Christmas season

**Please ignore my blog layout up there. I'm trying to fix it but to tired to work anymore on it :)**

Growing up I knew we would be spending Thanksgiving in Houston (mom's family) and Christmas was spent every other year Denver (dad's family) & Houston. Without asking, we just did it. I wonder if my parents decided this before they were married?

When Teddy and I were engaged we were encouraged to discuss these expectations early on. While we did discuss it, we did not come to any conclusion. Most of it was going to depend on $$, from what we thought. And our first holiday season we had to spend Thanksgiving in Lubbock due to Teddy's job. He actually worked on Thanksgiving and we had dinner with my sister/brother-in-law & my parents drove in from Keller. Christmas we were able to celebrate with my parents in Lubbock, drive to Wichita Falls to be with Teddy's mom and his Dad/step-mom/sisters drove in for one dinner to Wichita Falls. So we were able to see all 3 families for Christmas. It was great!

Christmas in Wichita Falls

Christmas with my family in Lubbock

This year we were in a completely different spot in our life. We have transitioned to a different job and traveling a lot currently. Our holiday season this year was dependent on our work schedule yet again. We needed to spend some time in Houston raising support so we decided that Houston was where we were headed for Thanksgiving. It worked great because my parents were headed there too. We truly had the best time in Houston with my family!

Colton's first Christmas

Christmas we pretty much played by ear according to our support schedule. We ended up having Christmas with my parents/sister/bro-in-law in Lubbock on the 19th. Then we headed to Wichita Falls on the 22nd to spend two days there with Teddy's mom/stepdad/siblings/nana..etc. We really enjoyed our time staying with Teddy's Nana. She made us breakfast both mornings and we just sat and talked about her growing up in the depression. She had amazing stories. She likes to talk about Jesus too, so that is always fun! I can officially say that I have met all of Teddy's siblings now. :) I met Matt & Jackie, his step-siblings this trip.

One of 5 dogs at Teddy's dads house

After doing Xmas dinner there in WF we headed to Krum, Tx (5 mins North of Denton) for Christmas Eve/Day and few days after with Teddy's Dad/step-mom/sisters. We had late nights talking. We enjoyed seeing what Santa brought us Christmas morning. We spent a lot of time just relaxing next to the fire. We enjoyed being with Teddy's half sisters. We even got to see We Bought a Zoo. I really enjoyed the movie!

I really thought this Christmas was going to be "awkward" because we couldn't buy any gifts. But, I truly felt at ease at all 3 of our Christmases. We really do enjoy giving, so it's hard for us not to. We feel blessed that our family would still give to us even though we can offer nothing but love. :) 

So yea, we have no traditions quite yet as far as where we will head when. Luckily, we are both pretty flexible and willing to work together to see family. Next year, when we have our normal work schedule we will have the entire week off for Thanksgiving and Christmas we will be off around the 15th-31st. This is one of the perks of our job. I'm looking forward to planning, instead of last minute get aways for the holidays.

I'm also looking forward to having our own babies sooner than later. This will bring in an entire new twist as we develop our OWN traditions for our family. :) I've seen so many fun things families do with kiddos around the holidays. I'm just tucking them away in my head for the future.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
-Kelli