Christmas in East Texas 2010

We recently went to east Texas to celebrate Christmas with some of Robert's family. We started in Tyler on Saturday (Dec 18) at Victor and Margie's house for the annual Christmas party. Tyler is where Robert's mom grew up and where she has family. The drive up there was not too bad. The kids were good and we made just one stop in Waco-at the yummy Rudy's BBQ. After lunch we made great time at got to Tyler about 1:30pm. We ended up hanging out at the hotel for a little while just relaxing from the drive and then we headed over to Victor and Margie's. Mason was so good. He spent the whole night playing with cars he found, one car in particular he would not let go of. It was an old school firebird which still had doors that would open. He even convinced Victor he could take it home with him-thanks Uncle Victor!
Autumn was a different story. I don't know if it was the amount of people or just the drive, but she wanted nothing to do with anyone but her mommy. Autumn and I got lots of cuddle time, that's for sure :)

The next morning, we took our time getting ready and left about noon to head over to Lufkin. Lufkin is about 90 miles from Tyler and we decided since we were already going to be up there that we would visit both places. To get to Lufkin from our house is at least 4 hours, so you can see why we made this choice. Lufkin is where Robert's dad and some of his family lives.
We got to Lufkin and were able to check into the hotel early. After a quick stop for a late lunch, we headed over to Eileen's and John's houses. Eileen and John live in two houses on the same lot. Eileen is John's sister and John is Robert's dad. John lives in the one bedroom house with his mom Lottie, who everyone calls Mam-Maw. Robert's sister Leslie and her husband Balaji also came to Lufkin (they live in the Dallas area). For the most part, we all hung out at the house and opened presents. Mason got Robert's old wooded truck, and enjoyed playing with it at the house. About 7pm the kids were done so we went back to the hotel for a little rest.

Mam-Maw, Mason and Grandpa


Mam-Maw and Autumn


Great-Aunt Eileen and Autumn


Autumn and Grandpa


The next morning, we went back over the the house and picked up grandpa and headed to the city park. Best idea ever! Mason got a good hour of playtime before we met everyone for lunch and was really good at the restaurant. Cousin Suzy joined us for lunch. There is a big age difference with John and his older sisters, so even though Suzy is a cousin she feels more like an aunt! After lunch we headed out for the long drive home.

Cousin Suzy and Autumn

Cousin Suzy with Robert, Mason and Autumn