Texas Trip Part II

After the Maday's got sick of us, we moved on down the road to stay with Jamie's sister Jill and her husband Erik, who moved down to Texas earlier in the summer.


With slightly warmer temperatures, we decided to head down to a Fort Worth staple, the Stockyards. Despite having a broken rib, Steve was able to tough it out. The fact that he could walk around with an open container of Shiner Bock certainly helped.

As seen on the Held's 2009 Christmas card...

The highlight of the afternoon is the cattle drive. This guy was Jamie's dinner that evening.

It was difficult to get Mallory to pose for a photo with all the cows around; she wouldn't take her eyes off them.

Texas Trip Part I

With two sets of relatives now living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we had no excuse not to make a trip. And being early December, what a better time to escape the cold Minnesota winter. Or so we thought.

The first two nights we stayed with Steve's cousin Brett and his wife Kari, and Steve's Godson Ethan. Mallory (and Mom) got a kick out of all the new toys that Ethan shared with the gang.

Ethan's firetruck quickly turned into a clown car. People just kept coming and coming...

It was on to the annual Grapevine Christmas Parade (think Hollidazzle). Unfortunately we got more than we bargained for with temperatures in the 30s, so Mallory had to borrow Ethan's old snowsuit. Somehow she kept her hands warm enough to eat that cookie.

Stocking hats and hot chocolate, not exactly what Steve had in mind for Texas in December.

We're Back

Sorry for the delay in posting new pictures. We took a bit of a hiatus to get Jamie's business up and running. We will try to get back into a more regular rhythm here now.

Holiday Helper

Mallory really got into the holiday spirit this year, helping us decorate the house for Christmas.

Her favorite decoration was this sled, so much so that we had to hide it after a few days so she wouldn't break it.

The Christmas-themed oven mitts were a big hit too.

Thanksgiving Bonfire

The Helds were nominated to host the first big holiday in their new house. Steve took the opportunity to start a post-dinner Thanksgiving bonfire tradition.

While UB helped Steve get the fire roaring and blazing in a matter of minutes,

Mallory hung out with Papa, and

Nani.

Eventually she made it to her own chair, where she waited patiently for her s'mores.

First Haircut

Earlier this fall, Jamie decided that Mallory's hair had gotten too "mullet-ish", so we needed to give her her first haircut.

What started out as a three person job (holder, cutter, cameraman)...

...soon became a four person job (holder, cutter, supervisor, cameraman).

But I think everyone was happy with the end result.

Sammers and Me

It is quite clear that Samson is Mallory's best friend in the whole house. One of her favorite activities is to climb up on his chair while he is sleeping and...

...give him hugs,

or pets,

or kisses,

or just be silly with him.