Christmas Break

Sadly, Christmas break is over today, but it has been wonderful. December started out with lots of Christmas parties (including our first party at our new house), a trip to the Christmas festival with Leslie’s mom and grandmother, and finals for me. 

At the Christmas Fest

 We had so much fun decorating for Christmas now that we have a house of our own!  

 Linus was still with my parents when we put our Christmas tree up, and he was quite fascinated with it when he got home. Unfortunately, the tree didn't look quite so nice by the time we took it down, thanks to him.

 This year we went to visit Leslie’s family in Alabama for Christmas. It was hard to be away from my parents during Christmas for the first time, but we were able to have dinner with them in Birmingham one night and visit with my grandmother. Leslie and I had fun making gifts for his family gift exchange, and were excited to unexpectedly get to see both sides of his family. We really enjoyed spending time in Tuscaloosa, getting to go to places we don’t have in Natchitoches, and catching up with some great friends!

Christmas present crafting

 Linus made the trip to Alabama with us and did really well in the car! He and their dog, Belle, didn’t get along too well, but we like to think they were just trying to play J. Linus had a great time sitting on top of the TV and batting at the football players with his paw while everyone was trying to watch playoff games. He was quite the entertainer.

One day was really cold and rainy, so Leslie and I decided to stay in Reform until time for dinner. We headed out to grab a quick lunch in town and I heard a kitten crying. There are cats all over the place, so it wasn’t totally unusual, but this kitten did not sound happy at all. I looked around the garage and couldn’t find who was crying, so I got in the car. When Leslie went around to his side of the car he found the poor kitty stuck in my wheel. It took us quite a while to figure out how to get him unstuck. He was freezing, so we brought him inside with us to warm up. Poor little guy was so cold he couldn’t even walk! After a few hours he was all warmed up, had a bit to eat, and was ready to get away from us! He was not a big fan of people. We went to take him to a warm spot in the garage, but he ran back out into the rain. Thankfully, we saw him later on so we knew he was okay!

 On our last night in Alabama Katie called to tell me she was engaged! We were both super excited for her, and when we found out that she was going to be in Texas for a few more days we decided to make a surprise visit for New Years. We had a great time catching up, playing games, and of course wedding planning!

 After taking a few days to rest after we got home I decided it was time for a project. I had already taken the border in the bathroom down (using dish soap and hot water- yes, it works!) before we left for Alabama, so it was time to paint! Leslie helped me pick a color and tape and I decided to go ahead and paint while he was at work the next day!

Bye bye mauve walls!

 So much better!

Hope everyone had as nice of a break as we did!