Christmas Eve with the Halls

Okay, so I know I'm a little behind in blogging, but have been busy with getting back to school, putting Christmas decorations away and getting on track for the new year. Also, I have so much to blog about that has happened in the last couple of weeks that I have let myself get overwhelmed with thinking about blogging it all. I know, silly! Anyhow, I thought I'd go ahead and put up Christmas eve. We were invited to our friend's family festivities. It was so much fun and we were so grateful they let us join in. Maddie did really well at standing by and not jumping in to open up her friend's presents, as hard as it was for her not to have anything to open for herself. She was cute about getting excited for her best friend, Kayla though. Everytime Kayla would open something and hold it up, Maddie would sigh and clap and get so proud of Kayla. It was really sweet and made me feel good as her mommy seeing how mature she was taking it all. Then, Kayla and her brother, Brayden got one big present from their grandparents. And as they were opening it, Maddie got so excited and yelled, "It's a wagon!" Cracked me up!!! She was so happy for them to get a wagon. She looked at me and said, "we have a wagon too."
Maddie also LOVED Kayla's uncle Greg. He was really good at playing with the girls and keeping them entertained. Maddie kept calling him "uncle Fred" though, for some weird reason! The whole family thought that was pretty funny and have since adopted his new name...uncle fred...when referring to him.
Our friends and their family have a tradition of opening Christmas crackers too. They were kind enough to share with us. Each of them has a silly tissue paper crown, so you'll see us wearing them in the pictures below. Enjoy!

ICE

This year during this holiday season has been especially fun. Since Madeline is a little older and more aware of all the celebrations, my parents wanted to try something new this year. This outing was one on the agenda. Maybe next year we'll get to some of the others on the list. It's so fun trying new things!

We went to the ICE Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan this past weekend. What an experience! The Gaylord Texan is a hotel/conference center in Grapevine that is apparently made by the same people that made the Opryland Hotel in Tennessee. It's HUGE..and beautiful. There's a whole covered atrium area in the middle that is decorated to the hilt for Christmas. While we were making our way to the ICE Exhibit, we saw the man above walking through the crowd. It was funny to see the people stop and watch as he walked by.

The ICE Exhibit is in the Convention Center there and is a whole display made entirely of ice! They actually give you parkas to walk through it. It takes about 20 minutes to get through on a normal day, but seeing as we went the last Sunday before Christmas......to say the least, it was a tad crowded!!! We were told it was 4 degrees Farenheit in there!!! Maddie looked so cute in her little parka. She waddled around like a little penguin. So cute!

These are just some pics we got while going through the exhibit.




This was the largest angel I've ever seen!

And, to all our surprise, they had this as the last scene before you leave:

AMAZING!!!!
Merry CHRISTmas to all and to all a good night!!!

Details....

Okay, so this is what it looked like when we were walking through the Atlantis grounds on the way to the beach! Seriously, it was BEAUTIFUL!!! I have never been to a more beautiful and lush place. All Maddie talked about days leading up to our trip was going to the beach and building a sandcastle! She's never built one before and I honestly don't know where that idea came from, but she sure wouldn't leave it alone. So, early Friday morning, Marty and I got up with her to take her to the beach to build said sandcastle, while Isaac stayed sleeping in the room with Aunt Lauren. It was so nice to get to spend some one on one time with the little lady. Marty ran off to find us some towels, so these are the pics I got of Maddie playing in the sand/water. The water felt like ice water, so we only ran in briefly, but playing in the sand was fun. And we saw some parasailers (brave souls) and cruise ships way off in the distance. So pretty!





We got there on Thursday and that night, there was a welcome party for everyone who came for the wedding. Needless to say, we had a long day that day (getting up at 4:30am w/kids, flying, etc..), so the kiddos were out of sorts that night and were running around like banshees. They seemed to gravitate towards this very large glass dining table...nice! Got some pics of them playing under it and in the rest of the villa:





Friday, we went to the rehearsal and dinner on the sand at a restaurant called "The Poop Deck!" Nice, huh? But the food was great! They even brought chicken fingers and fries for Maddie. It was so neat and that's where we took our Christmas card picture. The theme was all white, so we looked like we were part of a cult or something, but it made for nice pics! Here's a few from that night:





The next day was wedding day! What a beautiful wedding it was! One snag though, the flower girl! Madeline missed her nap that day because we tried to squeeze in time at the beach in lieu of a nap....big mistake! Her hair was getting done at 2, and wedding was at 4! Yikes! She was close to falling asleep getting her hair done, as you'll see in the pics. Then, time came for getting pre-wedding pics done and she was melting down...seriously! We got a couple of cute ones of her, but hope the photographers got better ones.




Well, Marty and I went on to our seats at the ceremony and when it came time for Maddie to walk up, this is what it looked like:

The silly goose took one look at the crowd and got a scared face and started crying "Daddy" while still throwing flower petals out of her basket! Lovely! Then, Michael, the sweet groom, knelt down and called her to him, to which she ran into his arms. Gees louise! I am so sooooo sorry Megan and Michael! Guess that's what is bound to happen when a 3 year old skips their nap!!!
We had a great time at the reception. Madeline danced all night long and even got to eat chicken nuggets again, while the rest of us dined on a 5 course meal. It was the most delicious food....crab cakes, mango/passion fruit sorbet, swordfish steaks, chicken and wedding cake. Yum-O! I should've taken pics of it all, but was too hungry to think about picture taking. But take my word, it was lovely! I did take some pics of the evening though:






This is how Maddie fell asleep that night...watching Shrek on the computer w/her headphones on....

