Katy's First Trip Outta Texas!

Technically, Katy has been out of Texas a handful of times. When visiting her Mimi, Coco and Pop in New Boston, Texas, we have ventured to Texarkana on occasion (which lies on the Texas/Arkansas border). So, yes, Katy has been to Arkansas to shop and eat.

But 2 weeks ago we took Katy really out of state for her first BIG road trip! Katy, along with her Mommy and Coco, made the drive to Smyrna, Tennessee to visit her Aunt Summer, Uncle JP and Cousin Jay. Smyrna is a small town just south of Nashville. It should have been a 9 hour drive from New Boston to Nashville, however snow and traffic jams extended our journey. 10 1/2 hours on the road, and we arrive at the Vinsons' house! I will admit that Katy did wonderfully in the car...all things considered.

It was great to see Summer and JP at their home base and in their own element. I had heard stories of their home, of the deck JP built, and the photography Summer has done for their house, but seeing it all in person really made me feel closer to them than ever.

Of course, Katy LOVED spending time with her cousin Jay. Although she is only 3 months older than him, she calls him a baby. She loves to (try to) feed him and help him play. She stills asks for him, even though we left his house two weeks ago. She loves to climb in my lap while I'm working on my computer and look at pictures of him and our trip. Here are some of our favorites:

"Summers" reading Katy a bed time story. Katy had several names she gave Summer: "SumSum" and "Summy" were also used quite a bit. But she had setteled into "Summers". We are not sure why Summer is a plural, but I'm sure Katy has her reasons.

Jay showing Katy his backyard and deck his Papa built.
I'm loving this picture of the kiddos in their BabyLegs! Anyone that knows me knows my obsession!!

Cutie Jay showing me his Mamma's shoe. It must be a Vinson thing, but both of these kids are obsessed with shoes!

Katy playing with her "JayJay"

Katy thinks Jay is a baby and she needs to help him drink. It is sweet and honestly, Jay didn't seem to mind the attention.

Jay showing Coco one of his favorite toys. Katy seems interested... but really she just wants to feed Jay again.

We shopped and went out to eat while enjoying our visit. LOVE this pic of Coco and Katy with Jay and JP wlking into a store.

Jay kissing Katy
that's right.... Awwwww

The Tennessee Vinsons
Thank you for sharing your home with us!!

Gingerbread Houses!

Fun for the whole family!! The Vinsons has a Gingerbread house decoration contest this past Christmas in New Boston.We were split into 3 teams: Rich and Shelby, Summer and JP, and Mimi and Pop.

We were all given the same house framework and selection of candy to work with, and boy did we deliver!

Let me know who you think deserves the blue ribbon.....

Team 1: Shelby and Rich. I was holding on the roof while the icing dried during house assembly.

Team 2: JP and Summer. Obviously JP was going to take the lead on this one.

Team 3: Pop and Mimi (with some help from Cousin Sheri).

Team 3 decided the icing was sticking out too much from their cracks.
So they gave it "stucco" to fix it :)

Team 2 finish product! They won for the best curb appeal.

Team 1 finish product! We won for best roofing skills.

Our house had some foundation issues and we lost a wall.
We decided to add a little table and chairs for a diorama look.

Team 3 finish product! (Yes, Mimi swapped out partners half way through)

Christmas in New Boston!





That's right... we had 3 Christmases this year! We drove to New Boston, TX to celebrate Christmas with the Vinson side of the family on Dec 27th. Coco and Pop were there along with Katy's Great Great Grandmother, Mimi. Cousin Sheri drove in from Waco and Uncle JP, Aunt Summer and Cousin Jay came all the way from Nashville! It makes my heart so happy to see Katy playing with her cousin. They really get along well, with minimal fighting over toys. :) Anyone with a toddler knows sharing can be an issue with more that one kid in the room.

Wednesday morning it was "Christmas" at Mimi's house. We opened gifts in our jammies and spent the day enjoying our family. Coco fed us the entire week. She loves to try new recipes and called us guinea pigs at just about every meal, but every bite was delicious!

Mimi took the gang out to a very nice dinner in Texarkana on Thursday night after visiting Granddaddy's gravesite. We also enjoyed the Vinson tradition of Family game night. There was also a ginger bread house decortaing contest, but we'll save those pics for another post. Too many to get to today :)

Enjoy the pictures and  your weekend!

Katy and her Pop all bundled up and ready to go outside.



Katy playing with her Cousin Jay

 

Coco and her strawberry tree (another new recipe she tried. I think it turmed out cute!)

Coco lovin' on Katy

Jay got a new truck!

Jay is walking!!
For those that don't follow Summer's blog, here's the story on Jay walking: His physical therapist suggested him using Walking Wings (sort-of like a harness you would put on a dog) to help him walk. On Dec 14th Jay decided he would stand alone while gripping the top of his Walking Wings for support. Then he took his first steps! By Christmas he was walking.... but he still grabs his clothes for support. It is so cute and funny!

I love this picture.
It is taken at the cemetery where Rich's Granddaddy is buried. The family is standing at his grave and it appears that Granddaddy is looking in on us from the tree tops.

Family shot of Rich, Coco holding Katy, Pop holding Jay and me

Uncle JP, Aunt Summer and Cousin Jay

Family Game Night!
Loaded Questions was the game this time. We learned a lot about one another :)

Katy lovin' on her Lola in the back yard in New Boston

What a great picture of Summer and Jay!

Katy and Daddy

Christmas Day at Villa Vinson!

Santa came!!

I know, I know it January... but here goes a Christmas catch-up! The Vinsons spent Christmas day in Dallas! Katy must have known Santa came because she woke up at 7:30!! That's early for the kid you never see before 9am. Santa brought Katy a wooden high chair for her dolls and loads of puzzles. Of course she loved them! We opened our gifts from around the tree and ate cinnamon rolls.

Since we were all up "early", Rich and Katy decided to take a mid-morning nap while I played with my new iPod. That afternoon we took a trip up to McKinney to see Uncle Zac and his gang. He made some excellent prime rib and we all over-ate once again! We visited into the night and headed home late.

It was a great day with good food and great family!

Katy is a good Mommy!



Our future architect



Mommy helps with the bow... Katy can handle the rest!

She's a pro at the paper now!

Uncle Zac with our Christmas dinner!

Cousin Riley with her Mimi

Cousin Tylar with Billy

Always up to trouble...

Playing with Aunt Lacey