JAMSquared

Wednesday, December 23rd

For Jessica’s first Christmas, we traveled to Midland. The trip was about 7.5 hours, which normally takes us about 6 hours (when we stop for lunch). We stopped in Eden for lunch and to feed Jessica. We stopped again in San Angelo so Jessica could meet her Great-Uncle Chuck. About 20 minutes from my parent’s house, we had to stop again, because Jessica didn’t want to sit in her wet diaper any longer. Except for the strong winds and rain the last hour of the trip, it went relatively smooth for Jessica’s first long car trip. After arriving and meeting her Aunt Sarah, Uncle Brian and cousins Cameron and Trevor for the first time, she went down for bed.

Thursday, December 24th

What do 8 adults, 1 toddler and 3 babies equal? A chaotic but wonderful Christmas Eve. The day was spent enjoying each other. The guys and Aspen put together a puzzle. My Dad, Sarah, Julia and I ate lunch at Taco Villa (nacho fries, yum!) and then took lunch back to the house for everyone else. Some naps were taken and not just by babies.

Everyone except my Dad, James, Jessica and I went to the children’s service at St. Ann’s. We then ate dinner and my Dad left for choir practice before the 8 o’clock and midnight masses. Normally, we would have opened all the gifts together Christmas Eve, but with my Dad in the choir, the little ones going to bed and an over-abundance of gifts under the tree,  the adults opened most of their presents and some of the babies’ presents after dinner. My Mom and I then went to midnight mass (held at 11 o’clock with 30 minutes of music beforehand) to watch my Dad sing in the choir. James was going to go with us, but since Jessica had been fussy being put to bed, we didn’t want anyone to have to get up to soothe her should she wake up. Of course, she didn’t wake up.

Friday, December 25th

The morning started out with all the babies in the matching sleepers my sister got for them. Jessica (10 weeks old), Aspen (4.5 months old), and Trevor (7 weeks old) looked so cute. Cameron (21 months old) had to of course join Papa and the babies for some photos.

We also took a number of photos with just the 2009 cousins. It is quite difficult to get 3 babies to smile at the camera. I think Aspen wanted more room.

Jessica got some great presents: clothes, books and toys. Daddy opened most of them for her as Mommy was busy photographing the opening of gifts.

Even though she didn’t technically open any of her presents herself, she decided that opening presents was tiring and decided a nap in Papa’s arm was in order. See that little headband with the red bow? That goes with the cutest little sailor outfit she received and will be wearing this summer.

After getting Jessica dressed in her Christmas outfit, we went over to James’ parents’ house to have lunch and open gifts. Jessica got to meet her great-grandparents and Aunt Tami for the first time.

Saturday, December 26th

After breakfast, Cameron convinced his Uncle James to take him for a walk in the new wagon Santa brought him. Of course, it didn’t take much convincing since it was James’ idea. His wagon is pretty deluxe. It seats two with cupholders for each and one of the seats opens up to hide some toys.

After lunch, Sarah and her family left to return home. Jason, Julia and Aspen had left before James, Jessica and I woke up. They are early risers. I’m so thankful that Jessica is not an early riser. Of course, it helps that we put her to bed 1-1.5 hours after Aspen goes to bed allowing her to sleep 1-1.5 hours later.

Sunday, December 27th

We went to church with my Mom (Dad left early to sing in the choir). After lunch, I went with my parents to visit my grandmother, who is in the later stage Alzheimer’s unit at Manor Park. I’m so glad my Grandma has such a nice place to live. After that, we went to visit at James’ parents’ house.

Monday, December 28th

After breakfast we hit the road. Jessica did fabulously in the car.

You might remember this post here about the trip to Ruidoso with James’ parents and our nephew Dawson. Well, for Christmas this year, I made a scrapblog of the trip and ordered one hardbound book for James’ parents. I was quite happy with how it turned out.

You might remember this post here about the 2009 Dzubinski family trip. Well, for Christmas this year, I made a scrapblog of our family trip and ordered one hardbound book each for my parents, my sister and her family, and my brother and his family. I was quite happy with how they turned out.

Last weekend was a long weekend for James and I. We traveled to Ruidoso, New Mexico with James’ parents and nephew Dawson. Initially, his sister Tami was supposed to go with us also, but she couldn’t get off work. The trip was a lot of fun.

Friday, June 5, 2009

We left Midland about 9:45 AM for the 6-hour drive to Ruidoso. Our first stop once we arrived was the Billy the Kid Scenic National Scenic Byway Visitors Center.

We stayed at the River’s Edge Cabin. It was a really nice cabin, although the river out back was disappointing since the embankment was under construction. The cabin had games and we played an hour long game of Uno after arriving. I eventually won. Dinner was at Cafe Rio, which had excellent hand-tossed pizza. We then went to Pillow’s Funtrackers, where we played a round of miniature golf.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

We lucked out. Saturday was one of two free fishing days a year. So we dropped off Joe and Dawson at Grindstone Lake to go fishing. They had a raffle for the kids and Dawson got a New Mexico button-type pin and a goody bag filled with things like pencils and a Smoky the Bear ruler. While they fished, the rest of us went shopping in mid-town. Lunch was at Lincoln County Grill and it was quite tasty. After some relaxing at the cabin, we drove up to Monjeau Lookout. We climbed the many steps to the top of the solid rock tower built by the CCC in the late 1930s. Today it is used as fire station lookout. At 10,356 ft., the view from the top was spectacular. You could definitely tell you were at a higher elevation since it was 5-10° cooler and quite breezy at the top compared to down in Ruidoso.

After driving down the steep, mostly dirt road from the lookout, we went to the Flying J Ranch for their chuckwagon supper and western stage show. They had pony rides and gold panning for the kids. Dawson found 5 tiny pieces of fool’s gold. There was a gunfight between the “sheriff” and the two “outlaws” in the street of the “western village” before we went into the theater/dining hall to find our seats at table C6. After the dinner bell was rang by a little girl named Kate, we were directed table by table to the serving line. Dinner consisted of chicken or beef, beans, a foil-wrapped baked potato, chunky applesauce, a biscuit, and a piece of spice cake. After everyone finished eating, the Flying J Wranglers put on a show that consisted of  western singing and some comedy and was very entertaining.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

After spending the majority of the morning relaxing at the cabin, we went to Kidz Konnection, an awesome playground where James had as much fun as Dawson.

We then had lunch at Casa Blanca Restaurant. They served tasty Mexican food and had excellent service. Afterward, we dropped Dawson and Joe off at the cabin since Dawson didn’t want to go to the horse races and it was very windy. The rest of us then went to Ruidoso Downs, the first time I’ve been to a race track. The first race we watched was the 6th of the day. James picked #4 Eyejesslovelouisiana, Olivia picked #5 Jess a Candy Gal and I picked #10 Jess Sippin. If we had actually bet, Olivia would have been richer as #5 won. We also watched the 7th race, a Thoroughbred race before heading to the Racehorse Hall of Fame on the second level of the grandstand. We then caught the 8th race from the second level of the grandstand.

We cooked Salmon Macaroni Bake at the cabin for dinner, followered by viewing Kung Fu Panda before going to bed.

Monday, June 8, 2009

We left the cool cabin getaway by 8:30 AM New Mexico time and arrived back in Midland at 3:30 PM. James and I had initially planned to continue back to Austin, but ended up spending the night and getting back to Austin on Tuesday.

For my in-laws, I decided to do a combination Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift. I made a scrapblog of the trip we took in September 2007 together. We went to Nashville, Tennessee for Barrett and Rachel’s wedding and did some sight-seeing while we were there. We’re giving a hardbound book of it to them this weekend when we see them.