More with the Christmas Recap: Texas

On Christmas day we flew to Texas to spend some time with Elizabeth's family. We kicked off the 26th with gift opening and dinner at Robert's house, then went on a Christmas Train ride through the bayou in Jefferson. It was sort of crazy riding a train through the dark so near all the water. In some places the water was right up against the tracks. But it was pretty to see the lights reflected among the trees in the water, even if it was hard to get pictures of them.

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

This is Eliana's new kitty. Her name is Black and White Kitty, and she replaces Little Kitty. She was unable to go anywhere without Little Kitty for several months, even after the stuffing was all out of her middle and her tail had been pulled off! I wasn't sure how she'd react to a new kitty, but as you can see, she loves it! In fact, the next day she threw Little Kitty on the floor and said, "I don't like THAT kitty any more!" and proceeded to snuggle with Black and White Kitty. We have a new favorite!

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

This is Eliana's reaction to anything sparkly. She LOVES shiny things! In this case it is a set of shirts with sparkly designs on them. =D

Eliana's first real experience with Santa Claus happened on our trip to Texas, as we were loading into the train. We have taught her that Santa is not real, so her reaction was priceless...

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

"Mommy? Who IS this crazy man dressed up like Santa Claus??"

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

"Okay, I'll try to look natural for the picture.... I won't relax my fist, though!"

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

"Alright... I'll give you as much of a smile as I can muster, but I still don't trust this guy!"

The train ride itself was much better!

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

We managed to sneak in a few family pictures before the week was over, too!

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

From Christmas in Texas with Bitikofers

And with that I say, "Merry Christmas" and call our updates done! =D

Little Fairy Princess

We have a 3 year old girl. That means that sometimes our home is inhabited by a little fairy princess. Such was the case this week and we got pictures of the flittery little creature!

And what is a princess without kissing a frog?

Every time Eliana kissed the frog my mom would push the button that made the frog giggle. It was really cute! It had Eliana laughing so hard!

Here's one last look at our sweet little fairy princess...

The Carousel Ride

Our big excursion during the reunion was a trip to go see my mom's best friend Wendy, who now lives about an hour away from Hesston. I haven't seen Wendy since New Jersey (about 12 years ago?), so it was really fun to see her. She planned a great outing for us, including a trip to ride a 108-year old carousel in Abilene. It was built by C.W. Parker, who was apparently known for his amusement rides. The carousel has horses that rock back and forth, and the carousel turns on a track, like a circular railroad. It runs on its original steam engine and has a cool Wurlitzer organ that plays the music. Ellie liked that a lot. =D She didn't actually ride a horse on our ride, but she rode in one of the sleds with Mommom and had a great time. Wendy and I rode the horses, and there were just the four of us on the ride. Here's a look:

Family Reunion

While we were down south with my family, we headed up to Kansas for the Bitikofer Family Reunion. They happen every 3 years and I missed the last one because this little sweet pea was only 2 weeks old. This year, though, we went and Ellie got to meet everyone and spend a little more time with her great grandparents. We even got a 4 generation picture...

Ellie doesn't have any first cousins yet, but she did get to meet a couple distant cousins at the reunion. There were three 3 year old girls there this year and they had fun playing together!

Ellie also got to meet some of my favorite cousins, including Dennis. =D It was sort of fun to watch them play together, knowing that it wasn't that long ago I was the little girl vying for his attention.

Something we didn't get to participate in, but had lots of fun watching, was a giant game of Dutch Blitz. I've never seen cards so big!

We had a couple little side-trips during the reunion, so those pictures are coming, but this is a glimpse of the Reunion. The next time we go to one of these Eliana will be 6!

Longview Recap in Pictures

Here's a little glimpse of our trip to Longview:

(This plane is in the entryway of the new LeTourneau Aviation Center. Ellie thought it was so cool and kept trying to jump up and reach it.)

(These are Ellie in her box house.)

Texas in April

Wow! There's a lot of Texas in April that never made it onto the blog, either. I've been a bad blogger! And since we'll be going back to Texas in a month, I guess I should take a few moments now to share our last trip there. =D More ketchup, I suppose!

While we were in Texas, my mother demonstrated that her excellent mom skills are still as sharp as ever when she kept Ellie out of our way in the kitchen (while making Ellie thinking that the activity was all about her. =D). Here's what she did to keep Ellie busy:

My dad demonstrated his Ellie-occupying skills with a little help from the RC plane and an extra controller. Ellie thought she was flying the plane and LOVED it!

Ellie got her first moments in a real pool (I think) while we were in Texas, too. The water was chilly, so she just wanted to sit on my lap, but this is where Mommom and Ellie are going to spend 4 days straight while I am at a convention in Dallas next month! And by then it will feel like bath water...

The other place my parents are going to spend time with Eliana while I'm in Dallas is Kidsview, the community playground there in Longview. We went a couple times in April and Ellie loved it. I think it's even better than ours in Livingston... I tried to get a picture of Ellie and Mommom on the play equipment, but Ellie thought it was more fun to try to squish Mommom, and this is what I got:

Outside the park, though, there are beautiful azalea bushes, so these pictures were a little better:

Ellie also decided to be Poppy's little helper while we were there, watering the lawn and helping with the garden. I thought her choice of attire was particularly funny... no pants (where did they go, anyway?), Mommom's high heeled shoes, and Mommom's hat. Funny little helper!

There is more to the trip, but I think this is a picture-heavy enough post already. Still to come... a trip to Caldwell Zoo and our day with the Allen girls. =D