Texas Andersons

We just had a wonderful Christmas weekend. First we spent Christmas Eve in Orange Grove with my grandparents. And in all the mix of the food, gifts, and visiting- it snowed!!! How glorious to have a white Christmas in South Texas!!! Then we celebrated Christmas Day here at our home with our parents and Jenny. Nathan cooked us a fabulous lunch, Ben opened all his presents and we all got to visit, and then we had a cook-out for dinner. Then today, Nathan’s great-aunt and uncle had us all over for breakfast and then we headed to his grandparents’ for lunch. So many good meals.

We hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season; we hope you have had a joyous year; we wish you all many blessings in the coming year. Merry Christmas!

In the couple of months since my last article, we have been incredibly busy. We have made several trips to the zoo’s new tiny tot nature spot; we made it to the circus; we trick-or-treated on Halloween (with Ben dressed as a fireman); we made a trip to Orange Grove to visit my family; we spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Ft. Worth with Nathan’s parents and sister; we attended most of the Hill Country Christmas events; we celebrated Mary’s first birthday with her; and we joined the gymnastics center and are attending classes. All this on top of the normal errands, storytime at the library, and music class at First Methodist– whew!

Nathan has been running at a fast pace lately. With his department’s huge project deadline quickly approaching, the stress is building and late-night shifts may be on the horizon. And in the middle of all this was the move to the new building. For now he is grinning and bearing the pressure with his nose to the grindstone while enjoying the much shorter commute to work.

As for me, I’ve been successfully building up my business. After doing dozens of photos shoots, taking lots of print orders, joining a few prestigious organizations, and doing lots of advertising, I have found the photography world to be tremendously rewarding. I have also spent some time finding my way back to my faith. After looking back at all the successes and blessings this year has brought our family, how could I not? God has been so good!

And like usual, Ben has been amazing. He is such an explorer; he is so bright; he is such a sweet little boy. He is our true joy, with the little things he does every day. From giving us tight bear hugs and sloppy kisses to making us read his favorite book five times a day; from making me push him in the swing for an hour to helping me make breakfast; from learning a new sentence to counting to ten- wow, he is amazing!