Christmas Day 2009

After waking up on Christmas Day to more snow, we all went downstairs to...

...check out what was in our stockings.

From there it was time to open some presents from Mom and Dad. It didn't take Mallory long to start using her new art easel.

Then we went over to Nani and Poppa's house where there was a surprise visit from Santa Claus. Mallory liked him from afar, but didn't want to get too close without Mom being close by.

Mallory's got a new kitchen set from her Aunt Jill and Aunt Bobo.

And although I think this new set of golf clubs was for Mallory, Dad was definitely more excited about it than she was.

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve of '09 started innocently enough...

With about a foot and a half of snow. Mallory is surveying the driveway that is only about 1/3 of the way shoveled.

Eventually we made it to church, and then back home for dinner and presents with Nama and Papa. Of course, Samson wanted to get in on the present opening.

Papa is helping Mallory open up her new doll, which she has oddly enough named "Baby".

The big surprise was that Mallory got her own Radio Flyer Wagon. While she wasn't too keen on it at first, we have gotten quite the use out of it this summer.

Macy's 8th Floor

In what is sure to become a holiday tradition, Steve took off early from work on a Friday in December and met the girls downtown. On the agenda was to check out the Christmas display on the 8th Floor of Macy's, followed by the Hollidazzle Parade.

Mom and Mallory waiting patiently in line.

This year's theme was Santa's Workshop.

Lots of bright lights and moving parts to keep Mallory interested.

At the end of the display, Mallory got to write her very own letter to Santa...

...and put it in the mail straight for the North Pole.

Texas Trip Part III

The last stop on our Texas two-step was a trip on the Polar Express.

Before the train ride, Mallory and Mom took some time out to do some arts and crafts.

All aboard!!!

Steve was "volunteered" by his sister-in-law to go up in front of the crowd and take part in a "Daddy Dance Off". As anyone who has gone to a wedding with him can attest, he did not win.

With the cold temperatures, they really didn't need to make their own snow. I think Mother Nature took care of that on her own.

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.