Wandering thru the Wonders of CHRISTmas with a Toddler

After a three-day visit with our youngest son and his wife, it was time to head north for the Christmas holiday. Blake and Claire bought one-way airline tickets to visit us, because we could drive them back home to Oklahoma on our way north. They are already missing those palm trees! 

We also took Denisa's Mother to Oklahoma City to spend Christmas with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We should have taken a picture of the packed car, as the five of us loaded luggage and Christmas packages into our little car. It was a crowded twelve-hour drive to Oklahoma City! We were a little sad when we dropped Blake and Claire off at their car. This is the first time in his 28-year-old life that we won't be with Blake for Christmas. We're so glad we got to spend those days with them in South Texas!

We spent one night in Oklahoma City before heading even further north for the six-hour drive to the Kansas City area to see our other son, daughter-in-law, and our granddaughter--Luke, Jordan, and Carter.

We had to drive 18 hours to get there, but we just couldn't stand the thought of missing Christmas with our only grandchild and her family! Wandering His wonders includes seeing CHRISTmas through the eyes of a small child!

Luke had clinic hours and hospital rounds on Christmas eve and Christmas day, so his little family couldn't leave town. Since they weren't mobile this year, they graciously hosted the holiday at their house. We were blessed with beautiful weather during the days around Christmas. We were playing outside without jackets!

Starting with the year after they got married, we have celebrated Christmas together with our daughter-in-law's family. That way we get to share this sweet little family, instead of taking turns spending the holiday with them. Because the weather was so nice, all of us got to take a walk to the park on the 24th of December. Carter is leading the pack, insisting on walking instead of riding in her stroller.

Our outing on the 25th was to downtown Kansas City. Jordan's family has a tradition of climbing their local "mountain" to sing "Go Tell it on the Mountain" on Christmas Day. So we climbed to the top of the slope at the World War I Museum and sang it from there.

It's a great view of the Kansas City sky line from the top of the museum memorial. It's also a great place for a toddler to get some exercise. Denisa likes this picture of little Carter trying to keep up with Granddad's long legs.

We also walked to another downtown landmark--Union Station. The inside was decked out in Christmas finery.

That big tree looked even taller when compared with a precious toddler pointing up to its finery.

We like a big decorated tree, but we have to say our focus is on that little girl at the bottom.

Union Station is home to scores of model train sets. Can you believe that we failed to take pictures of the elaborate trains, including one big enough for children to ride? Once again, all the grandparents were focused on little Carter.

Back at home, we spent part of the afternoon making Christmas sugar cookies. Even the grandfathers got in on the decorating this year.

Carter didn't understand the concept of decorating cookies. As soon as we put one down for her to decorate, she took a bite instead. She thought they looked and tasted just fine without all that trouble. We have to include a picture of some of our finished cookies. Will you be surprised to know that Mark decorated the two on the right?

Another Christmas craft project came in the form of a dirty Santa gift from an earlier family gathering. This RV gingerbread house project was just perfect for a picture in our blog.

We stayed in Lenexa a couple days after Christmas, enjoying more time with relatives. We love having the opportunity to be at her crib when Carter first wakes up in the morning. We think that's the cutest little morning wake-up alarm ever!

 After Denisa's sister pointed out that we weren't texting her any pictures of Denisa and Carter together, Mark made a concerted effort to get that picture.

We found that Denisa was more of the problem, as she often closes her eyes or has strange expressions on her face when a camera appears. So this assignment took lots of effort from Mark! This picture is from a walk where Carter was blowing kisses to the passing vehicles.

He also managed to catch some belly laugh pictures that will help us remember this time forever.

Besides belly laughing, another favorite activity is cleaning. Carter loves wiping down her little dining table and chairs over and over.

Once everything was clean enough, we watched as she seated her stuffed animals on the chairs around her little table. Then she pretended to serve them tea. But before they drank, she folded her hands and bowed her head and sang, "God our Father, once again, we thank you for our blessings. AMEN!" We end this blog thinking of the many blessings that God has given us as we continue to wander through His wonders. One of those wonders is seeing the magic of CHRISTmas through the eyes of a 19-month-old toddler. AMEN!