Christmas with Cousins

The last couple of times we have celebrated Christmas with Brad's family, we have ordered Chinese food and enjoyed a relaxing evening together!  This year was no exception, it was the perfect ending to a busy day at the science museum.

Mimi and PawPaw gave each of the grandkids a new set of pajamas and slippers for Christmas.

Faith got two new games for her Leap Frog Leap Pad from Mimi and PawPaw!! She was very excited about her new princess' games.

One of the things we gave Ruth Ann was a Jesse doll from Toy Story 2!! She was so excited about it and took it wherever she went!  She even gave a special request to her Aunt Lauren to help Jesse "find some of her friends.  Jesse will be lonely without Bullseye! :-)

Jillian and Luke both were given Lego sets for Christmas and they immediately went to work on their creations.

Jillian was very proud of her lemonade stand and stage.  

Then, it was sleepover time for the kids! They had so much fun having a pillow fight mixed with lots of giggling.

The next morning, the kids had fun playing blocks...

and making some tunes on the piano too. 

Then we went to Aunt Beth and Uncle Nate's beautiful, new home...

for some Rosa Cafe's Mexican food for lunch! The queso is INCREDIBLE and I want to have some next time we are in Texas too!! 

The kids enjoyed playing outside on their cousins playset.  It was a wonderful afternoon and our time ended far too quickly.  

Science in Dallas

On Friday morning of our trip, we visited the Ross Perot Science Museum in Dallas.

It was a great museum and had tons of interactive experiences.

  In this  photo, the girls were playing basketball.

This machine detected body heat in varying degrees.  

Jillian, cousin Luke, and Faith with the sky line of Dallas in the background.

The girls with their Mimi enjoying the dinosaur exhibit.

Then we went to the flight exhibit. 

I love this photo of Luke, with his glasses on, he looks like a little rock star in concert! He was so into flying!!!  :-)

Ruth Ann looked a little more nervous about her flying experience....

And Jillian had a fun time flapping her wings like a bird.

Luke, Uncle Brad, and Jillian exploring science together.

My girls have a special song/ act called "The Silly Three" and they regularly do it for us at home.  But for the first time, they included other people in their act, and it became "The Silly Five"!!! The girls LOVE their cousins so much!  

Downstairs in the museum, they had interactive sport activities.   Brad, Anna, and Faith raced a gymnast on the screen.

Ruth Ann and Uncle Nate were cheering for them on the side-lines.

I captured this great photo of the original four Holmes'

Anna had fun playing in the Dallas market in the kids part of the museum.  

The COUSINS posing on a bridge for lots of photos! We were like the paparazzi with all of our cameras, and the kids had a hard time figuring out which way to look!  

Ruth Ann was so warm and receptive to all of her uncle's silly games! I love her face of glee in this photo! 

It was a happy, happy day with Mimi, PawPaw, Aunt Beth, Uncle Nate, Luke, and Ruth Ann. 

American Girl Cafe

On Christmas day, the girls opened up a special envelope that had an invitation to tea at American Girl cafe with Mimi and PawPaw.

The girls were beyond excited about getting to go....

and it met all of their expectations.

We went on the perfect day. The cafe was quiet and we felt like we were having a "private tea".

Anna loved feeding her baby doll and talking with her about how yummy the food tasted.

The tea looked so fancy.

Jillian and Kit with their flower dirt pudding dessert.

Faith and Elizabeth with their mini-cupcakes.

Anna and Lucy with one of their favorite desserts.  

After tea, we went downstairs and the girls did a paper doll craft.  

They also each got to pick one new thing for their baby doll.  It was such a fun, memorable time. Since being home, Anna likes to pretend she is flying on an airplane to go back to Texas for more tea-time. :-)

My Grandparents' Home

Then, we hit the road again. Thankfully it wasn't too far of a drive from College Station to Belton. 

It was nearly a two hour drive, but as we drove, we were rewarded with a beautiful Texas sunset.

 It was really special for me to bring my girls "home" to a place I had visited many times as a child.  My grandmother set her dining table and served us a delicious home-made turkey dinner that hit the spot.

For dessert, we all had banana pudding with Cool Whip.

Then, as a special surprise, after dinner, my grandfather pulled out a disc full of slides that he had just transferred.  This is a photo of my Grandma and Papa many years ago.  My grandfather took many photos of my Grandma in that dress, it was one of his favorites. :-)

And this is a photo of my mom with family while they were living in Alaska.

The slides were not in the correct order, so we traveled from Germany to Alaska to Colorado, back to Germany again!  We all had a good laugh, but there were so many photos that I had never seen before from my mom's childhood.  And then there were photos of my birth, it was one of my favorite memories of our entire time in Texas.

My grandmother loves spoiling the girls with chocolate when we come. :-)

Jillian giving her Great-Papa a big hug. As a young girl, my mom was a "daddy's girl".  He is such a gentle man and loves kids!  

Anna giving her Great-Grandma a sweet kiss on the cheek. She had already given her one kiss, and posed for me to take this photo!  (That's why she is looking at me from the corner of her eye. Did you get it mom?")

Our time flew with Grandma and Papa far too quickly. In the morning, Grandma made us a scrumptious breakfast and then we said our good-byes!  It was a precious time that I will treasure in my heart.