Christmas (better late than never)

We had such a fun Christmas this year! Jason and I had thought about staying in Houston this year because we have to buy Kate an airplane ticket now and we didn't really feel like spending the money. But I was really sad at the thought of not seeing my family. Luckily, some of them came to see me! My dad came in a couple nights before Christmas and my sisters came in a couple days after. It was really fun to have my dad here on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve we went to the Downtown Aquarium. I haven't been to it before and it was fun despite not being much of an aquarium (the actual fish viewing was pretty minimal). But they had a train, a merry-go-round and a ferris wheel so it was definitely worth the trip. That night I had it in my head that I wanted to walk around the block and look at all the lights and then go home and sit in front of the fire and have hot chocolate. Well, it actually got pretty cold and with the humidity and the wind it made for a somewhat miserable walk. Oh well, it made the fire and hot chocolate extra nice! Then I attempted to teach Kate about the true reason we celebrate Christmas by reading her a very toddler friendly version of the birth of Jesus. I don't know how much she grasped; maybe next year! Christmas morning was spent opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs topped with truffle salt, which was pungent to say the least (the truffle salt currently resides in Portland with Janelle who has a greater appreciation for it).
The next day we fed the ducks and rode the train at Hermann Park and visited the Children's museum. My sisters came in the next day so we had a big Christmas dinner and opened more presents that night. On Monday my dad gave a lecture on occular ultrasound (he is an opthamologist and specializes in ultrasound of the eye) at the hospital where I work part time. We rarely do eye ultrasounds but I still thought it would be fun to learn. My dad left that night, so the next day I dropped Kate at the sitters and my sisters and I did what we do best: went shopping! Houston has a ridiculous mall called the Galleria that has every store you can think of. We spent about 7 hours there and the time flew!
The rest of their trip was spent making and eating food (we made pumpkin soup, butternut squash risotto, sweet potato gnocchi, grasshopper tarts and yummy bread maker rolls just to name a few things) and getting them hooked on Vampire Diaries (sorry Alicia!) and Gossip Girls (sorry Janelle!). On New Year's Eve we stayed in and had fondue and played Clue. I let Kate stay up until about 10 and she loved every minute of it. We toasted in the New Year with sparkling cider. We also took lots of walks to the park, and had one unfortunate walk minus Kate where we got drenched in the rain about 2 miles from the house and almost froze to death trying to get home. One night just my sisters and I went to a really nice French restaurant nearby called Chez Nous. It is a really cute little place that used to be a church and where the servers wear tuxedos. The goat cheese was wonderful and so were the desserts of course! Another night we dropped Kate at the sitters and went and saw Sherlock Holmes. I LOVED it! I would see it again in a second!
I had SO much fun with my family here and I was in such a bad mood the whole rest of the week after they left but I think I have adjusted to normal life again. Love you guys!! Thanks so much for coming!