Holiday Family Pics

Thanks again to my wonderful cousin, Julianne, for taking our family pictures. She is totally available for hire so check out her photo blog at juliannewinzenzphotography.blogspot.com. Here are some of our favorites!

Santa Came!

We woke up to find the wonderful presents that Santa had left for the girls in Houston!

Julesy with her Minnie she had gotten the night before from Nana and Tata

Julesy and Nana

Julesy getting her Christmas jammies (she was too tired to open them and put them on the night before)

Ellie and her Toy Story 3 Legos from Santa

Santa brought Lotso, too...even though Mommy and Daddy think he's evil

The girls got new matching argyle sweater dresses and bows from Santa

Ellie playing with her Legos

Ellie and Mommy

Christmas hats!

We decided to drive back to Plano that day to avoid the heavy traffic back to Dallas that usually follows a holiday and imagine our wonderful surprise when we found that Santa had left stockings and presents for us at our house, too. I think Ellie thinks Santa is pretty cool now.

Julesy on her rocking snail

Ellie got a Jessie doll from Santa

She LOVES this thing!

Juliette and her stocking stuffers

Ellie, Daddy, and her stocking stuffers

From our family to yours, we hope you had a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We traveled down to Houston to spend Christmas with Rich's family. We had a wonderful time seeing Nana and Tata, Great Grandma and Grandpa Vo, and all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins. In their tradition, we have the big family dinner and open all the family presents on Christmas Eve before Santa comes Christmas morning. Here are some of our pics of the festivities.

Ellie and Nana the day before Christmas Eve

The girls scoping out their presents under the tree


The girls having fun with their cousin George

The girls opening their kitchen from Nana and Tata

Julesy with the Pillow Pets from Aunt Maria, Uncle Loc, and George

Julesy loved her Whack-a-Ball toy from Nana


Some more of the presents...
A cute dress and leggings for Julesy and a Fisher-Price iXL handheld game and learning system with Princess and Toy Story 3 Games for Ellie (she LOVES it!) from Uncle Phillip and Aunt Linda
Hand-crocheted hats from Christine and Tata
Zhu-zhu pets with beds and blankets from Aunt Maria, Uncle Loc, and George

Ellie loves stacking her Legos from Aunt Maria, Uncle Loc, and George

Santa's elves brought Ellie and Julesy Christmas jammies

The first day of WINTER?

It was December 21, 2010...the first day of Winter.

And it was 85 degrees outside! ...a record-breaking high for the DFW area.

I actually had to go digging through boxes of already-packed-away summer clothes to find sandals and weather-appropriate clothes for the girls. We decided to go to the Galleria to shop and watch the ice skaters.

Christmas Dresses, 2010

By the time church is over, Juliette is usually more-than-ready for her nap and Ellie is hungry and tired but not-going-to-take-a-nap. They didn't really want to cooperate with taking pictures in their dresses...so here are the few pics that I got.

Julesy in the nursery

Christmas Carousel at Bass Pro

Since Rich has taken up bass fishing as a hobby, we find ourselves at Bass Pro a lot. Every year, the store is transformed into Santa's Wonderland with Santa and real (stuffed) reindeer, crafts for the kids, and a carousel. Here are a few cute pics we took on our visit.