Christmas in Dallas

Last Friday, David, Avery, and I flew out to Dallas to spend Christmas with our family in Texas.  We stayed with Gran and Grandy, David's grandparents, who had thoroughly decked the halls!  The house was decorated, the food was prepared, and the gifts were wrapped.  All that was left to do was enjoy our time, and we did that to the best of our ability!  

Sunday night we celebrated David's 24th Birthday at Luna de Noche, the best Mexican restaurant in Dallas!  Before we left I gave him his present from Avery and I, a Nintendo DS Lite.  I didn't know much about them (just that David wanted one for traveling), but it was the best gift I could have given!  It actually managed to keep him away from work and allowed him to relax a little bit, which was all I wanted him to do during our time away. 

 

On Christmas Eve the entire family was there.  We exchanged gifts and enjoyed Spanish Ole.  A family recipe that I'm thankful to add to my collection.  We were glad PaPa was able to make it for the evening, he is Avery's great-great grandfather!  

 

On Christmas morning we opened stockings and all the gifts from our immediate family.  The greatest gift of all was a cookbook that Lisa made for all the kids, titled "Recipe's from Home".  It was filled with all the kids favorite recipes from childhood.  David had a great time pointing out all the recipes I had to make ASAP!  :)  

We left the day after Christmas, and now we're getting things back to normal around the Grulich household.  Another year has almost come and gone, and David and I realize how immensely we've been blessed!  We are so thankful for our wonderful family and our awesome friends!  We pray each of you have had as great a year as we have!

Click here to see the rest of the pictures.

Christmas at the Grulich's

Last night we celebrated Christmas with the Grulich grandparents.  It was a great night with family, food, and presents!  Avery had a lot of fun opening gifts, both her own and other's.  The gift of the night was the Tickle Me Elmo that grandma and grandpa gave Avery.  As Avery watched in awe, the adults were all cracking up at the genius toy.  Avery also got a slide and Elmo chair, both of which she loves!

For pictures from the evening, click here.

Update

I want to start by apologizing to all of you who check this blog regularly for pictures and updates. I have been M.I.A. this past month! It's not because there's been nothing to share, but because I haven't had time to sit down and collect my thoughts. So I'm sorry, I will try to be better about it!

Avery with the rocking horse Aunt Heidi gave her.

A lot has happened these last few weeks. David and EJ, David's business partner, have hired a new assistant and a new sales person! Which means I'm off the hook! :) ...almost... We're still in the transition phase. But both are wonderful women who we're excited about, and they've already started doing some great things for the company. David and EJ also found an office building they're going to buy, which is an answer to prayer!

Being silly with David.

On the home front, Avery is more fun than ever! She's talking a lot and has become Ms. Independent. I love watching her entertain herself! When she's had enough playing alone, she'll plop a book in my lap and climb on up. When the book is finished she gets down, walks over to the bookshelf, and grabs another...until ALL the books have been read! It's a long process, but there's nothing more rewarding than when she gets in my lap and relaxes against me so I can start the story...I LOVE being a mom! (and I'm so thankful that now I'll get to 'be a mom' full time!)

Playing with the Little Peoples Manger my parents sent her for Christmas.

Yesterday I was getting some last minute Christmas shopping done. Before I left, I grabbed my camera so I could get some pictures of Avery with Santa Claus. She isn't really into it yet...and wondered why I was putting her on this strange man's lap. She wouldn't look away from him for the longest:

But eventually she acknowledged that I was calling her name, and looked at me for help!

Then relaxed just long enough for me to get this picture:

Then we called it quits and said "bye, bye" to Santa Claus.

We hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!