The Maxted Family: Christmas Time!

We had a busy Christmas in 2012. We had intended to visit our Texas relatives over the summer, but Sarah and Uncle Jake couldn't find a week in common between all the summer camps for the girls. We decided that Christmas would be a better time and that Grandma would tag along with us.

Uncle Zak and Heather came over for a pre-Texas Christmas visit.

Cuddle time with Zak and Heather!

I don't know what I like better about this picture, the girls wearing matching clothes and giving each other a hug or seeing a reflection of Sarah and myself taking their picture.

Hug attack!

Occasionally Elizabeth lets me tuck her in at bedtime.

Since we were going to be out of town for Christmas, we had Nana and Grandpa over for an early Christmas. Vanessa shows off what she's been learning in guitar class.

Elizabeth loves her grandpa.

Nana shows off the sweater that Vanessa and Elizabeth got her. Purple of course.

You can't go wrong when you get money for Christmas.

Uncle Brian and Joanna came over with Kyra and Winston for presents.

Nice picture of Brian and Joanna

The whole Maxted clan (minus Kalena and John).

After those pre-Christmas celebrations, we flew out to Texas to hangout with our Kaylor relatives. The girls love playing with their cousins.

Gotta love Texas weather. Short sleeves today, snow two days later.

More cousin time outside.

Time to decorate the Christmas tree.

Once we got settled, one of the first course of action was to go present shopping. Here Vanessa, Elizabeth, and Bryn checkout some toys at the toy store.

Bryn was very helpful by watching the girls while we went shopping.

We got to draw on our placemats as we waited for lunch. Here I show off my bad talent of drawing an underwater scene.

Apparently I was so engrossed in the drawing that I didn't get the memo I was supposed to smile.

After lunch, Jake took us geocaching. The girls were excited to go on a treasure hunt.

We found the "treasure" underneath a bench near lunch.

For Christmas eve dinner, we went to Britni's mom's house.

Here, Bryn helped Elizabeth transform into a Christmas fairy.

Vanessa doesn't like hanging out with Uncle Jake, does she? ;)

Christmas morning at the Kaylors!

We headed over to Britni's dad's house for Christmas lunch. The girls got even more presents!

New clothes for Jadyn and Bryn

Someone got a candy cane...

We also got to see Katelyn!

I think Vanessa approves of Bryn's Christmas present.

The girls enjoyed their new glow-in-the-dark sticks.

Vanessa seems to enjoy her Christmas!

We even had a white Christmas in Texas! Jadyn shows the girls how to throw a snowball at Sarah.

Elizabeth wasn't quite as sure about the snow.

We also got to hang out a bit at Bryn and Jadyn's Aunt's house.

Of course with Aunt Britni being a hairdresser, we had to take advantage to get new hair styles.

Vanessa shows off her new do.

Elizabeth wanted a haircut as well.

The girls showing off their new dos. They really liked them.

The next day we headed over to the Gaylord hotel for their Ice exhibit.

The view down the snow slide.

Vanessa loved the slide, Elizabeth was a little hesitant.

Here's the ice slide. We all had to wear extra parka inside as they had cooled the air temperature to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

We ate at the Rainforest Café. Here Vanessa, Britni, and myself hang out in front of the fish tank.

Alright, normal faces everyone.

After the indoor ice/snow fun, we headed to the mall for some lunch. And you can't have lunch without dessert, right?

Bryn loves her some cupcakes

Here Aunt Britni, Jadyn, and Vanessa enjoy their cupcakes.

Of course being in Texas, the girls wanted to get some real cowgirl boots. Here Vanessa shows how she's gone Texan.

Elizabeth on the other hand was very tired once we got to the hotel on our way back. And this was before we all had to evacuate at 2 AM for a fire alarm.