clothes (which we needed) and is having fun downloading loads of music and movies on his new huge external hard drive.

For our families (all 32 people) we brought Kyrgyz shoes for Christmas. It was funny to see them all try them on. At first they thought they were hideous but by the end of the night everyone still had their shoes on and were loving them. Made of wool, they are warm and cozy. Hairy, but warm.

joy in the journey... on the eleventh day of christmas, my true love shared with me...

We are adding one to the family!

We had a doctor's appointment on Christmas Eve...

and we saw the heartbeat, which melted ours, and saw our little baby on the screen!
It doesn't get better than that!
We just keep thinking that this time next year we will have a little 4 month old.

We are 6 weeks pregnant, give or take! Due date: August 16th!

David just couldn't wait to give me the "What To Expect When You're Expecting" book. He already started reading it. He is going to be such a great daddy. Tonight we went out for our date night and we talked about baby names and other parent/baby related things in the driveway for about an hour. The anticipation is so fun!

My mom screamed, my dad gasped, my brother smiled...Dave's dad cried, Dave's mom laughed and hugged me, Dave's sister was happy for us too. David hopes that it is a little girl since there are ONLY boys as grandkids so far. I'm hoping for a healthy little munchkin.

Our little Cashew Conover is so loved already.

(I feel so good! David has a couple 'perky perks' that he likes about pregnancy too...in addition to that there is the little baby on the way! )

Yay!!!

joy in the journey... on the second day of shristmas..

my true love gave to me...
a night with friends and Christmas lights!

We went and met our good friends in Houston. Nick, April, Mark, and Emily met us at this lovely Thai restaurant on Westheimer. Our server, named Sex, took good care of us. April and I can't wait to go back for mangos and sweet rice--one of our favorite desserts. Because we were heading over to Lights in the Heights we had to get going (which meant skipping dessert)!

The streets in the neighborhoods were crowded. But with bands playing and private parties being hosted it felt like a movie. Tons of Radio Flyer wagons were being pulled with kids in tow. Laughing and dancing made the night wonderful. It's so good to be in Houston!

Having some time back in our old stomping grounds makes us see that we lived in such a great and trendy part of town. And thanks to Richard (our Boone-sitter) we even got to stay in our old apartment...even though it now has a Bow-flex machine in the kitchen and a single recliner in the living room for gaming, no doubt. It made us laugh and look back and be thankful that we aren't singles anymore.