Our Christmas Adventure

Brian, Carson and I left the house on Christmas Eve at 11 am excited to see Mama & Papa in Florida and eagerly awaiting our Christmas Eve traditions. Unbeknownst to us, we had no idea the adventure we were in for....

Our flight was to leave at 1:15. Once 1:15 had come and gone, we were told we were waiting on the flight attendants that were trying to get out of Dallas. Apparently the snow storm that the Midwest was anxiously awaiting dipped into Texas and the planes were icing up and the wind was blowing 40 mph +. As we waited and waited we watched the departure time on the board continue to slip and slip & it was finally time to board at around 4pm. After everyone was comfortably seated, the pilot announced that there was a maintenance issue (lovely) and we all needed to deplane. Finally, around 5pm we boarded again and we were on our way to Dallas, a 40 min flight. 2.5 hours later, we finally landed in Dallas after circling the airport for almost 2 hours!!! The airport was down to 1 runway due to the snow and wind (lovely). We rushed down the jetway hoping that we would reach the gate for our connecting flight (that we changed while still in Austin due to the delays). We soon realized that all the remaining flights out of Dallas had been cancelled and our Christmas Eve was to be spent in a hotel airport. Fortunately we were able to get one of the last rooms as the hotel airport. After our Christmas Eve dinner at the Fridays in Concourse C, we went to our rooms (without our luggage) and awoke the next morning to find many families sleeping in the airport on cots. It just broke our hearts! All of the airport shuttles were suspended due to the weather and the airport hotel was booked. Embarking on day 2 of our travels in the same clothes we wore the day before didn't seem quite so bad after that. Finally, we made it on a flight into Atlanta and then into Gainesville. 26 hours after our adventure began, we were finally with our family! We spent a wonderful Christmas evening with our family and of course, without our luggage. 29 hours after landing in Gainesville, we had our luggage...a small Christmas miracle.

It was certainly a Christmas to remember. Although troublesome, we were together and Carson was an absolute saint. We considered ourselves lucky!

Christmas with Mamaw

Mamaw joined us in Austin the week before Christmas and Carson couldn't have been happier!!

The week was filled with lots of hugs...

....and kisses!!!

Thanks for making the trip from Lubbock in the coooold Mamaw! We loved having you hear to celebrate Christmas with you!!

Gingerbread House Fun with the Topolski's

Sarah & Jon Topolski invited us over for a wonderful evening filled with great food, fellowship and gingerbread house making fun!!!

Carson loved it! He was very serious about his gingerbread house.

I am thinking he may have been more serious about the frosting than the house itself!

Thanks Sarah & Jon for a great evening and Carson's first gingerbread house experience!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

May the holiday season fill your home with joy, your hearts with love and your life with laughter.

With love,

The Schmitt Family

What a year 2009 has been!

I thought it would be fun to post the last couple of years' Christmas cards. Oh how the times have changed.

Hello again...

After 3 months....I am back! At least for now. I love the idea of blogging...if only there were a few more hours in the day (or I didn't require as much sleep as I do). At least for now, blogging is WAY down at the bottom of my to-do list.

What has been at the top of my to-do list lately? Well, we sold our house...check!

We packed up and moved...check!

My sister got married...check!

We traveled here and there ...check!

Got our Christmas shopping done...check!

And a whole lot of life in the middle. For those of you with a little more time on your hands...or a wonderful ability to multitask or procrastinate, hope you enjoy the last few months of what the Schmitt Family has been up to (see the posts below).

UPDATE: I forgot to mention (Mama & Mamaw), this is just a small selection of the photos, as usual. For more photos, check out The Schmitt Family Photo album.

Weekend fun

We try to get out and about as a family as much as we can on the weekends. Recently we took a walk on a nearby trail. Carson enjoyed much of it from atop his Daddy's shoulders.

When we got home, Carson started on his chores (wink).

I just had to include this one... Poor Luke. One of these days he will learn the benefits of having a younger brother. Until then, this is how it is.

Uncle Philip recently came for a visit. Although short, there was plenty of time for some batting practice!!!

Texas Coast Trip

The Gordon Family invited us to join them in a trip to Port Aransas on the Texas coast. We had a fantastic time! And between Amanda and I...it was WELL documented :-)

What's a trip with friends without a bath tub picture?!?!

Daddy and Carson playing in the surf. Waaaay to cold for Mommy, but the boys seem to enjoy it!

Of course...we had to take time for some photo opps!

These are two of my favorites from the trip.

I just love his expressions!!!

Say cheese Mommy!!!

Bye, bye beach.

Brian gave the kiddos a little ride...that was fun!

A little Carson/Daddy time.

"I am gonna get you!!!"

"Here I come Mommy!!!"

McConnell Wedding & Halloween

We traveled to Florida for Tammy & Shaine's wedding on October 30th. It was a beautiful event! The wedding was at the St. Augustine Lighthouse and the reception at a beautiful banquet facility on the water. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post (gasp) from the wedding. Brian and I were WAY too busy keeping up with our 'lil one and enjoying the festivities. As soon as we have a link to the photographer's website, we will share!

Here is one of us at the rehearsal dinner.

Oh, I did snap a few shots as we were setting up the ceremony site at the lighthouse. This is Carson's older cousin Alex giving him some lovin.

Alex, Cassie, and Carson...too cute!!!

This was a great trip! Not only did we get to share in Tammy & Shaine's special day...Carson was able to celebrate Halloween with his cousins!!! We had a great time trick-or-treating with our family!!!

Carson was the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He just loves that song and so we found it very fitting that he dress up as a spider for Halloween. I just loved this costume I found at Pottery Barn Kids!

Daddy wasn't too keen on the stockings I got to go with his costume...I thought they looked great!

Carson enjoyed playing in the leaves in Mama & Papa's front yard. I have very fond memories doing the same when I was young. My Dad would always rake up a big pile for us girls and we would jump in and play for hours in the leaves.

One last farewell to Aunt Mimi and Uncle Shaine before the left for their Caribbean Honeymoon Cruise.