Can't forget about Isaac...he stayed with Aunt Lauren at the hotel while we went to the wedding. He was so well rested and playing so happy the next day, that we got a sweet pic of him playing in the luggage holder:

The next few are on the flight home. Madeline and Isaac took some long naps then she "read" a book to him. Sweet, proud mama moment! Also, Lauren and me being goofy!



What an amazing adventure to paradise we had! We've already talked about going back when the kids get older! Truly a recommended vacation spot for anyone....kids or not! Would do it again in a heartbeat! Thanks Megan and Michael for giving us a chance to get out of town and for allowing our little "angel" to be a part of your special day....we are so grateful!

We made it!

First of all, I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. I definitely felt them as we boarded the plane that morning, and I was anxiety-free!!! I couldn't believe it! My sister, Lauren, went with us on the trip and spent the night the night before at our house. Our flight was at 7 am, so we planned on getting up at 4 and being gone by 4:30 am. Well, we had stayed up late the night before due to us all being too excited to sleep and me running around making sure everything was packed and ready. So, when the alarm went off, Marty nor I heard it! Luckily, Lauren came and woke us up at 4:30 and we all rushed around like crazies and got to the airport close to 5:30 or so. Well, at the airport, we went to check in and good ole American Airlines dropped the bomb (after standing there for about 20 minutes) that we were going to have to buy a ticket for Isaac! What?!?!?! We weren't prepared for that and were a little upset and talked to someone in charge and they were able to lower the fee, but we still ended up buying a ticket for a seat that he couldn't sit in! We still had to hold him in our laps!!! I told Marty, "I'll just take him and go home!" I'm glad I didn't!!! We coughed up the money and scurried through security. I was worried because I had a bunch of baby food packed and we were doing all carry-on. One of the nice men at the security line luckily sensed our frustration with how the morning was going and let us through the short line where we didn't have to take stuff out of our bags nor wait for a long line of people. Once we got to our gate, the whole plane had already boarded!!!! We were freaking out....like a scene in "Home Alone" and started running down the ramp!!! We were the last ones on, and here we come with 2 kids in tow! Yes, we got the ugly looks and all, but oh well!

We got situated with the kids and Lauren's seat happened to be right in front of ours (thank you Lord) and I was so exhausted by the time we took off, I was too tired to be worried (also thanks to a little white pill called Xanax)!!! We had an amazing flight and the kids did AWESOME!! Maddie curled up in the seat between Marty and me and slept after watching a movie. Isaac slept off and on when he wasn't flirting with the sweet lady behind us. When we got to Miami, and started to get off the plane, all the people around us told us how good our kids did. It was so nice to hear that after being so worried at how it was going to go.

The Miami airport was a joke! We went down into like a party basement area and got on a bus that drove us out onto the tarmac? where we had to climb the stairs and get onto a propeller plane!!!! Oh great!!! I have to admit my heart started pounding as I was sure it was going to be a rough flight, but it wasn't too bad! Thankfully, I had a beautiful ocean/sea to look at during the flight. I started to truly get excited about the trip at this point and was watching for whales in the water below. In about 45 minutes we landed in the Bahamas and were greeted by a man dressed as a pirate! He looked like Johnny Depp's character in Pirates of the Caribbean! And much to my surprise, Maddie greeted him with an "Arr Matey!" and from then on, I knew we were going to have an amazing weekend!!!

I will post pictures and more details of what we did over the weekend soon. We are house/dog-sitting for the bride and groom for the rest of the week, so I'll get to it one of these nights. :)

Anxiety.....

Okay, so I am writing in hopes that all who read this will shower me with prayers on this Thursday morning, December 4. I'm such a goober and am EXTREMELY afraid of flying, and I am not exaggerating one bit! We will be flying out at 7 am for the Bahamas.....I know....I shouldn't even be complaining here, but hear me out... If it weren't for Maddie being in the wedding, I wouldn't be going. I've had several thoughts of how to "get out of it" since then, and feel so guilty and selfish for that. It's just that I am so, so, so, so, sooooooooo much of a hesitant passenger. I don't know what it is, if it's being out of control, the weird sensations you feel with all the dips and turns, or if it's the close quarters with so many strangers! Maybe a combination of all!!!! I've flown several times, including an overseas flight to Italy back in 2004, and I still have the same anxiety EVERY time!!!!!!

What I'm worried most about is freaking out in front of my kids and getting them upset. Maddie is very sensitive and picks up on ANY deviation from what is normal behavior from me. She's a lot like me in that she's a worry wart! So, I hope she doesn't freak out with me and us get kicked off the plane!!! Okay, I'm getting myself worked up just talking about it. If you told me right now I didn't have to go, I wouldn't! I hate that I've allowed my fear to create such anxiety in my mind and that I could care less about the amazing memories my family will have as long as I am okay. It's awful!

Therefore, I'm asking you all to join me in prayer on Thursday morning as we board the plane. Please pray for God to deliver me from this anxiety and to soothe my nerves and calm my fears. I know that He can help me through this and truly did so back in 2004, when I was pregnant with Madeline and had to fly with no assistance of medication, like I usually have. That was the longest AND best flight experience I've ever had, seems crazy! To me, that's an oxymoron! I know that God is in control....I just need to keep reminding myself that come Thursday!