These two night owls stayed up with the adults until they were acting like two little crazies.
We're glad we had a chance to see you Kaci! Stay warm in Ithaca! 
SUNBEAMP!
While there I decided to take Li'l Robby on his first big roller coaster, the Boardwalk Bullet (well, it wasn't that big, but it was wild). We were both pretty excited. I wish I had a picture of Robby's eyes lighting up as he saw it race around us while we waited in line. Well, all that excitement became regret when we were riding it. As with any wooden roller coaster that I have ridden or heard about, it was very rickety. We were shaken around until our heads and backs hurt. Talk about whiplash! Let's just say, I don't recommend this one to anyone, unless they are good friends with a chiropractor!
For the rest of the evening, Li'l Robby and I were glad to enjoy the more tamer rides like the carousel along with the younger ones.
we all also enjoyed this train ride. I did my best to get all the kids looking my direction, but Savannah kept looking forward because she was worried the train would take off without me since I was standing beside it.The hardest part was not letting the secret slip over the next couple months. Everytime we would talk to Robby's mom, I would think about saying something related to the trip and luckily I would remember to shut my mouth before I spilled the beans.
Wendy was great! She managed to get Mom to plan a feast and FHE for everyone in TX that coinsided with the night we planned to arrive. We ended up getting to TX a day early so Wendy kept us the first night, and our families played the next day while we waited for the family get-together that evening. As you can see below the kids had a great time together...
We even went to Chuck E. Cheese's that day...
(I'm not sure how I feel about Jenna having a driver's license even if it won't be for another 12+ years!)
Back to the story... that night Wendy and her family drove a different route over to Mom and Dad's house and ended up arriving there a little before us. When we got there we walked up to the door and Forrest (Robby's brother - who Robby leaked the plan to a couple days previous) opened then door and announced, "It's a Christmas miracle!"
Everyone was shocked! I loved Mom's face! Her jaw dropped and she stood there stunned, and then Abbie walked into the room and she stood there with with a look of complete astonishment! We couldn't help but smile and laugh. It was great! I didn't catch Logan's first impression (but I know he was surprised), and Dad was sitting on the couch just out of view initially. He was talking to Andra and Summer on the phone and when he told them that we had just showed up they started giggling (or so I was told.) Fun, fun, fun!
The week we had there was a blast! It was also warmer than we had expected. (You would think that I would have known to pack short sleeve shirts for December in TX!) While there the cousins got plenty of play time and we just enjoyed being with family. Here are some highlights...
The Nutcracker
Early in the week Jenna and I went on a joint Mommy-Daughter date with Wendy and Molly to see Texas Ballet Theater's Nutcracker.
It was fun seeing these two excited to watch the ballet.
Thanks for a fun evening, Wendy and Molly. Let's do it again some year!
My other big surprise was that I (with funding help from all of our parents) secretly got Robby the banjo that he had been bugging me and bugging me for months about. I drove an hour and a half to pick it up in October, and I had a friend of mine hide it at her house until we got back from Christmas. Robby didn't really think that I would actually get it because he kept asking and I would tell him to forget it because I had heard enough about this "dumb banjo!" Boy was he surprised!
I had planned on doing at least one more catch-up post, but I got caught up in reading everyone else's blogs since I haven't looked at them in almost a month! I know, where have I been? Before I go to bed, I wanted to post this video clip from yesterday.
Little Robby had a piano recital yesterday. We were in a rush on the way out the door, so we didn't double check the camera to make sure that it had plenty of batteries and memory on the card. Well, the batteries weren't the problem, but the memory was. The card filled up right after his first song! At the end of the recital, we persuaded him (or rather bribed him) to play his songs one last time after everyone had gone. So this is a reenactment, but I will say that his performance was at least this good, if not better. Hope you enjoy!
We played together...
we read scripture together (of course we always do that, but Olivia was pretty cute in this pic)...
Jenna "licked the snow"...
we made a ginger bread house and then visited a life sized one at Purdue...
and I got a cut! So, am I sad about losing the length? At first I was a little sad when I looked at my pictures with long hair, but I donated the extra length to Locks of Love so... no, not really. I figure it went to a good cause. I felt like it was a Christmas present for someone. Now that it has been shorter for about a month, I would say, no I definitely do not miss it. My hair dries faster, styles faster, doesn't get pulled by Olivia, and doesn't get caught in places like the car door. It's delightful!
