Christmas in Houston

So, I know it's a little late to be posting about our Christmas, but I really haven't had a chance to do it since we've gotten back. We went to Houston this year to spend Christmas with the Nelson side of the family. It was a very nice Christmas and very WARM...in the 70s the whole time we were there. It was my first Christmas away from my family, and even though I got homesick everyone did a wonderful job of helping it feel like Christmas. It looks like I'm blinking in all the pictures I'm posting, but I still couldn't open my eyes at this point.
It must be a brother thing, but for some reason they felt a need to open thier mouths really wide to show their excitement!

Dear Chase,

I'm am so sad that we didn't get any pictures of you! Adam was in charge of taking the pictures since I couldn't see that morning. So, I'm apologizing on his behalf for not taking any pictures of you. I promise we love you! I'm so so sorry!!!!

They were called letters...

On Thursday, Adam and I received a letter from Zach (my 16 year old brother-in-law). With today's technology...email, cell phones, text messaging, blogs, etc...we don't receive too many letters. I must say that Adam's family is probably some of the best letter/card writers in the country, and we do get them from his parents every now and then. Well, Zach had never written us a letter before, so it was quite a surprise getting it in the mail. I just love getting mail, especially letters! Now, there is nothing earth shattering really going on in the life of this guy, but everything he wrote was fun to read. It really made us laugh (he's hilarious!). Now, I have a little confession to make. I LOVE checking the mail. When I am at home for the day, I will check the mailbox 2-3 times before the mailman comes, just to see if maybe he came early today. Growing up, I would get mad if anyone would check the mail before me. When I went to college, my family didn't check the mailbox for a week because they were so used to me doing it. When I get home from work, the first thing I ask Adam is, "Did you get the mail yet?" I don't know why I have this obsession with getting the mail because usually it's just junk adds or bills. But every once in a while, that golded letter comes (like the one from Zach) that brightens my day and takes me back to a simpler time...before the internet and cell phones!