How I Spent My Christmas Vacation...Part One

We had a full two weeks off for Christmas break this year and it was much-needed and much-enjoyed.  The whole week before Christmas, we enjoyed spending time together as a family. 

On the 19th, we hosted the Villines family Christmas at our house.  It was great to have everyone here.  I didn't really get many pictures because I was busy preparing and serving and all of the other stuff that comes along with hosting a holiday meal.  But - it was a great time.  We enjoyed visiting with everyone, watching the kids play and eating a wonderful traditional ham dinner. 

Caleb had such a good time playing with his cousins, Elle and Dax, on Sunday night that we decided to join them at Jan's house in Tulsa on Monday.  The kids played and played while we visited with Jan, Bill, Todd and Tammy. 

Elle, Jan & Nola

We decided to take the kids to Silver Dollar City on the 22nd.  It was crazy cold, but we got all bundled up and went anyway.  We found out when we got there that the big coasters wouldn't be running because it was too cold.  That was a disappointment, but we rode the things that were open.  As we were walking down one of the paths, we passed a man who was the most authentic-looking Santa I've ever seen.  He spoke to Caleb and Caleb decided to be shy and wouldn't really talk to him.  I should've taken a picture, but I didn't.  Oops.

Here we are waiting to ride the train.  (Don't the kids look enthused to be sitting still in the train station for a half hour?)  The train ride was the best part of the whole day.  The lights were beautiful and I wanted to freeze time when I saw the look on Caleb's face as the old man told the Christmas story.  It was heart-melting.  Nola managed to get a nap in the stroller, which was nice for all of us.  While the boys were riding rides, I took Nola into a heated room that's technically a room for nursing mothers, but I just used it as a place to stay warm while she slept.  When we left SDC, we had supper at Cracker Barrel and then made the drive home with 2 sleeping kids in the backseat.  It was the beginning of a great family tradition.