Christmas Vacation

We enjoyed a glorious two weeks off school, and although we didn't go anywhere for long, we all enjoyed sleeping in and relaxing a bit.  Bryan had to work several days during our vacation, but he also had enough time off that he could enjoy a break as well.  We also put our visitors to work, by having Bryan's dad and grandpa work on a few home repair projects for us.  I actually have to report that these pictures of the men working were taken on Christmas day!  Who works on home repair on Christmas day??  Carlsons do!!  :)  We were very thankful for their help.  A couple of days after Christmas we all hit the road for a road trip to Jani's house in Jacksonville, TX.  It was an easy 5 hour drive, and we had a great time seeing Jani's house and farm, and spending time with Mya and Sydney.  Vicki took us to an indoor water park one day while we were up there, and the kids had a great time.  The boys enjoyed breaking every rule in the place, and came home bruised and sore from their antics.  But they had fun!  Ella and Ruby had fun with Mya and Sydney (and Chloe the chihuahua!) and they had two sleepovers together.  Mya was so excited that first night in the hotel, that she was up at 2am getting dressed in her swimsuit and making bracelets!  She was quite exhausted the next day.  We arrived back home in time for New Year's Eve, and we spent the evening and New Year's Day at the Lakehouse.  We dined on shrimp and dips and lots of other tasty treats, and we shot off some fireworks out in the road.  The kids loved that, since we don't get to do it very often for the 4th of July (there's usually a burn ban!).  The boys and I planned to stay up until midnight, but Tyler fell asleep on the couch at 10pm.  So with sleepers in every room of the house, Spencer and I had no choice but to call it a night.  The girls and I spent a lot of time making new designs of bracelets the next day, and we just enjoyed the last couple of days with all the grandparents.  After saying goodbye to Bruce and Vicki, and Grandma and Grandpa Carlson, the girls and I had one more event to look forward to - Disney Live!  We got all dressed up and enjoyed a really fun afternoon at the show.  We were right on the front row, and the girls loved seeing Cinderella, Snow White, and Belle right up close.  It was a perfect way to end a great couple of weeks.  Now...back to school.  Sigh!!