Vacations 2 and 3 - and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc.

With all the excitement going on, I'm very behind on blogging. So here's a quick recap and a few fun pictures.

Vacation #2 this Fall was a trip to Manhattan for Thanksgiving and to meet our 4-month-old niece! She's gorgeous, and despite screaming like an opera singer when we first met her (it was past her bedtime) she seemed to like us. She especially liked Uncle Danny and he learned how to "do the swoop" like her daddy does to calm her down. We miss her like crazy! Michael and Betsy don't want pictures of the baby online, but here's one of her adorable chubby hand in Danny's.


We had gorgeous weather, which made for great shots of the shimmery skyline. Tuesday night we went downtown to see the Christmas windows, meet Danny's cousin for dinner, and see the broadway show "In the Heights." "In the Heights" is about Washington Heights, the neighborhood on the north tip of Manhattan where Michael and Betsy live and are very active (and very well-known!). It's a largely Dominican neighborhood, so the musical had a fun Latin music feel to it. We loved it.




Vacation #3 was a Hall family trip to Texas for Grace's graduation from ACU and a Dallas Cowboys game. We had a great time cheering for Grace and my Boys. Grace is returning to ACU to do a Masters degree, so we spent a lot of time fixing up her new home. We also spent a lot of time eating incredible food! I got to catch up with close college friends I hadn't seen in years, and we spent time with my Dad's aunt and uncle and cousin and their family. It was a fantastic vacation with my family, and we got to see the last Cowboys victory of the season (boo on the rest of the season, you heartbreakers!).




In other family news, my youngest sister Trisha is engaged and getting married on August 15. We're all happy for her and I'm having fun planning a wedding where I don't have to make all the decisions! Our family had a fun Christmas together, including cutting down the biggest Christmas tree in Hall family history. It was literally 13 feet tall and we could barely see the angel from the bottom. Of course, it didn't look that big out in the woods! It was ridiculous, but a lot of fun and it looked great!

For Danny and me, our tree was a "small" 6 feet, but it was a lot easier to put up and decorate. We opened the storage boxes to find the treetop angel broken (it was ugly anyway) so we improvised with a golf club cover. I think Rowdy looks great up there, and there is a star on his hat, so it kinda fits.


Danny and I had a lot of fun with teens over the break, but we also enjoyed a break from the usual routine. I've been off work for a week and a half, and both work and the new Fuller quarter start tomorrow, so it's back to the grindstone. After 4 breaks in 4 months, I'm ready to take it on! (Check back in a month or so to see if I'm swamped in Church History reading and missing my magazines.)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our friends out there, all two of you who probably read this, haha!